State Licensure for Sign Language Interpreters: Good or Bad?
Birnbaum Interpreting Services (BIS) has been a Deaf access agency headquartered in Maryland since David Birnbaum opened our doors in 1995. One of the first—if not the first—Deaf-founded Sign Language Interpreting agencies in the United States of America, BIS is now run by David’s son, Brian, alongside an administration replete with Deaf, CODA, and other culturally native staff who collectively carry more than 100 years of combined industry experience.
All of this is to say that Birnbaum Interpreting Services knows a thing or two about Deaf access and culture. Furthermore, our team has spoken to countless industry peers and thought leaders, almost each one of whom have echoed our sentiments.
What follows is a minimally edited version of the comments that BIS submitted to the Maryland State Board of Sign Language Interpreters with regard to the forthcoming requirement that all interpreters working in the State of MD obtain a State license. Neither Birnbaum Interpreting Services nor Brian himself have yet to receive any response to or acknowledgement of these comments. Nonetheless, the severity of the consequences from this legislation cannot be overstated, so we deem it imperative to share the risks that the State’s Deaf population face once this legislation goes into effect.
Important Disclaimer
BIS is a nationwide provider. Only ~10% of our business takes place in the State of Maryland. Further, given the details of this legislation, it’s highly unlikely to affect our existing business with the State. Our note to the State Board comes from a place of concern not for our financial situation but for that of Maryland’s Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing population—of which includes many of our staff, family, and friends, all of whom will as a result lose access to the interpreting services guaranteed them by ADA.
There is no ambiguity about this fact; the shortage of resources will be multiplied by 10 or 20.
State Licensure for Sign Language Interpreters: Consummately Bad
The recently passed legislation is overwhelmingly detrimental to the Deaf community in the State of MD. First, any improvements upon quality will be imperceptible, and in fact it’s far more likely that quality will plummet. Why? To obtain a State license interpreters must first obtain an RID or equivalent license. This largely makes the State license redundant. But it also renders dozens, if not hundreds if uncertified yet highly qualified interpreter unable to serve in an industry already experiencing a chronic shortage of interpreters.
Rather than resolving the root problem in our industry—the lack of qualified interpreters—it focuses instead on the symptoms—occasional poor quality—which will exacerbate the problem by orders of magnitude.
The increased shortage effectively guarantees that Deaf individuals will go without service across innumerable situations. Every CODA on the BIS team has experienced waiting with their parents in the hospital for days before an interpreter arrived, and each of us fully expects this problem to be exacerbated.
And this is just the beginning of the legislation’s issues.
Problems with the State Licensure for Sign Language Interpreters
The team here at Birnbaum Interpreting Services sat down to discuss the problems the Deaf population faces because of the incoming licensure requirement. Below, we list the most salient issues, beginning with an expanded version of the licensure’s counterproductive redundancy before moving into deeper and more serious damages waiting to be incurred on an already marginalized population.
As we discuss below, the State has legislated this requirement without consulting the industry’s participants and true experts all in the name of increasing tax revenue by less than 0.0007% per year.
- This legislation is the definition of throwing the baby out with the bath water; it’s tantamount to adding another 10 years of medical school because a couple of doctors were sued for malpractice. The solution simply exacerbates the “problem,” which isn’t really a problem to begin with. 99% of BIS interpreters are qualified and do a great job; the other 1% are either new and learning or an unfortunately rare occurrence of incompetence, to which no industry is 100% immune. And unlike being a doctor, interpreting work is highly personalized and at least as much art as science; there are hundreds of high-quality, uncertified interpreters who will suddenly evaporate from Maryland’s industry. Half of them will take years to obtain their state licenses, and the other half will simply walk away. In the interim, the problem will be massive.
The State licensure requirement will exacerbate—by orders of magnitude—the critical shortage of interpreters available across the State of Maryland. Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people will be forced to go without service or seek services from unlicensed interpreters, namely family and friends. The vast majority will choose the latter, or else they will not be able to function. They will also be forced to rely on friends and family, despite this going directly against ADA law.
We see at least 30-40% of Onsite assignments going unfilled. These numbers will easily double as a result of this legislation.
2. The requirement to carry or obtain an RID license prior to obtaining a State license completely neutralizes any benefits from the State license. If an RID license—which is the nationally recognized body—is required, what is the point of the state license? There’s now zero value added for holding the state license, and yet it’s required to work in the State of MD.
Further, RID licensure only goes so far in ensuring quality. A dual license requirement will provide little if any additional quality constraints while eliminating hundreds of qualified interpreters from the marketplace.
We screen hundreds of interpreters a year. We have reliably found little correlation between certification and quality, and far higher correlation between traits such as responsibility or ethics and quality. Yet many interpreters high in these presentations refuse to obtain certifications because they deem them as financially exploitative and therefore prejudiced against marginalized interpreters. Certifications, in many ways, add arbitrary barriers to entry, when many interpreters can’t even afford them to begin with. Now the State is asking interpreters to double that outlay just to begin working. The numbers of marginalized interpreters will only suffer more.
3. The requirement for Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) resources to hold State licenses is perhaps the most damaging and illogical aspect of the legislation. Formerly a safe haven for when Onsite interpreters aren’t available, VRI service will experience the same dearth of interpreting resources as Onsite—again, with little to no benefit to consumers.
VRI is used in some of the most important situations because of the ability to use digital devices to draw up an interpreter On-Call. Emergency rooms, police stations, court rooms—the list goes on. The number of sign language interpreters working from outside the State—in any state—dwarfs the number working in State. This is simple math and probability, given that VRI interpreters can be drawn from anywhere. Therefore, mathematically, this legislation effectively reduces the pool of VRI interpreters available to Maryland’s Deaf residents by roughly 98%.
4. Prices will increase far beyond inflation rates. Whether or not interpreters are yet aware, they will easily be able to charge higher rates because of the exponential decrease in supply. How the State of MD expects small businesses, hospitals, and nonprofits to pay for these increases is unclear.
5. The D/HH community will lash out. We’ve already seen this at the Board’s commentary events, which has been met with outright indifference. We see no path to a properly functioning marketplace. The D/HH population will suffer for a long time, and, even when supply increases, any quality gains will never be enough to compensate for the permanent shortfall. It’s out hope that the Deaf community will research the causes behind these changes and take action against those who perpetrated them. There is a very long history of this in the Deaf community.
Problems with the Process of Legislating the Licensure Requirement:
We’ve done our best to cover the range of issues that should have prevented the State of Maryland from even considering this legislation. But there should have been plenty of opportunities to understand the consequences during the process of proposing, studying, debating, and passing it.
Unfortunately, what we have found thus far is that none of the Board members are even acknowledging the issues we’ve raised. We’ve sent emails detailing the issues. We’ve made commentary. We’ve cited clients who work for the State of MD’s Administration of the Courts. Other agencies and interpreters have been screaming for a pause.
None of this has mattered to the Board or the State.
- There was and there remains virtually no communication—let alone cooperation—with industry participants leading up to the formation—let alone passing—of this legislation. As an agency that’s been in business for 30 years and is known throughout the country, BIS should have been one of the first calls. None of the other agencies working in the State have reported cooperation or collaboration.
By simply working with the participating, active experts in the industry the Board would have been swiftly and overwhelmingly advised to pursue a diametrically opposite course of action, and instead make it easier for interpreters to obtain certifications.
2. The communication following the passage of the legislation has been equally poor. Neither agencies nor interpreters are informed about hearings, rule changes, or updates. The Board should be working with the providers of Sign Language Interpreting services.
3. The hearings and meetings have been completely devoid of any attempt to understand the flaws of the legislation. There’s little attempt to communicate with the Deaf community or the industry experts. A few paltry minutes are given to one or two individuals to rebut the legislation, which goes virtually unheeded.
4. It can only be assumed that analogues for this legislation were other State licensures. The problems here are nearly impossible to encapsulate. First, states that passed licensure requirements have seen immense damage visited upon their Deaf and HH populations. Any statistics gathered don’t even begin to reveal the damage given that the uncovered consumers are, necessarily, not being reported; the vast majority of these consumers are not bothering to get an interpreter, and the states are not bothering to record these instances any way.
Birnbaum Interpreting Services serves all 50 states. Each of the states that require licenses or registrations are more difficult to fill, in direct correlation with the difficulties reported in obtaining the licenses. We speak to consumers, friends, family, and industry participants. The reports are universal and vehement.
Yet this fact alone doesn’t even begin to reveal the absurdity of using other state licensure programs as models for the State of Maryland—which has one of the highest Deaf populations in the world. The difficulties seen in other states with licensure requirements pale in comparison to what we will see in Maryland. With an existing chronic shortage, this legislation will break the population’s ability to gain access.
There are many more reasons why this legislation will be an overwhelming net detriment to the D/HH community. We hope that the Board will reconsider their position and implement a plan that makes sense for the community—namely, one that addresses the shortfall of supply rather, which is the root cause of the lack of quality.
The Deaf Population and Providers of Access Services Must Fight
The legislation has passed. Dates have been set. While it’s unlikely the Board or State will change its minds, we can fight this licensure requirement the best we can.
The most important thing is to keep record of your experience. Whether you’re a Deaf consumer of Sign Language Interpreting services, a provider, or a friend or family member of either or both, it’s imperative that you keep track of your experience. The more data we aggregate, the more compelling the movement to rescind this legislation becomes.
We must also do our best to follow the new laws. Despite how harmful it is to the Deaf population, the best way to reveal the harm is to keep out the contaminants. We are not suggesting that you go without service or go without providing service. However, we must put forth a good faith effort to follow the legislation, or we cannot prove that the regulations are impossible to follow without incurring severe damage to the Deaf population.
Lastly, we must all work together. This is the most difficult of all, particularly for the access agencies who also must compete for business. This legislation will only make things more difficult for everyone. By fortifying, barbing, and building higher our fences, we only exacerbate the challenges ahead. If we instead communicate, collaborate, and support each other, we can pool our resources and records to create a better record of the consequences of this myopic legislation.
Contact Birnbaum Interpreting Services with any Questions, Concerns, or Service Needs
Birnbaum Interpreting Services has been in business for three decades and counting. When we first opened our doors, we were one of very few agencies, with far fewer sign language interpreters in the area. We have seen our fair share of challenges. And we have overcome each of them.
Our team is prepared to confront this next challenge. We’re here to help. Whether you have questions or concerns about the new licensure requirements, our services, or how we can consult with your Deaf access needs, please don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or our contact page.
