In a surprise move on August 8, 2015, Dawn Witcher, President of RID, accompanied by Chris Wagner, President of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), took the stage at the Board Forum Town Hall with RID & NAD to announce a “moratorium on credentialing.” Needless to say, the shockwaves from this announcement were immediately felt within the Deaf Community and sign language interpreter community around the nation.

You can view the formal RID announcement by clicking here.

View the announcement made during the session here.

View follow-up comment made by Melvin Walker on the moratorium here.

View the formal response made by the NAD regarding the moratorium by clicking here.

To access the RID Credentialing Moratorium FAQ, click here.

Attendee Reaction

Few answers came with RID’s announcement of the credentialing moratorium, leaving the membership with an ever-growing list of questions: What is the rationale for the suspension? What is the expected timeline to reinstate performance testing? How will RID address interpreters who are mid-process? How will this decision impact the field of interpreting, licensure, HIs and DIs, agencies, and the Deaf community? Concern was the overarching sentiment expressed by conference attendees after the announcement. Many attendees also noted the need for radical change in the field of interpreting, citing a broad range of issues including credentialing, social justice, power and privilege, interpreter training, and meeting the diverse needs of the communities we serve.

To view conference attendee reactions to the events and decisions, click here and here.

More RID coverage here.