Deaf Community Services of San Diego, Inc. discontinues COMMEND Interpreting Services

[Nesmuth]

Another victim of the VRS monopoly in San Diego?

Richard

==============================

I deeply regret to inform you that after many years of service to
the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, Deaf Community Services of
San Diego, Inc. (DCS) will no longer be able to provide 24 hour
emergency interpreting services also know in the community as
COMMEND. It has been a difficult decision to make knowing that many
of the members of our community depend on this system to have
effective communication in an emergency situation. We will
discontinue the COMMEND services as of October 14th. There will be a
two week reprieve during which time the COMMEND number; (800) 422-
7444 will be responded to only with possible referrals. After
October 28th there will not be any response to that number.

DCS will be available during the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM Monday
through Friday to handle any emergency calls at our regular number
(619) 398-2488. We will also handle prescheduled medical services
for evenings and weekends during our regular business hours.

We were forced to modify our services due to the limited
availability of after-hours qualified interpreters for emergency
purposes. The amount of work during regular business hours has
caused a shortage of interpreters during after-business hours,
especially for those on call. It is also difficult for an on-call
interpreter to be available for all areas of the county, and it is
not financially feasible to have an on-call interpreter for each
area.

To remedy the situation the hospitals were given the following
choices:

Locate a list of local certified Sign Language interpreters by going
to the web site of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID)
www.rid.org. They are a national certification agency for sign
language interpreters. This site will allow you to pull up a
directory for your area.

Contact Network Interpreting Services. They are based out of Idaho,
but provide local services. They have expressed an interest to us
about setting up emergency service in San Diego. Their website is
www.aslnis.com: < http://www.aslnis.com/> and phone number is (800)
284-1043.

Another contact is a group of local certified interpreters who plan
to develop a system especially to service the north county
hospitals. The contact name is Billieanne McLellan, email
beai@juno.com: <mailto:beai@juno.com> phone (760) 855-1075.

I know this will cause a hardship to our many valued community
members and I hope that a solution to this problem will be developed
soon. We made an official announcement regarding this matter at Deaf
Awareness Day but I want to make sure that the community knows what
is happening and we ask everyone to share this information so that
all community members are aware.

Sincerely,

Glenn Liptak

Director of Human Resources & Communication Services
Deaf Community Services of San Diego, Inc.
3930 Fourth Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, CA 92103
619.398.2450 Direct Voice
619.398.2439 Direct Fax
619.398.2438 TTY

 

[CODAchild]

This is such a shame. Interpreters are so desperately needed throughout the United States, especially on an emergency situation. I hope that the government of San Diego will do something to try and bring this emergency interpreting service back. You never know when a deaf of hard or hearing person is going to need it.

 

[gnarlydorkette]

Their interpreters suck anyway! Good ridicules to them.

The DCS's interpreter services are shortstaffed and full of rookies that has NO skills nor experience. Most of them are ROP graduates (one-year program where you get a certificate saying you can work as a interpreter. THE WORST IDEA ever).

There is already a major interpreter organizaton existing separatedly from the DCS in San Diego. It is them that got the business, not the VRS centers.

Contact Network Interpreting Services. They are based out of Idaho, but provide local services. They have expressed an interest to us about setting up emergency service in San Diego. Their website is www.aslnis.com: <http://www.aslnis.com/>

This is the ONE that got all businesses away from DCS. Just because it is based in Idaho, it doesn't mean we got nothing going on in San Diego. The NIS do have a local office and a GOOD number of local interpreters and the President of this organization LIVES in San Diego. So there-- we are not doomed.

Plus there are A LOT of freelance interpreters in San Diego if NIS gives away locally. Many interpreters don't like NIS and RID's restrictions and policies to stay 'certificable'. And many of them got excellent skills, signing and ethical, that they don't need a piece of paper saying so.

There are DEAF people in San Diego, no matter what bbnt says, and there will be enough interp's to cater the Deaf clients as long they reside in this city.

 

[Nesmuth]

You really think there's terps in SD? How come 2 attorneys, a deaf teacher, a doctor, and a social worker, all in San Diego, called me to say they cant find terps for their needs?

There's no terps available at all. The VRS industry got them all away from the community that needs them. NIS dont seem to be remedying the shortage at all.

Richard

 

[Margie]

I totally argee with Richard.

I agree with Richard.
There is a storeage of interpreters all over, even San Diego.
The deaf communiy as well has the hard of hearing need interperters really bad.
VRS is taking them away from the people who need them.
We provide very inexpensive interprerting, for all.
If you live in Southern California and you need an interperter, please feel free to contact me, via E-mail.
margiegar48@yahoo.com.
Margie
Dir. of Communicaton Services
OCDAC