CAS Professional Development
The Communication Access Services (CAS) program offers a variety of professional development opportunities for signed language interpreters in the State. The CAS interpreter mentors offer training for school district interpreters, workshops for working and student interpreters, and study groups for national certification and the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) knowledge and performance exams.
- Professional Development Day trainings and Professional Learning Communities (PLC) facilitation for school district interpreters: If you would like to request a training or PLC facilitation for the interpreters at your Nevada school district, please submit a request at https://forms.office.com/g/EC9iiL7hJX
- Study groups for national certification and EIPA: If you would like assistance in preparing for the EIPA or national certification knowledge or performance exams and you are an interpreter in Nevada, please contact us.
CAS Mentorship
The CAS Mentorship Program takes a holistic approach to mentorship. The holistic approach recognizes the real-life complexities and ethical considerations that impact the interpreting process and product. The CAS Mentorship Program Curriculum focuses on developing self-analysis skills. Self-analysis skills give interpreters the ability to assess their work product before, during, and after an interpretation. Learning and practicing self-analysis helps the interpreter realize their agency and self-determination to take responsibility for their own professional learning. In addition to the curriculum, the mentorship will include areas of need for each mentee. This may include, but is not limited to, ethics, professionalism, business practices, general content knowledge, and the like.
Participants should expect to spend 2 to 3 hours per week on mentoring activities, in addition to regular meetings with their mentor. The mentee may continue in the mentorship program for up to 2 years. The timeframe will depend on the individual needs of the mentee. Mentorship can be conducted in-person or virtually, depending on the location of the mentee and the mentor. Priority is given to interpreters who reside in underserved areas of the state. Applications may be placed on the waitlist if the CAS mentorship program does not have the capacity to take on new mentees at the time a participant applies.
Participation in the program is at no-cost to the mentee.
The participant must be a resident of Nevada.
To apply to the CAS Mentorship Program, complete the application at: https://forms.office.com/g/r5mE9nsLCP
A member of the CAS mentorship team will then reach out to you to discuss your application.
Please contact us with any questions!
Meet the Mentors
Jeff Jaech, CI and CTJeff Jaech, MA, CI, CT, is a CAS interpreter/mentor. He has been interpreting professionally since 1986 in a wide variety of settings. He has also been an interpreter educator since 1997, teaching numerous workshops and in ITPs throughout the country. He holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Columbia University Teachers College. He worked for the Gallaudet University Regional Center as the coordinator of a federal interpreter training grant project. Since then, he has coordinated accommodations for Deaf/hard of hearing students, faculty, and staff at Columbia University Teachers College and the University of Oregon.
Michelle Montelongo, RID/NAD IV
Michelle Montelongo, RID/NAD IV, has interpreted for over 20 years, specializing in mental health, congressional, and post-secondary with an emphasis on STEM. For over a decade she served as Interpreter/Cultural Consultant for the Kern County Mental Health System of Care. During her tenure she trained clinical and psychiatric staff in the dynamics of working with interpreters and DHH population. Her congressional experience ranges from being a contracted Congressional Interpreter for the U.S. Senate's Special Services Department in Washington D.C., touring with California's Governor's Commission, serving as Lead Interpreter for Deaf-Blind Young Adults in Action, and Helen Keller World Conference in Uganda, where she trained mental health professionals on intakes for DHH consumers. Her collegiate work includes several campuses within the California State University System, University of California, Yale, and Brown University. She served as Supervision Leader/Mentor for Western Oregon University, and Supervision Leader for Robyn Dean's Interpreting Institute for Reflection-in-Action and Supervision (IIRAS).
Other Opportunities
The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, Aging and Disability Services Division is not affiliated with the listed organization(s) and does not guarantee the quality and/or content of the service(s). This information is being provided as a community service.
• American Sign Language Interpreting Services (ASLIS) offers frequent online workshops and webinars. They also have independent study opportunities:
https://www.aslis.com/attend/ • Center for Atypical Language Interpreting (CALI) offers self-paced modules on interpreting for individuals who exhibit atypical language use:
https://cssh.northeastern.edu/cali/