10620-10629
WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE
SECTION 10620-10629
10620. The Legislature finds that over 1.5 million persons in California are deaf or suffer from significant hearing impairment. Basic governmental services are not routinely adapted to meet the communication needs of deaf and hearing impaired persons and, therefore, the services they receive may be less than those provided to other persons because of the overwhelming communication problems which exist between service agencies and deaf and hearing impaired persons. 10621. Public social services for the deaf and hearing impaired shall include, but not be limited to, the following services: (a) Complete communication services through interpreter services by a professional interpreter for the deaf possessing the comprehensive skills certification of the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf or the equivalent, teletypewriter relay, and, when necessary, training in communication skills. (b) Advocacy to assure deaf and hearing impaired persons receive equal access to public and private services. (c) Job development and job placement. (d) Information and referral. (e) Counseling, including peer counseling. (f) Independent living skills instruction. (g) Community education about deafness and hearing impairment. 10622. Public social services for the deaf and hearing impaired shall be available in at least three regions throughout the state so that deaf and hearing impaired persons will be able to secure public social services within a reasonable commuting distance. Deaf and hearing impaired persons, residing in urban, suburban, and rural areas, shall be served. 10623. Public agencies or private nonprofit corporations or a combination thereof in a region may provide the public social services listed in Section 10621 directly or through agreements with other public agencies or private nonprofit corporations. 10624. The department, with the advice of persons knowledgeable about the provision of public social services to deaf and hearing impaired persons, shall establish the criteria for funding public social services for the deaf and hearing impaired. The criteria shall include, but shall not be limited to, demonstrated need for services, ability to provide services in a deaf or hearing impaired person's preferred mode of communication, ability to secure community support, including written endorsements of local officials and organizations, including organizations of and for the deaf and hearing impaired, and funding from one or more public or private sources. Special consideration shall be given to the extent to which deaf and hearing impaired persons are included in the agency's staff and in the case of a private nonprofit corporation on the board of directors. 10625. The department shall: (a) Determine the number and location of regions of the state providing public social services. (b) Coordinate the provision of services with the Department of Rehabilitation. (c) Establish uniform accounting procedures and contracts for use with regard to this chapter. (d) Promulgate requests for proposals and conduct bidders' conferences. (e) Establish by regulation the definitions of deafness and significant hearing impairment. (f) Conduct a management or fiscal audit of any contract whenever it is necessary for proper supervision of a contract. 10626. The department shall contract with public agencies or private nonprofit corporations for a period not to exceed one year. At the end of each contract year, the department may renegotiate the terms of the contract in accordance with allowable increase or decrease in the agency or corporation costs and their demonstrated ability to provide the specified services. The private nonprofit agency must submit a complete financial statement by a certified public accountant prior to a renewal of a contract. 10626.5. (a) A public agency or nonprofit corporation, or a combination thereof, providing the public social services listed in Section 10621, may charge a fee to all public and private agencies when providing public social services to those agencies. The charge shall be based on a standard schedule of fees established and maintained by the service provider. The amount charged shall equal the sum of all costs, direct and indirect, for providing the public social services listed in Section 10621. This fee shall be referred to as program income. (b) The purpose of program income shall be for either (1) expanding, or (2) continuing the provision of public social services as listed in Section 10621, irrespective of the state fiscal year in which the program income was earned or collected. In the event of cancellation or nonrenewal of a contract, all program income not expended shall be remitted to the department. (c) Except as otherwise provided by law, all program income received shall be accounted for to the State Department of Social Services at the close of each fiscal year, or more frequently if required by the State Department of Social Services, or the Department of Finance, in such form as prescribed. It is the intent of the Legislature to allow prior collected funds currently in the possession of the service providers to be expended on the provision of the public social services as listed in Section 10621. 10629. The State Department of Social Services shall not expend over 5 percent of the sum appropriated for this chapter for the administrative costs of this chapter.