Big Business, Small Community
Town Hall Meeting
May 2nd, 2009
1:00p.m. to 3:00p.m.
St. Cloud Public Library
Notes about the meeting:
Meeting was arranged by the St. Cloud Deaf Club;
Meeting was co-facilitated by Diane Leonard and Alison Aubrecht;
Interpreter services were donated by Communication Services for the Deaf (CSD); Interpreters: Amy Mick and Sonja Vicioso.
Approximately 33 individuals present for the meeting; majority of individuals who attended the meeting voted that they would like to have another town hall meeting on this topic.
Purple (GoAmerica) set up a mini-booth was set up in the back of the room.
Meeting Agenda:
· Introductions, Purpose of Meeting, Structure of Meeting, Ground Rules
· Begin listing concerns
· Prioritize concerns
· Discuss top three concerns and begin action planning
· Close meeting
Concerns: Numbers (-) indicate number of stickers placed next to concern during “prioritizing” part of meeting:
· Not enough qualified interpreters present in community or in VRS industry; weak receptive skills related to finger spelling and number hand shapes specifically mentioned (7)
· Shortage of community interpreters due to video relay services; interpreter referral agencies having a difficult time filling jobs (8)
· Technical problems (picture freezes, video goes black, etc.) (0)
· General feeling that interpreters are not respected by signing community (3)
· We may not be able to “plan for an emergency” and as such ensure that interpreting services will be available;
· Video Relay industry may be made more attractive by the fact that salaries are higher, benefits are available, and there is stability in terms of regular hours (9)
· Some concerns about policies and procedures (i.e. switching interpreters halfway through a conversation, confidentiality and security when disclosing personal information) (3)
· Public agencies (i.e. hospitals, police departments, etc.) do not have enough information regarding issues related to interpreting services within our community (i.e. qualifications, shortages, etc.) (0)
· Impact of businesses on availability of educational interpreters; if an interpreter who works at schools calls in sick often there’s no one available to “sub” for the day (4)
· Feeling abandoned by interpreters when they change jobs (i.e. leave educational interpreting, leave community interpreting—usually to work for VRS companies). An example was given of Deaf individuals mentoring interpreters in educational placements (using funding from public schools); interpreter leaves to work for VRS call centers once they have become certified (8)
· Frustration regarding signers not always communicating clearly (unfinished sentences, for example) (5)
· General feeling that D/HH individuals and interpreters need to find ways to work together in ways that are respectful and supportive (9)
· General feeling that VRS industry is a very profitable industry and as such needs to find ways to support the signing community (14)
Discussion:
| Issue #1: How Can VRS Companies Best Support/Work with Communities (D/HH/DB, Community Interpreters, Educational Interpreters)? | ||
| Discussion: | Action Plan: | Who and When? |
| CSDVRS and CSD used to have an open door relationship; when CSDVRS was sold and became a private company it became more difficult to “knock on their door and request interpreters” in urgent situations when there is a need in the community. Would be nice to bring back this open door relationship- with all VRS companies. | Invite representatives of interpreter referral agencies and VRS providers to meet for a round table discussion; encouraged to immediately address concerns about lack of availability during emergency situations | Diane Schiffler-Dobe will begin the process of inviting and securing a date for the meeting by June 20th, 2009. |
| Would be helpful to “centralize” services so that all providers are working together to track needs and unmet needs, pool services when appropriate (collaborate rather than compete) | Explore possibility of setting up a group/nonprofit/organization of sorts that will accept donations from VRS companies; money used for the purpose of giving back to the community through grants (examples: pay for mentoring services for local interpreters, give money to Deaf and Hard of Hearing programs so that they can find ways to ensure that interpreters are available to sub, money for hosting regular workshops (CEUs) for interpreters | No volunteers at this time. |
| Concerns about removing interpreters from call centers in emergency situations; may result in insufficient interpreters available at call center – which would result in longer delays in answering calls. FCC requires that calls be answered within 2 minutes or company may be fined. | Develop a quick-reference list of contacts for all providers in Minnesota; allow for individuals to contact providers during emergency situations or when jobs are not filled in order to see if the provider would be willing to send an interpreter or donate interpreting services. | No volunteers at this time. |
| Concerns about payout: if FCC (through NECA) is paying reimbursing billable minutes, what happens when an interpreter leaves during the call (switches) to go out into the community to cover an emergency? How does the payout work? Who pays? | Suggestion made that perhaps Online Video Interpreting would be a good alternate option for students in educational settings for situations when interpreter is not available | No volunteers at this time. |
| Concerns about lack of communication between VRS industry and Signing Community; some deaf individuals did not know that Sorenson recently set up a call center in St. Cloud. | | |
| Shortage of interpreters has an impact on educational settings; if educational interpreter is out sick there is no one available to “sub” | | |
| Issue #2: How can community agencies and education interpreter providers better compete with VRS industry (pay, benefits, stability)? | ||
| Discussion: | Action Plan: | Who/When? |
| May be helpful to review contracts to see if changes in contracts (i.e. by year, must give schedule a month in advance, etc.) would help with flexibility in order to fill unmet needs | Round table discussion that involves representatives from different groups (i.e. Referral agencies, VRS companies, Deaf Community, DHH programs) | No volunteers at this time. |
| May be helpful to explore why it is that CSD seems to be the go-to referral agency; other agencies in Minnesota don’t seem to be recognized. Questions raised about why the Minnesota Dept. of Human Services has a contract with CSD. | | |
Note: Meeting ended at this point- insufficient time to continue discussion. Group agreed that it would be helpful to set up a second town hall meeting
Issue #3: How can Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals better partner with interpreters and vice versa? Discussion: Action Plan: Who/When?
Meeting ended at 3 p.m. If you would like to receive email updates, please contact: cncrndctznMN@gmail.com.
