27 Establish Grievance Process for Quality Control – Restorative and Timely Process

Proposed Solution: A coalition, led by the Commission, would institute a Restorative Grievance Process. The process would be DDBHH-centric, with education and restorative principles at the heart of the process. A quality specialist would be the primary interface for receiving the complaint, engaging the complait to understand the nature of the concern and moving the complaint forward if the complaint is one that is actionable. Complaints would receive an initial response within 48 hours. Valid complaints would be reviewed by a panel of DDBHH people and interpreters. Majority of valid complaints are likely to result in restorative and constructive solutions for the interpreter to improve on their professional practice. Measurable goals and outcomes would be included in regular and public reporting. Primary aims are to improve on interpreters’ professional practice and retain more skilled interpreters in the field, while also expanding DDBHH consumers’ understanding of what constitutes a violation of professional practice.

Expected outcome: DDBHH consumers would have a venue for timely complaint resolution. Interpreters would have greater ability to 1) improve upon their practice and 2) have misunderstandings resolved through a restorative process.

Who is impacted: Consumers, interpreters