ASL version

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English version

Hello everyone! My name is Darlene Zangara and I’m the Executive Director of the Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind & Hard of Hearing.

I will start with a visual description of myself. I am a white woman with blonde hair, glasses, and wearing a black shirt.

I have a lot of exciting news to share with you in this update.

Interpreting Forward 2030 updates

Today I am filming just before our big summit begins. By the time this update is shared with you, the summit will already be over. During this summit, we will review the information that has been collected so far and work on proposed solutions. A separate update about the summit results will be shared soon.

For now, I want to say thank you to everyone who has contributed.

We did a statewide tour and held 12 sessions. Through these sessions, we gathered input and ideas from more than 235 consumers, Deaf interpreters, hearing interpreters, and systems stakeholders. Thank you for joining the sessions.

I thank the working group members for their hard work with building a systems map that shows the path to becoming an interpreter, conducting interviews, doing research, and analyzing data.

I thank the focus group members for meeting to exchange knowledge and develop possible solutions in specialized topics. If you are not aware of the focus groups, visit the December 2023 Interpreting Forward update on the Commission’s website.

I thank everyone who participated in the open interviews and the anonymous surveys.

I thank our community partners for endorsing Interpreting Forward. They are the Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens, the Minnesota Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, The St. Paul/Minneapolis Black Deaf Advocates, Deaf Equity, Minnesota Deaf Queers, and the Minnesota Deaf Muslim Community.

All of you are an important part to addressing this important issue, how to improve the availability and quality of sign language interpreters in Minnesota.

Court interpreters strike

The Minnesota Disability Law Center and ThinkSelf have created a letter in both American Sign Language and English for court participants who are deaf. The letter explains your rights to communication access in the courts and how to file a complaint.

If you have a court appointment and you are not sure if you will have an interpreter, It is still really important to attend court appointments to avoid any consequences for not showing up. If you attend your scheduled hearing and there is no accommodation provided, the courts should delay to another day.

Access the letter and information on the Commission’s website (MN court interpreter strike).

Again, if you have a court appointment, you still need to go to the appointment. Don’t miss it.

Presidential Nomination Primary (PNP)

The Presidential Primary will take place on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Early voting is already open for this primary.

What’s the Presidential Primary?

In the Presidential Primary, you will vote for your preferred candidate for President for your chosen major political party. Other political parties do not have a Presidential Primary.

When you vote, either by early voting or on Election Day, you will have to select one ballot for the major political party you want.

Separately, on August 13, 2024, we will have a State Primary Election for offices other than the President.

The big Election Day will take place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Be sure to take time to learn the elections process and research your candidates.

For any questions about elections, I encourage you to reach out to Outreach and Civic Engagement Director Jessalyn Akerman-Frank. She and her team of civic engagement specialists will be happy to explain the voting process to you. Contact Jessalyn by email.

Older Americans Act reauthorization

Did you know the number of retirees will outnumber children in the United States by 2035? This is predicted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

On the federal level, the Older Americans Act (OAA) is going through a reauthorization. The OAA is a law that provides funding and guidance to states and local programs specifically for older adults.

Legislative committees will often create programs and funding for a specific time frame with an end date. This is also called an authorization period.

If they want the work to continue, the same legislative committee will work to “reauthorize” that program and funding. The OAA has gone through several reauthorizations since it was first established in 1965.

Right now, the OAA is approaching their current ending date. Congress is working on reauthorizing the OAA.

The National Association of State Agencies serving Deaf and Hard of Hearing (NASADHH), of which the Commission is a member, is leading a national push on the OAA reauthorization.

We want to see funding, programs, and services allocated to seniors who are deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing.

NASADHH submitted suggested changes to be included in the reauthorization. This includes:

1. Definitions inserted on “communication disabilities” and who has a communication-related disability, such as Deaf, DeafBlind, Deaf Disabled, and Hard of Hearing.
2. Require the Administration to evaluate comprehensive, accessible care models to determine their impact on health outcomes for community members with communication-related disabilities.
3. Require all 50 states to dedicate a percentage of grant funding and ensure cultural and linguistic appropriate services to serve the aging population with hearing loss with various identities.
   
   States should also coordinate with state agencies serving Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing individuals if the state has an agency.
   
   Minnesota is lucky because we have two agencies, 1) the Commission and 2) the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Division.
   
   States can also work with similar state nonprofits who focus on deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing issues.
4. Require that support services and senior center program include American Sign Language in the list of languages for language translation services available.

I will provide updates as we advocate for these changes with other NASADHH members.

Picture slideshow

Here are pictures of recent events. 

In closing

From Interpreting Forward to the Older Americans Act reauthorization, we are working on large system issues to ensure Minnesotans have a good quality of life. If you would like to chat about systemic issues or if there is any information you would like me to share in a future update, please reach out to me by email. Thank you!

Credits

Featuring Dr. Darlene G. Zangara, Executive Director. The Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind & Hard of Hearing thanks:

Daisy Jo Shuda for voiceover.

Keystone Interpreting Solutions for film production.