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June 24th 2005 - The Judicial Council of California (JCC) issued a contract to WRMA to conduct a study to collect, analyze, and report interpreter utilization statistics from each of the 58 counties within California, in order to perform comparative and demographic analyses which will serve as the basis for recommendations for additional languages to the Judicial Council for the State Court Interpreter Certification program.
This project will provide the Judicial Council of California (JCC), Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) with the background, data and analysis necessary to: 1) make decisions regarding additional languages to be included in the State Certification Examination program for court interpreters; and 2) project future language interpreting needs for the State’s trial courts. With over 224 languages spoken in California, as well as numerous dialects, and with more than 4 percent of California’s 33.4 million residents speaking no English at all, there are significant challenges to the court system in providing interpretive services to a population with such diversity.
Our final report will:
- Recommend additional languages to be included in the State Certification
Program;
- Assess the statewide and regional use of interpreters of specific languages;
- Compare the use of certified and registered interpreters; and
- Analyze the use of interpreters for dialects and indigenous languages.
Describe factors affecting immigration to California:
- Discuss how long it takes non-English speaking immigrants to become fluent or proficient in English; and
- Discuss factors that cause a decline in the use of interpreters in certain languages
We are reviewing and analyzing data from the following sources:
- JCC AOC data extracted from the Court Interpreter Data Collection System;
- Supplemental administrative data files on court interpreter usage from Los Angeles County and Orange County;
- JCC AOC data from Court Interpreter Quarterly Financial Summaries (QFS);
- 2000 Census Summary File 3 and Public Use Micro Sample;
- California Department of Education reports on “English Learner” students by home language; and
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics, annual reports on immigration.
WRMA’s research for this study will assist the Judicial Council of California in meeting the needs of the Courts in addressing linguistic and cultural diversity throughout the State.
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