The Community Services Locator is an online directory for finding community services for children and families.

Most communities have education, health, mental health, family support, parenting, child care, and other services that can help support children and families. However, locating those services or even knowing which services to look for is often difficult.

The Community Services Locator is designed to help service providers and families find available national, state, and local resources that can address child and family needs.

Service providers can use the locator with "Where to seek help": A Bright Futures referral tool for providers (2006) to help build a customized directory of community-based resources. The tool is also available in Spanish.

Source: Maternal and Child Health Library, National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (via Child Welfare Information Gateway).

Language LineŽ University, the globally recognized interpreter testing, training and certification division of Language Line Services, is the first testing body to use the newly established designation of "Certified Medical Interpreter" (CMI).

The CMI certification identifies medical interpreters who have demonstrated the interpreting skill and knowledge of the medical field needed to bridge language barriers between health care providers and limited English proficient (LEP) patients.

Research has shown that professional medical interpreters, who are trained in medical terminology and cultural nuances, can improve outcomes for patients, lower risks, and even reduce costs.

See full news release here.

Learn more about Language LineŽ University certification programs here or call 1-800-752-6096.

The information below is provided by LanguageTrak, a demographic tracking service provided by Language Line Services.

The data reflects the languages most requested by emergency services, government agencies, health care facilities and businesses.

Fukienese:

Nationally, in the past year there has been a 44% increase in the need for Fukienese interpreters.

Fukienese is a dialect of Chinese spoken by nearly 45 million people worldwide with most speakers residing in China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.

Areas that have seen the largest increase in interpreter demand for Fukienese:

1. Phoenix, AZ 400% increase
2. Pottsville, Scranton, Williamsport, PA 200% increase
3. Lansdale, Levittown, Philadelphia, PA 200% increase
4. Austin, Georgetown, San Marcos, TX 300% increase
5. Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, FL 200% increase

Areas with the largest demand for Fukienese:

1. New York, NY
2. San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, CA
3. Phoenix, AZ
4. Austin, Georgetown, San Marcos, TX
5. Lansdale, levittown, Philadelphia, PA

Map complements of Wikipedia. Learn more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujian

Learn more about Language LineŽ LanguageTrak here and here.

In partnership with BiMedical.Net LLC, we announced the availability of Language LineŽ BiMedical.net, an online application that generates bilingual medical forms and questionnaires in multiple languages to allow for immediate communication with limited English proficient (LEP) patients.

Printed in both the patient's and the caregiver's languages, the forms are designed to protect patient safety, improve service quality and save time by obtaining key health information in an easily understood format.

"Everyone in healthcare knows the single most important determinant of a rapid and accurate diagnosis is a complete and reliable medical history, which is why LEP patients continue to have significantly higher rates of misdiagnosis and poorer outcomes," says James Huizenga, M.D., BiMedical.net Project Lead.

"Too often practitioners make do with less information. BiMedical.net helps protect patient safety by giving busy clinical staff more baseline information and more time to use an interpreter to delve into the details of a patient encounter."

For more information about Language LineŽ BiMedical.net, visit www.languageline.com/bimedical or contact Ken Anders at Language Line Services at 1-800-731-6437 or bimedical@languageline.com.

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