Occasionally, the agency may require a translator to mediate between a client and a caseworker. Translation services may be required if caseworkers working on a client's case are unable to interact with the client in his or her preferred language. A client's preferred language is recorded when the client is registered with the agency. For example, when James Smith is registered with the agency, his preferred language is recorded as "Spanish" and he cannot speak any other language. In order to interact with the client, the caseworker responsible for managing James Smith's case must be able to interact with James in Spanish or have a translator who can mediate between them.
Determining the need for a translator is evaluated on a case-by-case basis depending on the translation requirements present on an individual case. For example, a client may require translation services on one case but not on another. The need for a translator for a client can be recorded manually by a case worker or it can be determined automatically by the system. Whether the translation needs for a client are set manually by a case worker or automatically by the system is dictated by a configuration setting that is set on a case-by-case basis as part of the application administration. For more information see Configuring Case Types.
The need for a translator is automatically determined at various points throughout the lifecycle of a case, e.g. when a new case member is added to a case, or when a case is reassigned to a new case owner. The system determines the need for a translator by checking if the case worker's language skills match client's preferred language. If they do not match, the system determined that a translator is required. A case worker may also manually update the translation requirements for a case even if they are initially determined by the system.
If a translator is required for a case participant, case workers are kept informed of it when they view the case participant details. Additionally, the system displays the preferred language of the participant who requires the translation services.