Alabama Department of Mental Health Office of Deaf Services Frequently Asked Questions
Why are permitted interpreters not accepted for the practicum? Alabama State Code defines that a Qualified Mental Health Interpreter must first be licensed or licensed-eligible.Beyond that, mental health interpreting requires a high degree of fluency in both the target and source language in order to distinguish between normal language, psychotic language, and alingual or dysfluent language.
I wasn’t able to attend the full forty hour training at MHIT.Can I go ahead with the practicum? No.As stated in the Alabama Code 580-3-24-.06 Training and Certification of Qualified Mental Health Interpreters:
An interpreter desiring recognition as a qualified mental health interpreter must accumulate a minimum of 40 clock hours of training in the content areas enumerated in sections 580-3-24 -.01 through 580-3-24-.05.
Therefore, attendance at all forty hours of the MHIT training must be documented and submitted before the practicum can begin.In cases of emergency, missed portions of the training may be substituted for portions of the MHIT training; however, the suggested substitution must be equivalent in content.Approval for exemptions and substitutions must be approved through the Office of Deaf Services MHIT Coordinator, Charlene Crump.Until the forty hours are documented as being complete, you cannot move toward a practicum experience.
Who qualified as a supervisor? Alabama State Code states that a supervisor: “….must be approved by the Office of Deaf Services and may include an interpreter who holds certification as a qualified mental health interpreter issued by the Office of Deaf Services, an interpreter who is known to the Office of Deaf Services as having significant experience and knowledge in the field of mental health, an interpreter who also holds a degree in psychology, clinical social work, psychiatry or counseling, or a staff interpreter assigned to the Office of Deaf Services of a DMH/MR facility.”
NOTE:This does not mean that an individual holding these credentials is automatically assumed to be a supervisor; any supervisory agreements must first be approved by the Office of Deaf Services.
Why does the Office of Deaf Services recommend that I come to Greil for my practicum experience? Greil Memorial Psychiatric Hospital’s Bailey Deaf Unit is unique.We have a segregated ten-bed crisis unit for hard-of-hearing and deaf with most disciplines of the professional staff (the director, psychologist and social worker) being deaf as well.Our patients run the gamut from being psychotic to developing language competency to stand trial to being stable and awaiting placement. Language competencies run from proficient ASL to extreme dysfluency.In addition to the aforementioned, there are two interpreters on staff who are certified and have held the “Qualified Mental Health Interpreter” credential for years.
Should I go ahead and purchase my travel tickets as soon as we have decided what my practicum dates will be? No.When you’re ready to do your practicum and you and the Practicum Coordinator have agreed on a date, the coordinator will begin the process to get your individualized Interpreter Agreement approved through our hospital and then through our Legal Department.Please do not make airline reservations until the Interpreter Agreement has made its way back into our hands here at Greil.There should be plenty of time to make reservations at a savings after we get it back in house, but we have no way of knowing how long the approval procedure will take and cannot be responsible for delays in the contract process if you do purchase your ticket ahead of time.We will contact you as soon as we have the legal requirements in place.
What if I am unable to secure ten (10) hours of observation at my local site? If you are unable to secure ten hours of observation, you may substitute actual work time in mental health (clinical) settings.You should prepare and present case studies for the time.
The case studies should follow a Demand Control (EIPI) perspective.You will want to consult with your practicum supervisor to make sure that the hours would be suitable for this purpose prior to appointment.
Will practicum experiences be similar for every person? Your practicum experiences will not be the same as any other participant’s, as mental health settings are an ever changing dynamic.But, there are requirement elements that must be completed within each practicum experience.
May I have more than one supervisor? During your practicum, you will have one Primary Practicum Supervisor, but we hope you will work with several qualified supervisors.This allows the practicum student to examine different perspectives of interpreting and mental health.
What format should be used for case presentations of the observation hours? You should be able to identify demands and controls through the Demand Control Schema developed by Robyn Dean and Bob Pollard.(Please review your notes from MHIT on the EIPIand Demand – Control discussion.) This will include such items as setting, patient diagnosis, goal for the session, all observed demands and all possible controls including phrases or concepts that you recognize would be difficult to interpret or that you’re unfamiliar with the meaning, etc.Notes may hand-written or typed.We recommend that you write up your first observation and submit it to your supervisor so that they can make sure you’re on the right track before you work too many hours on notes that may be unacceptable.
What happens if I am unable to complete my practicum within one year? Under certain circumstances, you may request and be granted an extension in order to complete your practicum requirements.Otherwise, you will need to retake the MHIT training.
What does the Written Examination include? The Written Examination for “Qualified Mental Health Interpreter(s)” will take you approximately six to eight hours to complete.It is designed to examine your comprehension and synthesis of the material, not your rote memory.As such, most answers will require a paragraph or two to completely address the question.Questions on the test can be categorized into four basic groups:
•Name:a one or two word answer identifying the requested item. •Discuss:requires explanation, usually in depth, about the topic. •“What is …?”:usually shorter, one-sentence responses that do not require elaboration. •Identify:requires a short answer.
Ask the practicum coordinator where you can find the sample questions.
If I complete my practicum, will I be able to go ahead with the Written Examination immediately? If your practicum is completed successfully, yes.During your practicum, the Practicum Team will be keeping abreast of the scores received from the supervisors (based on standardized rubrics).As your practicum wraps up, the decision will be made as to whether it will be recommended to the Office of Deaf Services that you sit for the written test as the next step toward becoming a “Qualified Mental Health Interpreter”.This decision is made based on strong input from your primary supervisor, the scores you received from all your supervisors and the documentation the practicum coordinator received indicating synthesis of information taught during MHIT as well as the practicum experience.If you are not recommended to sit for the exam, a meeting will be held with you to explain the reason(s) the recommendation was not made and what options are available.
Where can I take my written examination? In Alabama, the exam may be administered at one of six sites. The most common testing site is at the Office of Deaf Services’ Central Office.Candidates will need to plan a minimum of four hours for the examination; a maximum of eight hours is allowed.The Practicum Coordinator will provide you with direct contact information to the examination proctor as needed.
For test-takers in other states, the testing site will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
What happens if I don’t pass my written examination? If a candidate’s score is below the passing level, the candidate will be given a summary of the test results delineating their strengths and weaknesses as evidenced by the written exam.Some candidates whose exam total approached the cut off score will be offered the opportunity to sit for an oral examination covering the deficiencies noted on the summary report.Candidates not successfully passing the written/oral exam may retake a different version of the exam after three months or after re-taking the MHIT training.If remediation is desired, contact the Practicum Coordinator who will get in touch with the Office of Deaf Services to see the nature of remediation needed and make a recommendation to a Practicum Supervisor.
Can I use interpreting for a mental health conference (Consumer Conference, MHIT, State Community Council,etc.) as part of my practicum or annual CEU requirements for maintaining my certification? No.Assignments must be clinical in nature.Section 4.3 of the Practicum Guidelines states: “Unacceptable assignments include platform interpreting for workshops, interpreting professional level meetings that are not directly related to treatment planning, social activities, or interpreting assignments primarily educational in nature.”
After being awarded the Qualified Mental Health Interpreter (QMHI) certification, how can I earn 40 clock hours of CEU requirements within twelve months? Clock hours include training, work hours or a combination of the two. Some suggestions include:clinical work hours; 40 clock hours MHIT; 40 plus clock hours through online article discussions/self-paced activities; additional ODS trainings; trainings offered by other agencies/individuals; etc.If you are not sure if an activity would satisfy the ceu requirement, you may contact the Office of Deaf Services.
Where can I go for additional information? This website is a good resources and you are welcome to contact the practicum coordinator, Steve Hamerdinger at steve.hamerdinger@mh.alabama.gov or the MHIT Project Coordinator, Charlene Crump at charlene.crump@mh.alabama.gov