SECTIONS 10620-10629 - California Statutes

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.