Maine has a serious shortage of American Sign Language interpreters. Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing Mainers regularly face gaps in access — in healthcare, education, emergency situations, and everyday life. In rural and northern Maine, the shortage is even more acute.

MeAD has been saying this for years. Now, the state of Maine is listening — and MeAD is helping lead the response.

What Is the TIME Project?

Transforming Interpreting Maine (TIME) is a statewide initiative launched by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to assess and improve ASL interpreting services across Maine. The project was funded through the SAMHSA Emergency Response Grant (SERG) — federal funding received in response to the Lewiston tragedy of October 25, 2023 — along with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal Medicaid funding.

The project was led by Innivee Strategies, a Deaf-owned and Deaf-led organizational and leadership development consulting firm with extensive experience conducting interpreting needs assessments across the country.

MeAD served as a key partner on the TIME Steering Committee alongside the Maine Sign Language Interpreter Committee (MeSLIC), the Division for the Deaf Hard of Hearing and Late Deafened, and representatives from DHHS, the Department of Labor, the Department of Education, and other state agencies.

What the Needs Assessment Found

The TIME needs assessment ran from July 2024 through March 2025, gathering input from ASL interpreters, Deaf and Hard of Hearing community members, interpreting agencies, interpreter educators, and organizations that hire interpreters — through surveys, focus groups, and interviews conducted across the state.

The final report, released in spring 2025, confirmed what our community already knew:

• Interpreters are concentrated in southern Maine — leaving rural and northern regions significantly underserved
• Interpreter shortages are especially severe in healthcare and emergency settings
• Certification and licensure barriers are creating unnecessary obstacles for qualified interpreters
• Interpreter training program enrollment is too low to meet current demand
• Deaf interpreters are undertrained and underutilized

The Gorman Foundation Convening

As part of the broader effort to address Maine’s interpreter workforce crisis, the John T. Gorman Foundation provided a $5,000 stipend to support a convening of 20 stakeholders — bringing together Deaf community members, interpreters, agencies, educators, and advocates to brainstorm solutions and help shape the direction of interpreter workforce development in Maine.

What Comes Next

The TIME Steering Committee continues its work implementing the report’s recommendations, which include:

• Creating new training opportunities, particularly for Deaf interpreters
• Promoting ASL in K-12 schools to build the pipeline
• Reviewing licensure and certification rules to remove unnecessary barriers
• Improving retention of experienced interpreters, especially in underserved regions
• Strengthening cross-agency leadership and coordination

MeAD remains active on the Steering Committee and will continue to advocate for solutions that center the Deaf community — not just interpreter supply, but interpreter quality, accountability, and Deaf leadership in the field.

The TIME project is one of the most significant statewide efforts to address interpreter access in Maine’s history. MeAD is proud to be part of it.

For more information, visit the TIME project page at maine.gov/dhhs/TIME or contact MeAD.

Maine Association of the Deaf (MeAD) is Maine’s only Deaf-led advocacy organization. Est. 1877. Learn more at deafmaine.org.