GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

S	1 

SENATE BILL 956

Short Title:  Services for Hearing Impaired.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senator Harris.
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Referred to:  Human Resources.
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April 19, 1989

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO CREATE A NEW COMMISSION AND DIVISION FOR THE DEAF AND THE HARD OF HEARING TO REPLACE THE NORTH CAROLINA COUNCIL FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Part 24 of Article 3 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes reads as rewritten:
     "Part 24. North Carolina 
Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing.
"§ 143B-213. North Carolina Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing.
There is hereby created the North Carolina Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing of the Department of Human Resources, which shall have the following duties:
			(1)	To make recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources regarding improvement of human services to the deaf and the hard of hearing of all ages;
(2)	To study ways and means of promoting public understanding of the problems of the deaf and the hard of hearing, to consider the need for new State programs in the field of deafness, and to make recommendations to and advise the Secretary on these matters;
(3)	To advise the Department of Human Resources in the preparation of a plan describing the quality, extent and scope of services being provided, or to be provided, to deaf and hard of hearing persons in North Carolina;
(4)	To study any State children and adult programs which provide educational services for deaf and hard of hearing persons and to advise the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources and the Superintendent of Public Instruction on the coordination of programs to prevent duplication and overlapping of such services;
(5)	To advise the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources upon any matter which the Secretary may refer to it.
"§ 143B-214. North Carolina Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing – members.
(a)	The North Carolina Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing shall consist of 15 members, of which 12 are appointed by the Governor as follows:  three members who are deaf; three members who are hard of hearing; three parents of deaf or hard of hearing children, in which one parent represents a residential school student, one parent represents a preschool satellite program student, and one parent represents a main-streamed program student, with each parent coming from a different region of the three NCSsD regions; one educator representing higher education who trains teachers in deaf education; one member who is a certified audiologist; and one member who represents the North Carolina Pediatric Association.  Of the other three additional members, one shall be a member from the North Carolina Association of the Deaf, one shall be a member from the North Carolina Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, and one shall represent the Department of Public Instruction.  The Governor shall designate four members who shall serve terms of five years, four who shall serve terms of four years, two who shall serve terms of three years, and two members who shall serve terms of two years.  The members of the two organizations shall be appointed by the president of the organization they represent, and serve on the Commission until their successor is appointed.  The representative of the Department of Public Instruction shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Department and shall serve on the Commission until a successor is appointed.
(b)	The terms of the members first appointed shall commence July 1, 1989. At the expiration of the term of any member of the Commission, his successor shall be appointed for a term of four years.
Vacancies occurring other than by expiration of term in the membership of the Commission shall be filled by the Governor or the appropriate appointing authority.  No person appointed by the Governor shall be able to serve more than two successive terms.
Any appointment to fill a vacancy on the Commission created by the resignation, dismissal, death, or disability of a member shall be for the balance of the unexpired term.
"§ 143B-215. North Carolina Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing – chairman; reimbursement of members.
The chairman of the Commission shall be designated by the Secretary of Human Resources from the appointed members of the Commission, and shall hold this office for not more than four years. The Commission shall meet at the call of the chairperson, but not less than four times a year.
The members of the Commission shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties in accordance with G.S. 138-5.
"§ 143B-216. Assistance to Commission.
											(d)	The Secretary of the Department of Human Resources is authorized to arrange for clerical or other assistance as may be required by the Commission.
143Bàannual 
"§ 143B-216.1A.  Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing – creation, powers and duties.
	(a)	There is hereby created within the office of the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources a Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing, which shall have the following functions and duties:
(1)	To maintain a continuing review of existing programs for the deaf and the hard of hearing in the State of North Carolina, and periodically make recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources and to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for transmittal to the Governor and the General Assembly as appropriate for improvements in and additions to such programs;
(2)	To study, collect, maintain, publish and disseminate factual data and pertinent information relative to all aspects of deafness.  These include the societal, economic, educational, recreational and health needs, and opportunities for the deaf and the hard of hearing;
(3)	To inform, educate and assist local organizations, the community at large, and the deaf and the hard of hearing people themselves about deafness, including needs, resources and opportunities for the deaf and the hard of hearing, and about the role they can play in improving conditions for the deaf and the hard of hearing;
(4)	To serve as the agency through which various public and nonpublic organizations concerned with deafness can exchange information, coordinate programs, and be helped to engage in joint endeavors;
(5)	To provide advice, information and technical assistance to North Carolina State government departments and agencies and to nongovernmental organizations which may be considering the inauguration of services, programs, or facilities for the deaf and the hard of hearing, or which can be stimulated to take such action;
(6)	To coordinate governmental and private agency programs through a community service center network which shall include a description of the locations and geographic service areas for such centers;
(7)	To establish or help to establish demonstration programs of services to the deaf and the hard of hearing;
(8)	To provide comprehensive residential and nonresidential educational program services for deaf and hard of hearing children ages from birth to 21 years of age, including those children who are multihandicapped and deaf or hard of hearing, which shall include but not be limited to academic, vocational, preschool, transition, job training, and related services;
(9)	To assure that all programs are in compliance with the Department of Public Instruction Procedures Governing Programs & Services for Children with Special Needs, and with G.S. 115C-325;
(10)	To help deaf and hard of hearing citizens to become self-sufficient in meeting their needs in the community; and
(11)	To establish training and evaluation standards and levels of competencies for individuals serving as interpreters in both noneducational and community settings including, but not limited to, schools for the deaf, public schools and community colleges, four-year colleges and universities and community services including medical, legal, and judicial.
"§ 143B-216.2. North Carolina Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing – assistance of other agencies.
The Commission may request and shall receive from any department, division, board, bureau, commission, or agency of the State or of any political subdivision thereof such assistance and data as might be needed to enable it to properly carry out its activities under this Part.
143Bdfunctions 
										"§ 143B-216.5. Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing – receipt of moneys.
(a)	The Department of Human Resources may receive moneys from any source, including federal funds, gifts, grants and bequests which shall be expended for the purposes designated in this Part. Gifts and bequests received shall be deposited in a trust fund with the State Treasurer who shall hold them in trust in a separate account in the name of the Division Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing. The cash balance of this account may be pooled for investment purposes, but investment earnings shall be credited pro rata to this participating account. Moneys deposited with the State Treasurer in the trust fund account pursuant to this section, and investment earnings thereon, are available for expenditure without further authorization from the General Assembly. Such funds shall be administered by the Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing under the direction of the director and fiscal officer of the Division, and will be subject to audits normally conducted with the agency.
	"§ 143B-216.5A.  Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing; communications services for the deaf; findings and purpose; definitions.
(a)	The General Assembly of North Carolina finds:
(1)	That telephone service provides a rapid and essential communications link among the general public, and with essential offices and organizations such as police, fire and medical facilities;
(2)	That all persons should have basic telephone service available to them at a fair and equitable cost;
(3)	That a significant portion of North Carolina's hearing and speech impaired population have profound disabilities which render normal telephone equipment useless without additional specialized devices which cost several hundred dollars;
(4)	That there exists a need for a program whereby access to basic telephone service for hearing and speech impaired persons is equal in cost to the amount paid by other telephone customers; and
(5)	That is the declared purpose of this section to establish a program whereby the cost of specialized telecommunications equipment necessary to ensure that the hearing and speech impaired have access to basic telephone service is borne by all the citizens of the State.
(b)	The following terms and phrases when used in this section and G.S. 143B-216.5B have the meaning ascribed to them in this subsection, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(1)	‘Deaf person' means an individual who is unable to hear and understand oral communication, with or without the assistance of amplification devices.
(2)	‘Hearing impaired person' means an individual who has suffered a permanent hearing loss which is severe enough to necessitate the use of amplification devices to hear oral communication.
(3)	‘Speech impaired person' means an individual who has suffered a permanent loss of oral communication ability which prohibits normal usage of a standard telephone handset.
(4)	‘Telecommunications device' or ‘telecommunications device for the deaf, hearing or speech impaired' or ‘TDD' means a keyboard mechanism attached to or in place of a standard telephone by some coupling device, used to transmit or receive signals through telephone lines.
(5)	‘Ring signaling device' means a mechanism such as a flashing light which visually indicates that a communication is being received through a telephone line.  This phrase also means mechanism such as adjustable volume ringers and buzzers which audibly and loudly indicate an incoming telephone communication.
(6)	‘Volume control handset' means a telephone handset or other telephone listening device which has an adjustable control for increasing the volume of the sound being produced by the telephone receiving unit.
(7)	‘Dual party relay system' means a procedure whereby a deaf, hearing or speech impaired TDD user can communicate with an intermediary party, who then orally relays the first party's message or request to a third party, or vice versa.
(8)	‘911 system' means the emergency telephone number system.
(9)	‘Utilities Commission' or ‘Commission' means the State agency established pursuant to Chapter 62 of the General Statutes.
(10)	‘Telephone company' means every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership, and person and their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, and every city or town owning, operating, or managing any telephone line or part of a telephone line used in the conduct of the business of affording telephonic communication service for hire within this State.
(11)	‘Telephone line' includes conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, crossarms, receivers, transmitters, instruments, machines, appliances, instrumentalities, and all devices, including radio and other advancements of the art of telephony, real estate, easements, apparatus, property, and routes used and operated to facilitate the business of affording telephonic communication services to the public for hire within this State.
"§ 143B-216.5B.  Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing; communication services program establishment; administration; trust fund.
(a)	There is established within the Department of Human Resources a communications services program for the hearing and speech impaired, to be administered, developed, and implemented by the Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing.
(b)	In addition to the duties provided in this Part, the Division on Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing shall:
(1)	Serve as a forum for the discussion and review of deaf, hearing impaired, and speech impaired communication problems;
(2)	Exercise all power necessary, required, or incidental to developing and implementing the functions and purposes mandated by this section;
(3)	Make contracts of every type and nature and execute all instruments necessary to implement the provisions of this section;
(4)	Develop programs for the delivery or improvement of communication services to the deaf, hearing impaired, and speech impaired, and develop a financial evaluation procedure to ensure that the communication devices made available by this section are provided by this section only to those deaf, hearing impaired, and speech impaired persons whose financial resources would not enable them to purchase these devices;
(5)	Coordinate such programs with the appropriate municipalities, counties, State agencies, and nonprofit organizations and coordinate such programs with affected telephone companies;
(6)	Apply for, contract for, receive, and expend for the purposes of this section any appropriation, grant, gift, or donation from the Federal Government or any other public or private source;
(7)	Devise procedures for certifying persons as deaf, hearing impaired, or speech impaired.  Such certification process shall include a statement attesting to such impairment by a licensed physician, audiologist, speech pathologist, or appropriate State or federal agency; and
(8)	Prescribe and promulgate necessary rules consistent with the provisions of this section.
(c)	The Division shall develop and implement a schedule for the purchase and distribution of the devices and equipment required by this section.  In no event may more than one-third of the total number of devices estimated to be needed for this program be purchased or distributed in fiscal year 1987-88.
(d)	There is established within the Office of State Treasurer the Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf Trust Fund, to be used as a nonreverting fund for the purposes of this section.
Monies in this fund shall include any appropriations authorized by the Legislature, grants from other governmental entities, and any contributions or donations received by the Division.
Monies in this fund that are not necessary to meet current obligations authorized by this section shall be invested by the State Treasurer as provided by law.  Interest earned from such investment shall be deposited in the fund and available to the Division for endeavors relating to the program authorized by this section.
The Division may expend the monies residing in this fund only for the purchase, distribution and maintenance of equipment as discussed in this section, subject to the fiscal and budgetary provisions of general law.  Training of recipients in the use of this equipment may be paid for with these funds, but the Division's operating expenses may not be paid with these funds.
(e)	The Division is directed to establish characteristics and performance standards for TDD's, ring signaling devices, and volume control handsets, and shall select equipment to be purchased for distribution to qualifying recipients.
The Division is encouraged to require the purchase of equipment required by this section on a competitive bid basis, so that the lowest possible per unit price may be obtained on the equipment selected for purchase.
The equipment discussed in this section shall be subleased at no cost to qualifying recipients for a period of time not exceeding five years.  Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the renewal of any lease previously executed with a qualified recipient.
(f)	The central communications office of each county sheriff's department shall purchase and continually operate at least one TDD:
(1)	The central communications office of each police department and firefighting agency in municipalities with a population of 25,000 to 250,000 shall purchase and continually operate at least one TDD.
(2)	The central communications office of each police department and firefighting agency in municipalities with a population exceeding 250,000 persons shall purchase, and continually operate, at least two TDD's.
At least one hospital in each county shall purchase and continually operate at least one TDD.
Each 911 emergency number system and each agency receiving automatically routed calls through a 911 emergency system shall purchase and continually operate at least one TDD.
Each public safety office, health care provider, and 911 emergency number system required to obtain a TDD pursuant to this section shall continually operate and staff such equipment on a 24-hour basis:
(1)	Offices and organizations required to purchase TDD's pursuant to this section may buy such equipment from the Division, or from private vendors who can supply devices identical to or compatible with those selected by the Division at a lower price than the Division offers.
(2)	The purchase price imposed on such offices and organizations by the Division shall not exceed the actual per unit cost including shipping and storage charges.
							."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 143B-173(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	There are hereby created the following boards of directors of institutions:
(1)	Repealed by Session Laws 1979, 2nd Session, c. 1245, s. 1.
(2)	Repealed by Session Laws 1981, c. 50, s. 1.
(3)	Repealed by Session Laws 1987, c. 856, s. 16, as amended by Session Laws 1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 1086, s. 127(a);
(4)	The Board of Directors of the Governor Morehead School;
	(6)	Repealed by Session Laws 1981, c. 462, s. 5.
with the power and duty to adopt rules and regulations to be followed in the conduct of their respective institutions."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 143B-174 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143B-174. Boards of directors of institutions – members; selection; quorum; compensation.
The Board of Directors of the Governor Morehead School of the Department of Human Resources shall consist of 11 members appointed by the Governor for terms of six years. The initial members of each of the aforementioned boards of directors shall be the members of the previously existing board of directors for each institution. The members of the various boards of directors shall serve for a period equal to the remainder of their current terms on their respective boards, which are as follows: the Board of Directors of the Governor Morehead School, four of whose appointments expire May 1, 1973, three of whose appointments expire May 1, 1975, and four of whose appointments expire May 1, 1977. At the end of the respective terms of office of the initial members of each board, their successors shall be appointed for terms as hereinabove delineated and until their successors are appointed and qualify. Any appointment to fill a vacancy on the board of directors created by the resignation, dismissal, death, or disability of a member shall be for the balance of the unexpired term.
The Governor shall have the power to remove any member of a board of directors from office for misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance according to the provisions of G.S. 143B-13 of the Executive Organization Act of 1973.
The members of each board of directors shall receive per diem and necessary travel and subsistence expenses in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 138-5.
A majority of a board of directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
All clerical and other services required by a board of directors shall be supplied by the Secretary of Human Resources.”
Sec. 4.  G.S. 8B-6 reads as rewritten:
"§ 8B-6. List of interpreters; coordination of interpreter services.
The Department of Human Resources shall prepare and maintain an up-to-date list of qualified and available interpreters. A copy of the list shall be provided to each clerk of superior court. When requested by an appointing authority to provide an interpreter the Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing shall assist in arranging for an interpreter at the time and place needed through its program of community services for the hearing impaired."
Sec. 5.  G.S. 8B-8(e) reads as rewritten:
"(e)	Fees and expenses of interpreters who serve before any State administrative agency are payable by that agency. The agency shall, upon application to the Department of Human Resources, Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing, be reimbursed for payments made."
Sec. 6.  G.S. 105-147(25a) reads as rewritten:
   	" (25a) The purchase price of a hearing-ear dog designated as such by the Division of Human Resources, Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing, actually purchased and used by a person who is hearing impaired as defined in G.S. 8B-1(2), or purchased by a parent or guardian for the use of a hearing impaired child and/or all of the cost of maintenance and upkeep of a hearing-ear dog, including veterinary expenses. The amount claimed under this subdivision shall not be allowed as a deduction under G.S. 105-147(11)."
Sec. 7.  G.S. 114-4.2F reads as rewritten:
"§ 114-4.2F. Designation of attorney specializing in the law of the handicapped.
The Attorney General is authorized to designate from his staff an attorney to specialize in the law of the handicapped. The attorney so designated shall act as advisor to the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing, the North Carolina School for the Deaf and the Governor Morehead School."
Sec. 8.  This act shall become effective July 1, 1989.