For Virginia State & Local Government Agencies

The Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (VDDHH) is charged with assisting state agencies and their local counterparts in the process of securing qualified sign language interpreters.

VDDHH maintains a Service Agreement for interpreter services in which other state agencies have the option of participating. Participating agencies are assured of consistent hourly rates and terms for the freelance interpreters signed on to the Service Agreement. If you do not know whether your agency participates in the Service Agreement, please contact us.

VDDHH can coordinate interpreter services for state agencies whether or not those agencies participate in the VDDHH Interpreter Services Agreement. There are two basic methods for doing this:

1. VDDHH-Coordinated Assignments: using this method, the agency that needs interpreter services submits a detailed request form to VDDHH and VDDHH contacts and assigns qualified interpreters and notifies the requesting agency when an interpreter is assigned. The requesting agency is responsible for paying the interpreter and the interpreter will bill that agency directly. Please use the VDDHH General Sign Language Interpreter/CART Request Form to request VDDHH coordination assistance. Forms must be complete to be accepted. Submit the request to isprequests@vddhh.virginia.gov. Once your request form has been received, you should receive an acknowledgement of receipt including a job number for tracking purposes. Remember that advance notice on any request is critical for the most likely interpreter availability, especially when multiple interpreters are needed. VDDHH does NOT provide services 24 hours a day so if your request is submitted outside of normal business hours it will be processed the following business day. See the Service Agreement for further information.
2. Self-Coordinated Assignments: state agencies are NOT required to go through VDDHH to secure interpreter services. While it may be helpful to use our service for occasional requests, if you have an ongoing need, you may want to handle the arrangements yourself.

If you must cancel a request, please be sure to make that clear in the subject line: “CANCEL Request: [AGENCY NAME] [DATE] [VDDHH JOB #, if established]. DO NOT send a reply to the “Confirmation of Sign Language Interpreter” message to cancel an interpreter unless you change the SUBJECT LINE to include: CANCEL. Please remember that, if you cancel with less than 2 full business days’ notice, the interpreter(s) will still be able to bill for the full scheduled time.

CART is Computer Assisted Real Time Transcription. It is most often used by non-signing Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals. VDDHH does not maintain a service agreement for CART services. In cases where CART is required, the agency sends the request out to known providers in the area (limited) and requests information on their rates and terms for the assignment. Rates for CART are significantly higher than rates for interpreters; however, for jobs over two hours, you typically only need a single CART provider.