2025 AFCC Fall Virtual Conference Evaluation Workshop 14
Workshop 14: Interpreting Across Worlds: How Language Shapes Credibility in Parenting Plan Evaluations
This workshop explores how language fluency, speech patterns, and interpreter use affect credibility and fairness in parenting plan evaluations. It explores how limited English proficiency accented speech, or nonstandard English varieties (e.g., African American Vernacular English, Chicano English, Caribbean English), can lead to misjudgments about parenting capacity. The session outlines when interpreter services are ethically required and discusses how bias may persist even with trained interpreters. It explores race, class, and immigration in an intersectional discussion of linguistic privilege, offering tools for more equitable, culturally attuned, and linguistically responsive evaluations.
