The survey addresses the need for a bilingual staff and the need to communicate effectively with clients who speak Spanish. In December 1980, the Probation Administrative Management System sent a questionnaire to all chief probation officers. The questionnaire focused on four issues: use of the Civil Service title 'Probation Officer-Bilingual,' translation of probation documents into Spanish, departmental policy for dealing with clients who speak Spanish only, and other issues that the chiefs thought should be raised. Responses revealed the absence of written policy regarding how to handle situations in which probation clients do not speak English. Five chief probation officers were unaware of the bilingual officer position, and most counties with need for the job title had not used it. Hudson and Essex counties have critical needs for additional bilingual probation officers. Some departments have translated some probation documents into Spanish, although there has been no clear pattern among the departments. All of the Spanish documents that were used had errors. Recruitment of bilingual staff remains a major problem, and there is extensive need for the training of probation officers in cross-cultural dimensions of service delivery. Tables and footnotes are included. Appendixes present data on the State's Hispanic population and the survey questionnaire. (Author summary modified)