Doman
The National Court Reporters Foundation (NCRF), the philanthropic arm of the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), recently presented its first-ever $1,000 Court to CART Grant to NCRA member Amy Doman, RMR, CRR, a freelance court reporter from Carmel.
NCRA is the country’s leading organization representing stenographic court reporters, captioners, and legal videographers.
Chairing the Court to CART Stewardship Team, NCRF Trustee Patricia Graves, FAPR, RDR, CRR, CRC, a captioner from Monument, Colo., said she was pleased to select Doman from a number of highly qualified grant applicants.
“CART services support a person’s journey through hearing loss,” Graves said. “As a service provider, one needs to always stay in role but be approachable, caring, empathetic, and perceptive. CART is more than merely words on a screen. It is communication. Amy Doman has the heart and skills to be a great CART captioner.”
Doman, who holds the nationally recognized professional certifications of Registered Merit Reporter (RMR) and Certified Realtime Reporter (CRR), was impressed by the court reporter who captioned the 2022 NCRA Conference & Expo keynote speaker and became inspired to become a CART captioner.
The $1,000 grant is offered to honor the memory of the stepfather and lifelong role model of NCRA member and NCRF Trustee Rich Germosen, FAPR, RDR, CRR, Eligio Antonio Rosario, Sr. Germosen is a freelance court reporter and agency owner from New Brunswick, N.J.
The grant is awarded to an NCRA applicant interested in broadening his or her skill set from the judicial setting to the path of providing communication access realtime translation (CART) for people with hearing loss or for nonnative English speakers. As a grant winner, Doman will receive an assessment of her real-time skills and instruction about current CART technology. Hands-on training will be provided as well as the chance to learn from applicable existing NCRA videos.
The concept behind this grant emanated from Germosen’s quest for speed, accuracy, and professional development. His focus was complemented by Graves’ passion to serve people with hearing loss or nonnative English speakers by providing CART services when needed.
“I’m as happy as a hound dog with two tails!” Doman said. “Receiving this grant has a very special meaning to me as it honors Rich’s stepfather. Rich and the Facebook practice group have been a real game changer in both my personal and professional life, so that makes this opportunity even more meaningful. I can’t wait for the day I can post in our group that I’m taking my first CART job! The generosity of the resources you’re giving me is immeasurable. Thank you, NCRF.”
Doman added, “The Court to CART Grant will provide me with opportunities I could not easily afford on my own. I am determined to be an excellent CART provider in the next five years. This grant would help me access the tools and education to shorten that timeline tremendously.”
Court reporters and captioners rely on the latest in technology to use stenographic machines to capture the spoken word and translate it into written text in real time. These professionals work both in and out of the courtroom recording legal cases and depositions, providing live captioning of events, and assisting members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities with gaining access to information, entertainment, educational opportunities, and more.
If you’re looking for a career that is on the cutting edge of technology, offers the opportunity for work at home or abroad, like to write, enjoy helping others, and are fast with your fingers, then the fields of court reporting and captioning are careers you can explore at NCRA.org/discoversteno.
The NCRA A to Z Intro to Steno Machine Shorthand program, a free online six-week introductory course, lets participants see if a career in court reporting or captioning would be a good choice for them. The program is an introduction to stenographic theory and provides participants with the opportunity to learn the basics of writing on a steno machine. There is no charge to take the course, but participants are required to have access to a steno machine or an iPad they can use to download the iStenoPad app.
Click here to learn more and the NCRF Court to CART Grant. To donate to the fundraiser for this Court to CART Grant, click here.