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Interpreter banks and language access programs credited with widening victim and civil‑law access
Summary
Ayuda and other language‑access witnesses told the council that interpreter banks funded through OVSJG and partners provided thousands of interpretation events and hundreds of translated documents in FY24, improving outcomes in custody, therapy and court matters.
Representatives from Ayuda and other language‑access programs told the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety that interpreter banks funded through OVSJG and the DC Bar Foundation have become essential infrastructure for victims and for civil legal services.
Ayuda witnesses described two programs: the Community Legal Interpreter Bank (CLIP) that supports civil legal providers, and the Victim Service Interpreter Bank (VISIB) that supports victim‑service organizations. CLIP reported nearly 500 occasions of specially trained in‑person interpretation, more than 7,000 on‑demand telephonic interpretation events and about 330 translated documents in FY24. VISIB reported 302 in‑person interpretation occasions, 2,126 telephonic instances, and 107 translated documents in FY24; the top five languages requested were Spanish, American Sign Language, Amharic, Brazilian Portuguese and Arabic.
Speakers gave examples of how professional interpreters improved therapeutic and legal outcomes — for example, a provider described how using a deaf interpreter in a negotiated custody meeting clarified complex legal concepts and helped the client participate fully. Ayuda said CLIP engages more than 130 interpreters in 30+ languages and that VISIB supports nearly 100 interpreters in 30 languages.
Witnesses asked the committee to maintain funding for interpreter services and to keep investing in training because they said ad‑hoc, untrained interpretation can undermine confidentiality and the quality of legal and therapeutic work. Committee members asked OVSJG how interpreter funding is coordinated with access to justice grants; OVSJG and Ayuda said programs are funded through OVSJG and the DC Bar Foundation and coordinate with legal and victim service grantees.
Ending: The committee heard sustained evidence that funded interpreter banks extend legal and therapeutic services to limited‑English and deaf residents; witnesses requested continued investment in training, recruitment and stable funding.
