Multilingual Legal Referral Hotline

Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center - 030089

Abstract Number: 030089

April 2003

The Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC) operates a multilingual legal referral hotline that serves the limited English proficient (LEP) and non-English speaking Asian population in the Washington DC metropolitan area. APALRC's hotline is staffed by volunteer law students from George Washington University Law School, Georgetown University Law School, and American University Law School. The volunteers speak a variety of Asian languages such as Mandarin, Korean, Hindi, Urdu, Cantonese, and Bengali. The students work two hour shifts and APALRC typically has four students receiving calls at a time. Upon receiving a call, intake staff members identify the caller's legal problem and make a referral to a local legal services provider or pro bono program with the supervision of the Legal Director. After a referral is made, APALRC provides follow up translation services for the client through their Legal Interpreter Project (LIP) to ensure that the client does not encounter further language barriers while receiving assistance through the referral organization. APARLC implemented the LIP to train community members in legal interpretation and uses them on a contract basis to provide additional interpretation or translation services to clients. APARLC sees the LIP project as a crucial component of their referral hotline as it ensures clients continue to receive legal assistance in their own language through trained interpreters even after actual referral is complete.

APALRC is currently in the process of upgrading their technological infrastructure to further integrate their intake and referral process with the Potomac Legal Aid Society (PLAS) and Legal Services of Northern Virginia (LSNV), thereby facilitating the electronic transfer of client referral information from APALRC to PLAS and LSNV via the internet. Through this arrangement, APARLC will more effectively refer brief services cases to PLAS and extended representation cases to LSNV.

From APALRC's experiences operating a volunteer intake referral hotline, they published a manual entitled "Developing and Maintaining a Successful Legal Referral Hotline for Immigrant Communities: A How to Handbook" that provides instruction and guidance on how to set up legal referral hotline. The APALRC will also be producing a manual on the LIP interpreter project in 2003.

Contact Information:

Jayne Park
Executive Director
Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center
733 15th Street, NW
Suite 315
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 393-0996
Fax: (202) 393-0995
Email

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