Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 22 - CORRECTIONS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT › Part I - Corrections › Chapter 3 - Adult Services › Subchapter A - General › Section I-312 - Effective Communication with the Hearing Impaired

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Purpose. To establish procedures to
				  provide auxiliary aids and services whenever necessary to ensure effective
				  communication with qualified individuals with disabilities.
B. Applicability. Deputy Secretary,
				  Undersecretary, Chief of Operations, Assistant Secretary, Regional Wardens,
				  Wardens, Director of Probation and Parole, Director of Prison Enterprises,
				  offenders, employees and visitors who are hearing-impaired. Each unit head is
				  responsible for ensuring that appropriate unit written policy and procedures
				  are in place to comply with the provisions of this regulation.
C. Policy. It is the secretary's policy to
				  ensure that communication with offenders, employees and visitors with
				  disabilities is to the same extent as communicating with others. The department
				  shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to afford
				  an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to participate in, and
				  enjoy the benefits of, a service, program or activity conducted by the
				  department where the auxiliary aids or services does not constitute an undue
				  administrative and financial burden or fundamentally alter the service,
				  program, or activity. Any male offender whose hearing cannot be restored to a
				  "within normal limits" medical level with an auxiliary aid will be housed at
				  either the Louisiana State Penitentiary (LSP) or Rayburn Correctional Center
				  (RCC). Any female offender whose hearing cannot be restored to a "within normal
				  limits" medical level with an auxiliary aid will be housed at the Louisiana
				  Correctional Institute for Women (LCIW.)
D. Definitions
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
-a
					 comprehensive federal law which requires the state to provide equal access for
					 people with disabilities to services, programs, and activities of the
					 department.
Auxiliary Aids and Services (AAS)
-external aids used to assist people who are hearing-impaired and may
					 include qualified sign language or oral interpreters, written materials,
					 telephone handset amplifiers, assistive listening devices, telephones
					 compatible with hearing aids, closed caption decoders, open and closed
					 captioning, telecommunication devices for deaf persons (TDD/TTY), videotext
					 displays or other effective methods of making aurally delivered materials
					 available to individuals with hearing impairments.
Departmental Personnel
-for the purpose of
					 this regulation, this shall include, but not be limited to, nurses, physicians,
					 social workers, therapists, admitting personnel, security staff, probation and
					 parole officers and any other administrative staff who have or are likely to
					 have direct contact with offenders and/or visitors.
Disability
-a physical or mental
					 impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities
					 of an individual, including a record of such impairment or being regarded as
					 having such impairment.
Effective Communication
-communication
					 with persons with disabilities that is as effective as communication with
					 others. Effective communication is achieved by furnishing appropriate auxiliary
					 aids and services where necessary to afford qualified individuals with
					 disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in or benefit from the
					 services, programs and activities of the department.
Major Life Activity
-walking, seeing,
					 hearing, breathing, caring for one's self, sitting, standing, lifting,
					 learning, thinking, working and reproduction. This list is illustrative only.
					 The impairment to a major life activity must be long term.
Offender
-anyone committed to the physical
					 custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections or under the
					 supervision of the Division of Probation and Parole.
Qualified Interpreter
-an interpreter who
					 is able to interpret effectively, accurately and impartially both receptively
					 and expressively, using any necessary specialized vocabulary.
Note: An employee who signs "pretty well" or has only a
					 rudimentary familiarity with sign language or finger spelling is not a
					 qualified sign language interpreter pursuant to this regulation. Likewise,
					 someone who is fluent in sign language but who does not possess the ability to
					 process spoken communication into the proper signs or to observe someone else
					 signing and change their signed or finger spelled communication into spoken
					 words is not a qualified sign language interpreter. A departmental employee
					 should not be allowed to interpret if his presence poses a conflict of interest
					 or raises confidentiality and privacy concerns. On occasion, an offender may
					 possess the skill level necessary to provide interpreting services; however,
					 the impartially concerns remain, and in many-if not most-situations, offender
					 interpreters should not be used due to confidentiality, privacy and security
					 reasons.
Reasonable Accommodation
-a modification
					 or adjustment to a job, service, program or activity, etc. that enables a
					 qualified individual with a disability to have an equal opportunity for
					 participation.
Requestor
-a person who requests an
					 accommodation for a disability.
TTY/TDD
-a device that is used with a
					 telephone or computer that has telephone text capability to communicate (by
					 typing and reading communication) with persons who are deaf or
					 hearing-impaired.
Visitor
-for the purpose of this
					 regulation, includes any non-departmental employee who is authorized to be on
					 institutional grounds. i.e., volunteers, contractors, official guests,
					 etc.
E. Procedures
1. Establishment of Auxiliary Aids and
				  Services (AAS) Program. The department shall design and institute a program to
				  provide auxiliary aids and services, schedule, announce and promote all
				  training required, and draft, provide and maintain all reports as required by
				  this regulation.
2. Designation of
				  an official or office responsible for AAS.
a.
				  Each unit ADA coordinator will be responsible for the AAS Program and shall
				  maintain all necessary information about access to and the operation of the
				  program.
b. LSP, RCC and LCIW unit
				  ADA coordinators shall maintain a combination voice, TDD/TTY telephone line or
				  dedicated TDD/TTY telephone line and shall publicize the purpose and telephone
				  number broadly within the unit and to the public.
c. Each unit ADA coordinator shall provide
				  appropriate assistance regarding immediate access to, and proper use of, the
				  appropriate auxiliary aids and services available. It is the responsibility of
				  the unit ADA coordinators to know where the appropriate auxiliary aids are
				  stored, how to obtain services and how to operate them and shall facilitate
				  maintenance, repair, replacement and distribution.
d. Each unit ADA coordinator shall maintain a
				  recording system for inquiries regarding the provision of auxiliary aids and
				  services and the response.
3. Provision of Appropriate Auxiliary Aids
				  and Services
a. The department shall provide
				  to offenders, employees and visitors who are deaf or hearing-impaired an
				  appropriate auxiliary aid or service that may be necessary for effective
				  communication as soon as practicable after determining that the aid or service
				  is necessary.
b. The determination
				  of which appropriate auxiliary aids and services are necessary and the timing,
				  duration and frequency with which they will be provided shall be made by unit
				  personnel, who are otherwise primarily responsible for coordinating and/or
				  providing offender services, in consultation with the person with a disability.
				  When an auxiliary aid or service is required to ensure effective communication,
				  the unit shall provide an opportunity for an individual with a disability to
				  request the auxiliary aid or service of the requestor's choice and shall give
				  consideration to the choice expressed, but shall have the final decision
				  regarding the accommodation to be provided.
c. The initial offender communication
				  assessment shall be made at the time of the intake interview at a reception and
				  diagnostic center or other appropriate classification center within 48 hours of
				  arrival. Properly trained staff shall perform and document a communication
				  assessment to determine the offender's level of effective communication. This
				  assessment shall be conducted by an outside provider or departmental staff,
				  barring any unusual or emergency condition within 10 weeks from the initial
				  assessment. The written assessment shall be made a part of the offender's
				  master prison record.
i. During the initial
				  communication assessment, each offender shall be given a Request for
				  Accommodation Form. This form shall also be made available to the current
				  offender population. Offenders are free to reject or to fail to request
				  auxiliary aids and services, but failure to use the designated form does not
				  relieve the reception center/institution of its duty to assess the offender,
				  nor to inform the offender of the availability of appropriate auxiliary aids
				  and services. Refusal or failure by an offender to complete or return the
				  Request for Accommodation shall not constitute a violation of the ADA or of the
				  Resolution Agreement by the department.
ii. If the initial assessment reveals that an
				  offender's hearing is below normal limits as defined by the Occupational Safety
				  and Health Administration, a male offender shall be transferred to LSP for
				  continuation and completion of the classification process.
d. Each unit shall conduct a minimum of a
				  yearly assessment of each offender with hearing or speech disability regarding
				  the provision of appropriate auxiliary aids and services. If an intervening
				  problem or adjustment is required, the offender shall request a medical
				  call-out. Each unit shall maintain appropriate documentation that reflects the
				  ongoing assessments. The information shall be filed in the offender's medical
				  record.
4. Nothing in
				  this regulation shall require that an electronic device or piece of equipment
				  used as an appropriate auxiliary aid be used when or where its use may be
				  inconsistent with other departmental regulations or unit policies or when use
				  may pose security concerns. (For example, closed-captioned televisions are
				  provided consistently for offenders with hearing disabilities with the same
				  duration and frequency as televisions are provided to the other offenders
				  classified in the same status. No offender will be provided a television if his
				  status would not otherwise permit access.)
5. The department shall maintain an effective
				  complaint resolution mechanism regarding the provision of auxiliary aids and
				  services. Records shall be kept of all complaints filed and actions taken in
				  response. All complaints shall be handled through each unit ADA coordinator and
				  the grievance systems currently in effect. The warden designated to oversee the
				  operation of the ADA Program at each institution or division shall conduct a
				  meaningful review of this regulation on a semi-annual basis.
6. If an offender who is deaf or
				  hearing-impaired does not request appropriate auxiliary aids or services, but
				  departmental and/or unit personnel have reason to believe that the offender
				  would benefit from appropriate auxiliary aids or services, the offender may be
				  asked if the use of auxiliary aids would be beneficial and initiate the testing
				  procedure without violating ADA.