The Present State of Interpreter Availability and Usage: A Descriptive Analysis

To study interpreter availability and usage patterns among TWC2’s case workers during office-based consultations, a survey was administered to all case workers for all consultations over a 3-week period. Results suggest that case workers’ expectations of the unavailability of in-person volunteer interpreter assistance, coupled with the inconveniences of telephonic volunteer interpretation, cause case workers to self-edit and make do without. This potentially has implications for the quality of consultation and case workers’ long-term welfare and job satisfaction. While this topic is deserving of further study, tentative recommendations include the establishment of a supplementary source of in-person volunteer interpreters during office hours.