The Senate passed a bill creating a task force to address the needs of Vermonters who are deaf or hard of hearing.
An amended version of S.66 passed 25-0 on Wednesday in a roll call vote. If the bill becomes law, a 16-person Task Force on Persons Who are Deaf, DeafBlind or Hard of Hearing would form on or before July 1, 2015.
The original bill included a six-point bill of rights calling for early and ongoing assessment of a deaf or hard-of-hearing child’s capabilities, early intervention, “ongoing family supports,” proper educational placement, access to qualified interpreters in school, and “ongoing exposure to adult role models who are deaf or hard of hearing.”
After amendments that went through the Senate Committees on Government Operations and Appropriations, parts of the bill of rights were rewritten as goals for the task force to address. The task force would have to submit reports every year by Jan. 15.
Sen. Anthony Pollina, P/D/W-Washington, a member of the Senate Government Operations Committee, sponsored the bill. Advocates from the deaf and hard of hearing community asked the committee this month to place the vote on Wednesday’s agenda in observance of Disability Awareness Day.
Pollina said resources for deaf and hard of hearing Vermonters have been scarce since 2014, when the Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, along with the Austine School for the Deaf in Brattleboro, was shuttered.
“Since the institution closed, there’s been a lot of concern for people who are deaf and hard of hearing, particularly children,” Pollina said. “If you are the only deaf child in the school, it’s not only hard to learn; it’s hard to communicate. You need peer-to-peer contact to develop as a person.”
Pollina said more than 10 groups testified before the Senate Government Operations Committee in favor of a newly created commission that would perform “a strong evaluation of services.”
Charles Johnson, 70, of Massachusetts was called out of order for cheering when the Senate passed the bill on the floor.
Johnson said in an interview that he grew up deaf in Vermont and understands the plight of students here. He said the state should have an agency for deaf and hard of hearing Vermonters and not depend on contracts with nonprofit organizations.
Missy Boothroyd, a deaf advocate at the Vermont Center for Independent Living, also attended the vote.
“When the Austine School closed, it was also a huge issue for the interpreter referral program,” Boothroyd said. “Now that the Vermont Center is gone, people don’t even know where to go to look for those services.”
Boothroyd said families are sending their deaf and hard of hearing children to school in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.
The bill now goes to the House.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article did not include amendments to S.66 as passed by the Senate.
