We need more qualified ASL, ProTactile and Trilingual Interpreters in Washington State

The Community Coalition for Washington State Interpreters worked to get the bill HB 2221 funded as a proviso in the Washington State legislature this year. The proviso will help us find solutions for the ASL, PT, and Trilingual interpreter shortage. Learn more.

March 2025 Update

Hello! We at TerpsWA want to wish you all well. The last few months have been difficult for many of us, and there is more work ahead to resist challenges to our civil rights. It’s more important than ever that we unite as a community.

Keep reading for our thoughts on recent updates about the Washington Signed, ProTactile, and Trilingual Interpreter Shortage Workgroup hosted by the Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHH).

March 26 Community Meeting

TerpsWA, WSRID, and WSAD will be co-hosting a community meeting to process the most recent updates from ODHH. Please join us! We will recap all the recent news and discuss as a community how to move forward. We hope that some of the workgroup members will join and share their thoughts about the workgroup process.

The meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 26, 6PM - 8PM PST. Meeting details below:

Since we last commented on the workgroup, ODHH has hosted two town hall meetings to update the community. For a reminder of the workgroup’s purpose, visit TerpsWA.com.

ODHH Town Hall #1 Recap

The first town hall meeting on December 18, 2024 covered ODHH’s plan for the rest of the project period, including data collection and workgroup meetings. The workgroup was originally scheduled to begin data collection in Fall 2024, but the start was delayed until January 2025.

After the Town Hall, TerpsWA emailed ODHH to express concern about the shortened timeline. ODHH referred us to their ASL video summary.

ODHH Town Hall #2 Recap

ODHH recently held a second town hall meeting on March 5, 2025. They informed the audience that they have narrowed the workgroup’s recommendations down to five items for the final report. These five actions are internal steps that ODHH can take to address the interpreter shortage. The rest of the workgroup recommendations will be relegated to an appendix in the report.

The $926,000 proviso that funded the workgroup, which was made possible by the efforts of the Washington State DDBDDHH community and TerpsWA in 2024, called for recommendations for legislative solutions to the interpreter shortage. The five items that ODHH has chosen do not involve legislative action and do not include important short-term considerations like ITP programs.

Thanks to community members asking repeatedly during the meeting, ODHH shared summaries of the five actions they plan to take (listed below). However, they also announced that no other information would be shared until the final report was released on June 30. That means that the community would have no opportunity to give input before the report is published.

Our Thoughts

We, TerpsWA, feel that ODHH creating the report without further input from the community would be a violation of their repeated promises to prioritize us in this important work. It will also not fulfill the purpose of the proviso funding: legislative and community actions that will get more qualified interpreters working in Washington State.

We have used the TerpsWA platform to encourage the community to support ODHH’s work despite the project’s difficulties: a lack of consistent communication, the start date being delayed by months, and minimal data collection. However, time is running out. We have less than three months before the report is due to be sent to the State Legislature and the proviso funding expires.

We recognize that ODHH is trying. It is clear that their staff cares about this work. We as a community simply cannot afford to be patient any longer. TerpsWA feels that it is time for ODHH to uphold their promises. We ask that they immediately:

  • Share the full set of data collected by Innivee Strategies, by hosting the data on their website and emailing their newsletter subscribers with a link.

  • Share the full set of recommendations created by the Washington Signed, ProTactile, and Trilingual Interpreter Shortage Workgroup, by hosting the recommendations on their website and emailing their newsletter subscribers with a link.

  • Provide an accessible way for community members to give feedback on the data and recommendations above. The feedback should be given directly to Vivid Co., the data analysis firm developing the report.

  • Base the featured strategies in the final report on the community feedback they receive.

Thank you for reading! We know it was a lot of information. Whether you agree with our thoughts or not, we urge you all to help keep ODHH accountable to the community. Contact them and let them know your thoughts.

You can join us in sharing your feelings about the workgroup with ODHH using one of the methods below. 

On March 13, ODHH announced that they will host “a community discussion to share the workgroup’s recommendations for community solutions and to share the progress of the report.” This discussion will take place on March 19. Click here for the full email text and Zoom link.

The community meeting that TerpsWA, WSRID, and WSAD are hosting on March 26 will debrief whatever info is shared during this new ODHH discussion. We hope you can join to share your feedback and thoughts about this process. It has been a long, tough road. But this community does not give up!

The TerpsWA Team

ODHH’s 5 Actions

Below are the 5 actions that ODHH decided to prioritize from the workgroup recommendations. Copied from the Zoom chat in the March 5 town hall.

  1.  Formal Community-Based Advisory Group- We will be asking for a formal group to oversee these recommendations:

    1. Workforce and professional development opportunities.

    2. Regional and Specialized Interpreter Training Program

    3. Working with OSPI to create a pipeline from high school ASL students to working professionals in Washington.

    4. A community feedback and interpreter rating system.

    5. ITP program college/university strategic planning

  2. Updated Registry- We are recommending a new improved Washington registry. More information will be available, and searchable, for each interpreter. The goal is for all interpreters working in Washington to be on the list, both individuals and those working for agencies.

  3. Annual ODHH Conference- We are asking for a yearly interpreter conference. This would help interpreters with professional development by providing CEU opportunities and other topics recommended by the workgroup.

  4. Testing Fee Incentives - We are also recommending incentives for certification testing fees and specialization fees.

  5. New Program for the Underrepresented- We are asking for a new program within ODHH to focus on serving underrepresented and marginalized communities, such as BIPOC. This would include resources and training for specializations like Protactile and Trilingual.

InterpreterIncome.com: NATIONAL ASL INTERPRETER INCOME STUDY

THIS IS FOR US-BASED SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS! Colleen Jones (CJ) and Steve Smith are thrilled to announce that the first-ever National ASL Interpreter Income Survey has launched!  After all the planning, preparation, and hype, we hope you’re as excited as we are that this monumental study is open and accepting responses.  Thank you in advance for your participation and support!

A few reminders:

Take this survey when you have your tax documents in front of you. We designed the survey and timing to align with tax time, and the income questions will be easiest to answer when you have your 1099s and/or W2s within reach.  (Don’t worry, there are no questions about business expenses.) 

If you earned any income as a sign language interpreter in 2024, this survey is for you!  Whether you’re an employee or an independent contractor, brand new, or have decades of experience, hearing or Deaf, we want these results to represent YOU.

VISION SURVEY

TerpsWA is interested in learning more about how the interpreter shortage impacts you and what your dream solution is. Please take a moment to answer our Vision Survey. Your responses will help us determine what solutions will most benefit the community.


If you prefer to respond in sign language, or have questions about the survey, please email terpswa@gmail.com.