News  Victim Services Unit and Office of Language Access Offer Victims and Survivors On-Demand Virtual Interpretation Services

The Massachusetts Probation Service's Victim Services Unit (VSU) is expanding its outreach to limited English speakers through on-demand Zoom video remote interpretation services thanks to a collaboration with the Massachusetts Trial Court's Office of Language Access (OLA).

The VSU, which includes eight Victim Services Coordinators as well as statewide and assistant statewide managers, has offices in each of the state's 14 counties. The VSU helps victims and survivors navigate the court system by providing information/updates on after-hours GPS/SCRAM warrants, assists with safety planning, referrals to community resources, and ensures that victims/survivors are afforded their victim rights under the Massachusetts Victim Rights law. VSU serviced more than 4,000 victims and survivors of crime over the past year, according to Corinn Nelson, Statewide Manager of the Victim Services Unit.

"We work very closely with OLA to provide interpretation services to victims and survivors. Our goal is to provide services to every victim we work with in their language. The VSU provides a lot of notifications throughout the week. They could be for violation hearings or an after-hours GPS warrant. We can communicate effectively with victims and survivors which increases their access to justice and provides speedy notification," said Ms. Nelson.

Ms. Nelson added, "We have a number of victims and survivors who speak many different languages and dialects, and it is important for us to communicate effectively. They have every right to know what's going on with their offender's probation. It's notification of court dates, seeing if they want to participate or exercise their rights within and outside of the court system. We play a big part in their lives. We provide notifications about the probation process. We are also talking to them about their needs. Do they need counseling? Services for their children? Do they need health insurance? Whatever it is, we are able to connect them."

OLA launched another service - Language Line, an on-demand telephone interpretation service - during the Pandemic to provide language access to "Limited English Proficient (LEP)" court users who participate in court programs, Court Service Centers, and the Specialty Courts. Zoom video remote interpretation services is an extension of these services, according to Sybil Martin, Director OLA and the Trial Court's Court Records Department.

"The Massachusetts Probation Service accounts for one-third of the call volume to Language Line, recording over 350 calls per month for telephone interpretation," said Ms. Martin. "Telephone interpretation is also available for these top requested languages: Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian Portuguese), Cape Verdean, Chinese, French, Haitian-Creole, Vietnamese, and such rare languages as Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Nepali, Romanian, Swahili, and Turkish."

Ms. Martin said OLA receives 1,100 calls and requests monthly from Trial Court employees for telephone interpretation, and about 18% of Trial Court events require Zoom video remote interpretation. In addition to Zoom and telephone interpretation, OLA's Translation Committee - comprised of OLA employees: staff interpreters and paid per diem interpreters - translate court-wide forms, texts, and documents produced by MPS and the Trial Court. Among the languages currently offered are Arabic, Cape Verdean Creole, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Haitian Creole, Khmer, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

"Ultimately, our goal is to provide access to justice for LEP court users in all forms, e.g., in-person, by Zoom video remote, telephone, and translations to ensure their experience with the court is a meaningful one," Ms. Martin said.