As a courtesy for our members, we would like to pass along the following information from the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, which is the state body currently making a renewed attempt to implement court interpreter certification through the consortium here in Illinois. Please read below for more details and for information on participating in one of the upcoming meetings to get input from stakeholders taking place throughout the state in January. 

 

You will also find the dates of each regional meeting posted on the MATI site calendar.

 

Susan Schweigert

MATI Board Member
 

I am writing to let you know that the AOIC will be hosting six regional meetings across the state in January for judges, court personnel, and any other interested stakeholders. I have attached a Save-the-Date with location information and an agenda. Feel free attend at a date and location that is convenient for you and extend this invitation to your contacts.

 

The regional meetings will give everyone an opportunity to discuss challenges in addressing language access in the circuit courts. We will also discuss creative approaches undertaken to meet those challenges in other counties in Illinois and other states, and implementation solutions for the Language Access Plan template that was approved by the Supreme Court. The template was distributed in the past several weeks to the circuit courts and we are currently in the submission process for county-specific plans. Our hope is that the meetings will provide our office with a better understanding of how we can assist the circuit courts, and provide a starting point for greater cooperation across the state.

 

We kindly request that all attendees RSVP to sakbar@illinoiscourts.gov by January 3, 2014 so that our office can plan for space and refreshments accordingly. If you are attending the meeting in Chicago, John Marshall Law school requires our office to send a list of first and last names prior to the meeting for entrance security purposes.

Our office has already extended the invitation to court personnel responsible for arranging for interpreters in each county, and I requested that they bring their Language Access Plans and any related questions, examples of translated court forms, brochures, or other language assistance resources already in use, and a list of interpreters used by the court. Please feel free to bring any materials that would contribute to the conversation.

 

Thanks and hope to see you there.

 

Sophia N. Akbar, J.D.

Language Access Services Specialist

Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts

222 N. LaSalle Street, 13th Floor

Chicago, Illinois 60601

 (312) 793-2013  (phone)

 (312) 793-1335  (fax)

sakbar@illinoiscourts.gov