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Interpreters, deaf advocates oppose moving interpreter licensure and Deaf services into OPLC
Summary
Dozens of interpreters, deaf advocates and professionals testified against House Bill 525, saying moving interpreter licensure and the Office/Program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing from vocational rehabilitation into the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification would reduce culturally informed oversight and slow recently planned improvements to complaint procedures.
A lengthy public hearing drew interpreters, deaf and hard-of-hearing residents, university faculty, nonprofit leaders and agency staff to oppose House Bill 525. The bill would transfer the New Hampshire Interpreter Licensure Board (NHILB) and the Office/Program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHHS) from the Department of Education's vocational-rehabilitation structure to the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification (OPLC).
Multiple witnesses said the transfer would subtract critical cultural and linguistic expertise from a process that, they argued, must be led and interpreted by people with lived experience in deaf…
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