§ 143B-216.34. Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing - temporary loan program established. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 143B‑216.34.  Divisionof Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing – temporary loan programestablished.

(a)        There isestablished an assistive equipment loan program for the deaf, hard of hearing,and speech impaired to be developed, administered, and implemented by theDivision of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing. The assistiveequipment loan program supplements the telecommunications equipmentdistribution program established pursuant to G.S. 62‑157.

(b)        The Division shalldevelop rules for the distribution of the communications and alerting equipmentand shall determine performance standards. The Division shall select equipmentfor distribution to qualifying recipients. The equipment discussed in thissection shall be leased at no cost to qualifying recipients for a period oftime up to and not exceeding two years. Nothing herein shall be construed toprevent the renewal of any lease previously executed with a qualifiedrecipient. In addition, the Division shall provide consultative services andtraining to those individuals and organizations utilizing communications andalerting equipment pursuant to this section.

(c)        The centralcommunications office of each county sheriff's department shall purchase andcontinually operate at least one telecommunications device that is functionallyequivalent in providing equal access to services for individuals who are deaf,hard of hearing, deaf‑blind, and speech impaired.

The central communicationsoffice of each police department and firefighting agency in municipalities witha population of 25,000 to 250,000 shall purchase and continually operate atleast one such device.

The central communicationsoffice of each police department and firefighting agency in municipalities witha population exceeding 250,000 persons shall purchase and continually operateat least two such devices.

(d)        Each public safetyoffice, health care facility (including hospitals and urgent care facilities),and the 911 emergency number system is required to obtain a telecommunicationsdevice that is functionally equivalent in providing equal access to servicesfor individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, and speech impaired pursuant tothis section and shall continually operate and staff the equipment during hoursof operation, including up to 24 hours. (1989, c. 533, s. 2; 2007‑149, s. 1.)