Beyond the language barrier: Facilitating immigrant and refugee access to early intervention services in Philadelphia through interpreting, translation, and quality control

Under contract from the City of Philadelphia, ChildLink is Philadelphia County’s early intervention program for children, from birth to age three, with developmental delays and disabilities.  ChildLink facilitates the provision of supports and service to qualifying children and their families within the County free of charge.  Given its geographic scope, a major
metropolitan area, ChildLink has also served thousands of immigrant and refugee households.

In 2005, ChildLink established an internal system to guarantee quality of interpreting and translation services for parents/caregivers with limited English proficiency (LEP). Today, all phone calls with LEP parents/caregivers include a telephonic interpreter, all in-person appointments have an interpreter present, and all written correspondence and requested documentation are provided in the household’s native language, and translated by a certified translator versus automatic online translation.  Staff is routinely trained in how to request interpreting and translations services and how to work with interpreters effectively.  As a result, since 2005, ChildLink has served almost 3000 LEP households.  Currently, the program serves 354 LEP households out of 3294 total households; services have been provided in over 20 languages.  The lessons learned thus far have been: an organizational commitment to access for children and families regardless of native language or country of origin ensures the ongoing participation of LEP communities and upholds a basic human right, and builds trust and credibility, which can facilitate future initiatives among immigrant and refugee communities; and the program’s experience is scalable and applicable to other providers serving these demographic groups.