Texas Administrative Code › Title 40 - SOCIAL SERVICES AND ASSISTANCE › Part 1 - DEPARTMENT OF AGING AND DISABILITY SERVICES › Chapter 72 - MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH OTHER STATE AGENCIES › Subchapter B - MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING CONCERNING COORDINATION OF SERVICES TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES › Section 72.207 - Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Financial and service responsibilities to
				  disabled persons.
(1) The Texas Commission
				  for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired (TCDHI) is authorized to provide direct
				  delivery services to persons who are deaf or hearing impaired. These services
				  are rendered through annual contracts with local service providers. TCDHI
				  currently has contracts with service providers located in 16 cities: Abilene,
				  Amarillo, Austin, Beaumont, Big Spring, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort
				  Worth, Houston, Lubbock, McAllen, San Antonio, Sherman, Tyler, and
				  Waco.
(2) The number of staff,
				  types of direct services, and number of clients at each service provider vary
				  considerably. Many provide other direct services in addition to those
				  authorized and subsidized by the state through TCDHI. The range of
				  TCDHI-contracted services include:
(A)
				  Interpreter services. Interpreters are provided for clients who are deaf or
				  hearing impaired to assist them in obtaining, medical, legal, governmental, and
				  economic services. Interpreters are also available through the local service
				  providers for state agencies, courts, and businesses; however, these entities
				  must reimburse the service provider. Payment for interpreters is reimbursed
				  monthly by TCDHI on an hourly basis for services provided. The rate of payment
				  is determined by the fee schedule recommended for interpreters by
				  TCDHI.
(B) Information and referral
				  services. Service providers disseminate information regarding general and
				  specialized community services to persons who are deaf or hearing impaired, as
				  well as information about deafness to the general public.
(C) Services to older hearing impaired Texans
				  (SOHIT). Clients who are age 60 or older and deaf or hearing impaired are
				  assisted in obtaining information and/or services from agencies such as the
				  Texas Department on Aging, local agencies on aging, social security offices,
				  and local parks and recreation departments. Services provided may include case
				  management, transportation assistance, nutrition, social interaction, and
				  communication. This program reduces the need for long-term care, provides
				  information to concerned individuals, and provides training to other personnel
				  serving the elderly. These programs are referred to as Services to Older
				  Hearing Impaired Texans (SOHIT). Currently, 11 local service providers offer
				  SOHIT services.
(D) Other services.
				  In addition to the services described in subparagraphs (A)-(D) of this
				  paragraph, TCDHI has service and financial responsibilities to:
(i) develop and implement a statewide
				  advocacy and education program to ensure the continuity of services to Texans
				  who are deaf or hearing impaired;
(ii) ensure more effective
				  coordination/cooperation among public and nonprofit entities that serve persons
				  who are deaf or hearing impaired;
(iii) establish a board for the evaluation of
				  interpreters which commission approval, conducts interpreter exams, prescribes
				  qualifications, evaluates, and certifies interpreters at varying levels of
				  skill. TCDHI is required to charge fees for these services. In addition,
				  statutes require that the Board for Evaluation of Interpreters work with the
				  Texas Rehabilitation Commission to develop a communication competency
				  evaluation for TRC's vocational rehabilitation counselors and other staff who
				  work with clients who are deaf or hearing impaired. Commission (TRC) a
				  communication competency evaluation for vocational rehabilitation counselors
				  who work at TRC with clients who are deaf or hearing impaired;
(iv) establish a system to approve courses
				  and workshops for the instruction and continuing education of
				  interpreters;
(v) annually review
				  fees recommended by TCDHI for the payment of interpreters and adopt a schedule
				  of reasonable fees for interpreters at varying levels of skill. This schedule
				  of fees must be made available to and recommended for adoption by other state
				  agencies;
(vi) prescribe the
				  qualifications for, and compile a list of, qualified interpreters available for
				  assignment by state agencies, courts, and political subdivisions. This list is
				  to be disseminated to these entities and the general public;
(vii) adopt a schedule of reasonable fees
				  recommended for the payment of interpreters required by law to be provided in
				  proceedings of state agencies, courts, and political subdivisions;
(viii) adopt a sliding fee scale for persons
				  who are deaf or hearing impaired who receive interpreter services in
				  nongovernmental settings which are reimbursed by TCDHI. The fee scale is based
				  on the requestor's financial ability to pay; however, a client may not be
				  denied this service because of his/her inability to pay;
(ix) design and provide a decal to be
				  attached to motor vehicles regularly operated by persons who are deaf or
				  hearing impaired with a cost of not more than $2.00 per decal;
(x) offer a one-week summer camp session for
				  children and youth who are deaf or hearing impaired to participate in
				  barrier-free recreational and instructional activities. TCDHI annually
				  contracts with a private facility for this program. Eligibility requirements
				  are that students must be deaf or hearing impaired, ages 8 through
				  17;
(xi) charge reasonable fees for
				  TCDHI publications. Fees for publications may be waived for a client who is
				  deaf or hearing impaired if he/she is unable to pay; and
(xii) publish an annual Directory of Services
				  and an agency newsletter (based on available funding) and make available a
				  Registry of Interpreters.
(E) Interagency contracts. Currently, TCD has
				  interagency contracts primarily concerning interpreter services with the Texas
				  Employment Commission, Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Texas
				  Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental
				  Retardation, and the Texas Department of Health.
(F) Memorandum of understanding. House Bill
				  550, passed by the 70th Legislature, required TCDHI to write (and adopt by
				  rule) memoranda of understanding to coordinate the delivery of services to
				  persons who are deaf and hearing impaired and to reduce duplication of services
				  with each of the following agencies: Texas Department of Human Services, Texas
				  Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Texas Employment
				  Commission, Texas Department of Health, Texas Higher Education Coordinating
				  Board, Texas Education Agency, Texas Department on Aging, Texas School for the
				  Deaf, Texas Rehabilitation Commission, and the institutional division of the
				  Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and other state agencies that provide
				  services to persons who are deaf or hearing impaired. TCDHI also participates
				  in two multi-agency memoranda of understanding which facilitate the
				  coordination of services to persons with disabilities and to inmates of the
				  Texas prison system who have disabilities.