VT RJ Language Access
Centering Language Access in Restorative Justice
Guidance provided by the Department of Justice strongly recommends that recipients of federal financial assistance develop and maintain an updated written plan on language assistance for use by employees. Language access plans are also very useful for program management, especially in the areas of training, administration, planning, and budgeting. Language access can have a major effect when it comes to engaging with community mental and health services, adequate health literacy and overall physical and mental health outcomes.
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From June 2023- November 2024, Dr. Omara Rivera-Vázquez led a project entitled: Centering Language Access in Restorative Justice Programs. This project was supported by Grant # 03420-09829, Rural Pilots to Address Mental Health and Substance Use Disparities, State of Vermont Department of Health with supplemental funding from Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic.
The Advisory Team for this project represented diverse public and non-profit sectors around the state and included individuals with lived experience: Mona Tolba, VDH Health Equity Coordinator, Samuel Dingba, Youth Coordinator AALV, Marita Canedo, Migrant Justice, Seema Gadh Kumar, former Language Access Lead, Vermont Judiciary and Human Rights Consultant.
Language Access Training Materials for Restorative Justice Programs
One of the project’s goals was to develop a training module and related components including: a PowerPoint presentation on language access, a language access workbook, a best practice in language access guidance tool, a resource list for participants, and a language access checklist for Restorative Justice (RJ) Programs.
Public Service Announcement
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Based on feedback from Community Restorative Justice Centers there was a need to create awareness about what restorative justice is overall, but more specifically as it related to outreach to communities/individuals with communication access needs. We secured a contract with the VT Language Justice Project to develop a public service announcement (PSA) in 15 languages. We endeavored to create a 3-minute script on what restorative justice is that all the Centers around the state would be able to use to conduct outreach in their communities, as well as to place on their websites. The script in English was interpreted in VT’s top 15 languages and ASL. This video was made available to all Restorative Justice Programs in May 2024.
The main objectives of the PSA entitled: Restorative Justice: an Alternative to Going to Court are to:
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Inform the audience about what is Restorative Justice
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Highlight the work of RJ programs throughout the State (list all the programs)
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Inform communities that interpretation and ASL services are available as needed.
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Restorative Justice Programs in VT are encouraged to place these on their websites. The complete playlist can be found here:​
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0uaGz81U--5xdnbJhy-zcauibyOLEjOA
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English: https://youtu.be/OcFuGjriBQA
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ASL: https://youtu.be/0U7-criw8tQ
Arabic: https://youtu.be/Oyfdmux_yxI
Burmese: https://youtu.be/7QrEHOCC-lg
Dari: https://youtu.be/X99J6Q0PI6o
French: https://youtu.be/Qflhp52Qung
Kirundi: https://youtu.be/BF2tc12v0s8
Maay Maay: https://youtu.be/911vS0K0Wwg
Mandarin: https://youtu.be/9br55C2lwWA
Nepali: https://youtu.be/iogTlmHV0e0
Pashto: https://youtu.be/x7J3bRRh7O0
Somali: https://youtu.be/N7wKv-NYK4w
Spanish: https://youtu.be/-DOttS00KXw
Swahili: https://youtu.be/1oRwApWxZvc
Tigrinya: https://youtu.be/o87EcJYXjrk
Ukrainian: https://youtu.be/EzvNLvtMLZ8
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