NIGP 96146: Interpreter Services (Foreign Language, Hearing Impaired, etc.) (see Item 17 for Interpreter Services - Electronically Assisted)

NIGP 96146 Interpreter Services (Foreign Language, Hearing Impaired, Etc.), an Item code, encompasses in-person, telephonic, video remote, and hybrid interpretation modalities across health care, legal, educational, correctional, and administrative settings. State and local governments are procuring qualified interpreters holding professional certifications—Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), National Association of the Deaf (NAD), Board of Educational Interpreters (BEI), or state-recognized credentials—to serve populations with limited English proficiency or hearing disabilities. Services span multiple languages including Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Vietnamese, American Sign Language, and indigenous languages such as Mixteco and Zapotec, with many jurisdictions requiring 24/7 availability including emergency coverage. Recent solicitations show health care and correctional systems as primary buyers, followed by transit authorities, state agencies, county governments, and school districts, with California and Massachusetts issuing the most visible recent activity. CareOregon is seeking health care interpreter services across Oregon and affiliated regions under RFP 2026-05 (due August 11, 2026), estimating 14,000 monthly in-person appointments, 7,000 telephonic, and 1,600 video remote sessions with tiered language offerings and incentives for minority and women-owned businesses. The California Department of Motor Vehicles posted IFB 26-101 for telephone interpreter services supporting Driver Safety Hearings statewide, estimated at $339,623 over 33 months (due July 25, 2026, revised to July 24, 2026), with a California-based principal place of business requirement and incumbent rates of $0.60 per minute. Katy Independent School District in Texas issued two separate RFPs: RFP #2518YT for sign language interpreting services (due July 8, 2026) across a regional cooperative and RFP #2519YT for educational interpreting services (due August 3, 2026) serving multiple school sites.

Geographic activity concentrates in California, Massachusetts, Texas, and Oregon, with secondary activity in Georgia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida, and other states. The California Department of Civil Rights, California Franchise Tax Board, Agricultural Labor Relations Board, California Public Utilities Commission, and California Department of Pesticide Regulation each posted separate video remote, in-person, or specialized-language interpretation solicitations between June and July 2026. San Mateo Medical Center estimated a five-year language services contract at $2,230,000 with 24/7 video and phone interpretation in multiple languages (due April 9, 2025, but reposted in June 2026 activity block). Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (RFP 26-01, due May 22, 2026) seeks a multi-provider pool for over-the-phone, video remote, simultaneous, in-person, and document translation services on a 24/7/365 basis with no minimum volume guarantee, anticipating up to 60,000 calls monthly. Cook County Government (RFP 2513-11032, due June 17, 2026) is procuring comprehensive translation and interpretation services across six required languages on a 24/7 basis. School districts and state health departments dominate educational and health care verticals; correctional facilities in California and Massachusetts regularly contract for in-person ASL and foreign language interpretation. Small business preferences (typically 5%), Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise incentives (1–5%), and minority/women-owned business encouragement appear in most recent solicitations. Pricing structures vary widely—hourly rates for in-person and video remote services ($30–$90+ per hour depending on certification and location), per-minute rates for telephonic interpretation ($0.30–$2.08), and per-word rates for document translation ($0.15–$0.50+)—with most contracts offering firm pricing for 12–24 months and travel reimbursement at GSA or state rates. Contract terms typically run 12–36 months with renewal options; many include liquidated damages or service-level penalties for missed response times or dropped calls. Activity remains robust and geographically dispersed across health care, corrections, education, and government operations, with rising demand for indigenous language interpretation and real-time captioning services reflecting evolving equity and accessibility mandates.