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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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J O I N T   R E S O L U T I O N

CREATING A SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO STUDY AN EARLY

INTERVENTION SYSTEM FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING CHILDREN IN RHODE

ISLAND

     Introduced By: Representatives Handy, Nardolillo, Vella-Wilkinson, Carson, and
Amore

     Date Introduced: March 01, 2017

     Referred To: House Health, Education & Welfare

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island is the first state in the nation to mandate that a universal

newborn hearing screening be provided to infants before they are discharged from the hospital;

and

     WHEREAS, Parents learn that their child is either deaf or hard of hearing through this

screening and follow-up appointment with their audiologist to confirm a diagnosis of deafness;

and

     WHEREAS, After parents learn of their child's diagnosis of deafness confirmed by their

audiologist, they should receive the early intervention services as early as possible; and

     WHEREAS, A wealth of scholarly research on early language acquisition shows that

children who are deaf and hard of hearing have the same learning abilities as those children who

are hearing when provided with early language exposure; and

     WHEREAS, Parents of deaf and hard of hearing children deserve to receive adequate

resources to support their child's language and modality development as early as possible; and

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Department of Education and the Early Intervention

Program under the Executive Office of Health and Human Services do not have ready and

appropriate resources to support parents' Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) in a timely

manner; and

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Department of Education and the Early Intervention

Program under the Executive Office of Health and Human Services have not been able to produce

data results for supports and improvements that children who are deaf or hard of hearing need for

tracking purposes to enhance their programs, services, and expectations/milestones; and

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Department of Education and the Early Intervention

Program under the Executive Office of Health and Human Services do not have language

acquisition tools to ensure that children's language(s) is acquired at the age appropriate level

among a general population in both American Sign Language, and English or one of these

languages (American Sign Language or English), or other language that is used in any approved

early childhood educational programs by the Rhode Island Department of Education; and

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Department of Education and the Early Intervention

Program under the Executive Office of Health and Human Services need to create a clear

partnership in collaboration and commitment to create resources and/or to update their resources

to meet parents' and children's needs for language acquisition and modality development, and to

ensure that the transition from the early intervention program to a pre-school program is smooth

and efficient; and

     WHEREAS, Each early intervention center in Rhode Island is operating its programs and

services independently. The availability of resources specifically for parents whose child is deaf

or hard of hearing varies between the centers. The factsheets and information may be shared with

parents and shall dispel any myths and misinformation about language acquisition and

development; and

     WHEREAS, There is no provision or preventive measure to detect children who

experience hearing loss after the universal newborn hearing screening exam was passed until the

age of three (3); now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That a special legislative commission be and the same is hereby created

consisting of twenty-four (24) members: three (3) of whom shall be members of the Senate, not

more than two (2) from the same political party, to be appointed by the President of the Senate;

three (3) of whom shall be members of the House of Representatives, not more than two (2) from

the same political party, to be appointed by the Speaker of House; one of whom shall be an

otolaryngologist, to be appointed by the President of the Rhode Island Medical Society; one of

whom shall be the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Parent Information Network, or

designee; one of whom shall be the President of the Rhode Island Association of the Deaf, or

designee; one of whom shall be the President of the Hearing Loss Association of Rhode Island, or

designee; one of whom shall be the Director of the Rhode Island School for the Deaf, or designee;

one of whom shall be the Executive Director of the Northern Rhode Island Collaborative, or

designee; one of whom shall be an audiologist, to be appointed by the President of the Rhode

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Island Speech-Language-Hearing Association; one of whom shall be the President of the

American Sign Language Teachers Association, or designee; one of whom shall be the Executive

Director of the Rhode Island Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, or designee; one of

whom shall be the Commissioner of the Rhode Island Department of Education, or designee; one

of whom shall be the Coordinator of the Rhode Island Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

within the Rhode Island Department of Health, to be appointed by the Director of the Rhode

Island Department of Health; one of whom shall be the Director of the Rhode Island Hearing

Assessment Program, or designee; one of whom shall be a representative of the Early

Intervention Center, to be appointed by the President of Family Service of Rhode Island; one of

whom shall be the Director of Perspectives Corporation's children program, or designee; one of

whom shall be the Director of the Early Intervention program under the Rhode Island Executive

Office of Health and Human Services, or designee; one of whom shall be the President of the

Rhode Island Chapter of Alexander G. Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, or

designee; one of whom shall be a bilingual-bimodal development professional with substantial

experience working with deaf and hard of hearing children from homes where American Sign

Language and English are not the primary languages used, to be appointed by the Speaker of

House; and one of whom shall be a child psychological professional, to be appointed by the

President of the Senate.

     In lieu of any appointment of a member of the legislature to a permanent advisory

commission, a legislative study commission, or any commission created by a General Assembly

resolution, the appointing authority may appoint a member of the general public to serve in lieu

of a legislator, provided that the majority leader or the minority leader of the political party which

is entitled to the appointment consents to the appointment of the member of the general public.

          The purpose of said commission shall be as follows:

          • To have a comprehensive study on the early intervention services in Rhode Island

specifically for children who are deaf or hard of hearing;

          • To identify the challenges and gaps that parents experience in the first three (3) years

of life of children who are deaf or hard of hearing;

          • To identify the gaps of resources including personnel, expertise, professionals, and

services for either or both languages of English and American Sign Language and to ensure that

visual and audio supplements to either language are available in Rhode Island;

          • To create an effective protocol to ensure that information provided by early

intervention professionals is updated and balanced and will be shared with parents;

          • To create or expand a centralized resource for all parents of children who are deaf or

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hard of hearing; and

          • To present findings and recommendations for viable solutions concerning parents

whose child is deaf or hard of hearing.

          Forthwith upon passage of this resolution, the members of the commission shall meet

at the call of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House and organize. The

President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House shall each select one member to serve as co-

chairpersons of the commission.

          Vacancies in said commission shall be filled in like manner as the original

appointment.

          The membership of said commission shall receive no compensation for their services.

          All municipalities, departments and agencies of the state shall furnish such advice and

information, documentary and otherwise, to said commission and its agents as is deemed

necessary or desirable by the commission to facilitate the purposes of this resolution.

          The Joint Committee on Legislative Services is hereby authorized and directed to

provide suitable quarters for said commission; and be it further

          RESOLVED, That the commission shall report its findings and recommendations to

the General Assembly on or before February 1, 2018 and said commission shall expire on June

30, 2018.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

J O I N T   R E S O L U T I O N

CREATING A SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO STUDY AN EARLY

INTERVENTION SYSTEM FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING CHILDREN IN RHODE

ISLAND

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     This resolution would create a twenty-four (24) member special legislative commission

whose purpose it would be to make a comprehensive study of an early intervention system for

deaf or hard of hearing children in Rhode Island, and who would report back to the General

Assembly on or before February 1, 2018, and said commission would expire on June 30, 2018.

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