Sign Language Interpreting in Pennsylvania
Community (Freelance) and Staff Interpreting
Two bills were introduced in the Pennsylvania House & Senate, to establish minimum standards for persons employed as Sign Language Interpreters. The Bills were: House Bill 445 and Senate Bill 297. In the fall of 2003 both bills passed unanimously and were then referred to committees.
House Bill 445, printer number 4198, after being unanimously approved by both legislatures, was signed into law by Governor Rendell on July 2, 2004 and is now called Act 57 of 2004. It took effect on July 1, 2005.
This Act requires individuals wishing to provide professional sign language interpreting or transliterating services to be registered with the Pennsylvania Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The registration procedure requires: (a) a completed application; (b) payment of any required fees ($100); (c) and proof that the applicant has passed an examination approved by the Office. The registration shall be for a period not longer than 2 years and may be renewed at a fee of $100. The specific exemptions apply to religious interpreters, emergency interpreters, interpreting interns, out-of-state certified interpreters, non-certified interpreters approved by client and volunteer interpreters. Additionally, educational interpreters (K-12) are exempt from this act but are required to take the EIPA and achieve a rating of 70% or higher.
Regulations are complete for this Act and are available in PDF or online.
View the PA Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHH) interpreter database.
Community (Freelance) and Staff Interpreting—Legal Assignments
Act 172 of 2006 took effect in January 2007 and requires all interpreters, of both spoken and signed languages, to be certified and registered to work in the legal system. This law applies to both arrest situations and courtroom appearances. For further information see the Pennsylvania Supreme Court website.
Educational Interpreters K-12
The Pennsylvania Legislature passed Act 92 of 2006, which required the PA Department of Education to create regulations setting standards for all educational interpreters employed in Pennsylvania schools. These regulations are now in effect and require educational sign language interpreters to take and pass the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment, at a level of 3.5.
Excerpted below is the section pertaining to educational interpreters:
(b) Educational interpreters. An educational interpreter is an individual who provides students who are deaf or hard of hearing with interpreting or transliterating services in an educational setting.
(1) To serve as an educational interpreter, an individual shall meet the qualifications in subparagraph (i) or (ii) and subparagraph (iii):
(i) Achieve and provide evidence of a score of 3.5 on the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) for the appropriate grade level to which the person has been assigned.
(ii) Be a qualified sign language interpreter or qualified transliterator under the Sign Language Interpreter and Transliterator Registration Act (63 P. S. §§ 1725.1--1725.12) and its implementing regulations.
(iii) Provide evidence of a minimum of 20 hours of staff development activities relating to interpreting or transliterating services annually.
(2) The Board, in consultation with the Department, will review the EIPA score requirement every 2 years.
The full text can be accessed from the PA Bulletin site.
Further information about Educational Interpreting can be found at classroominterpeting.com
Those wishing to become Sign Language Interpreters are encouraged to pursue a two or four year college degree. Pennsylvania has three Interpreter Training Programs located at:
Bloomsburg University, Mt. Aloysius College and the Community College of Philadelphia.
Additional programs are available out of state. Visit the RID and The National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers websites for further information.