More Qualified Court Interpreters for Utica

Utica, NY (WIBX) - Interpreters from Utica and Syracuse are spending the weekend preparing to become court-qualified.

Instructor Agustin de la Mora says bettering interpreting services equate to more "meaningful access to the courts and to medical care," for many immigrants who are exposed to the justice system.

The ability to communicate effectively is often taken for granted by English language-speakers.

Cornelia Brown, whose group "MAMI," sponsors the event, says that this may be the first course of its kind offered in Central New York.

More than forty languages are spoken in the Utica public school system.