Volume 21 Issue 9

HOH-LD-News
Vol. 21, Issue 9
November 27, 2004

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Table of Contents
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- Article 1: Hearing Aid Rehabilitation: Value-Added Aspects of True Hearing Care - Part 2
- Article 2: Including Deaf and HOH in Emergency Planning
- Article 3: Wireless Industry Unprepared to Provide Hearing Aid Compatible Phones
- Article 4: I've Got Hearing Loss Wrinkles
- Classifieds
- Contact Information and Disclaimers

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Contact information and disclaimers are at the end of this newsletter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Article 1: Hearing Aid Rehabilitation: Value-Added Aspects of True Hearing Care - Part 2
by Max Stanley Chartrand, Ph.D.
Health & Human Services/Research in Communicative Disorders
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editor: How many of you are truly satisfied with the services provided by your audiologist? Are you treated as a person, or as a giant ear? Does your audiologist talk to you about hearing loss organizations, communications strategies, and assistive listening devices, or does she focus only on hearing aids.

We've long advocated for audiologists and other hearing professionals to provide complete hearing care to their patients, including the topics mentioned above. We were happy to see an article by Dr. Max Chartrand advocating the same approach, and we wanted to share the article with you.

From Healthy Hearing, August 23, 2004

Reprinted with permission from www.healthyhearing.com

This is Part two of two parts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hearing Aids, Cochlear Implants & Adults: A few notes...

Hearing impaired adults may require a host of supplementary technologies, strategies, and considerations, besides hearing aids. Hearing aids are often the first and most crucial step in aural rehabilitation, but generally speaking, hearing aids are for conversational speech in quiet or nearly quiet surroundings.

When background noise increases, or the distance from the sound source increases, or when the acoustic environment becomes noisy and distracting, assistive devices are often more beneficial than hearing aids alone. This is especially true for those with severe losses in the high frequencies. Hearing impaired adults have unique and special needs. For these individuals to simply purchase hearing aids and go about their business with no other help would be a travesty!

Professional instruction in coping and repair strategies are a must for many severe loss cases. Some patients will also benefit from speechreading skills training. Likewise, auditory rehabilitative counseling of the family support group is often necessary to assist the patient and their family in developing more effective communication and to repair less desirable communicative patterns.

Consumers with severe, progressive impairments should be provided with information about cochlear implant technology and where to go to get help. The cost-benefit of cochlear implantation has proven to be one of the most effective technologies in healthcare today. Contrary to public awareness on this topic, most private health insurance, state vocational rehabilitation services, and Medicare cover cochlear implants.

Additional Challenges for Older Adults

Older adults (and their families) tend to under rate the need to maintain optimal hearing and communication to make up for other declining abilities in later years. Hence, lost in the debate about the cost-benefit of hearing aids is the even more important need for hearing aid counseling and rehabilitative services.

I suggest that hearing healthcare professionals might need to have a little bit of "occupational therapist" in them, to consider the special challenges posed for many older adults in their daily home environment:

a.. Is their home communicatively accessible?

b.. Do they need infrared or closed captioned TV?

c.. Do they need special technology for using the telephone?

d.. Can they hear the telephone ring no matter which part of the house they're in?

e.. Will they know when someone comes to their door?

f.. Do they need assistance at church meetings and in large area listening?

g.. How do they awaken in the morning? Do they need special alarm/strobe/shake clocks?

Communicative access is so important for this age group that their quality of life and social relationships are directly tied to the quality of auditory performance.

For all ages: More needed than just hearing aids

A hearing program that includes hearing aids only is definitively lacking in the finer points of hearing health care. For many other considerations, strategies and technologies are needed to assure that hearing aids-the foundation of hearing care-provide maximal results.

This article is a primer on the subject of value-added hearing health services that every consumer should look for when purchasing hearing aids. For more in-depth research on this topic, the reader is directed to the consumer information website www.digicare.org where they will find more than 2,000 pages and growing of articles, monographs, and scholarly presentations on various hearing health topics.

Dr. Chartrand serves as Managing Director at DigiCare Hearing Research & Rehabilitation and as Director for the DigiCare Hearing Health Network, an international consortium of hearing health professionals dedicated to fostering advancements in hearing health care. He may be contacted through: www.digicare.org.

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------- Eye on Washington --------------------------------
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Stay informed and protect your rights! The Eye on
Washington (EOW) is a national advocacy ezine published by
the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) that focuses on
activities occuring on Capitol Hill that affect deaf and
hard of hearing civil rights.

The EOW is open to all, members and non-members. It is
distributed once a month, sometimes more.
http://www.nad.org/ezine/ecommadmin.html
----------------------------------------------------------

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- Article 2: Including Deaf and HOH in Emergency Planning
by Randy Collins
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Editor: Our local Red Cross has recently assembled a coalition to work out plans for including people with disabilities in emergency planning. I've attended a couple of the meetings and have tried to ensure that people with hearing loss are included. I haven't had a lot of success, however, as the committee's exclusive focus seems to be on how to evacuate people in wheel chairs.

Fortunately, other folks have had better success in similar endeavors. One of the successful ones is Randy Collins (Randy.Collins@NAU.EDU), whom you've met here before. Here's his story. (By way of full disclosure, I've had this story for a few months, but it got lost on the electronic desktop ;-)

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In Arizona people with disabilities are not part of the State Emergency Plan. Pigs and horses, yes, but not people with disabilities. That's now changing.

I am in my second term on the Governor's Council for Independent Living (SILC) and it is through the council that I started a committee for emergency preparedness and people with disabilities. I spent about a year getting nowhere. Through good fortune we got some fire chiefs and battalion chiefs involved through the husband of a friend and things slowly began to happen. On our committee we now have the state Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Coordinator, State Director for 911, police, fire, EMT, one CERT trainer, a geriatric nurse (perhaps it is better to say a nurse who works in geriatrics) and various and sundry people from the disability community.

To get the attention of our Arizona Homeland Security we wrote a letter to the director and asked for a state level position to oversee a voluntary registry and to provide advocacy within emergency services at state level among other things. We also asked for $200,000 in Homeland Security grant funding through the state office with the thought that the money was enough to sound reasonable but not outlandish.

It worked! We had an audience with the Deputy Director of Arizona Homeland Security and the Deputy Director for Arizona Dept. of Emergency Management - they both report directly to the state director of Homeland Security. We thought we would get 20 minutes with them, we got 2 1/2 hours.
We have since discovered that they too thought it would be a short meeting. As the meeting progressed they began to understand the issues related to disabilities and emergency planning and response. To their credit they immediately agreed to begin to involve our community - and they have. Since our initial meeting they have been totally and completely committed to involving us at all levels. We could not ask for greater cooperation.

Now representing the SILC I am a member of the State Emergency Operations Center. I've been taking on line classes, participating in drills and such and have been advocating for people with disabilities. The people in the operations center - about 40 (emergency management types, Red Cross, State Police, National Guard and so forth) have accepted our advocacy. Actually they've damn near welcomed it. We are now working ourselves into the state plan.

Being in the room when simulated emergencies occur through the drills (some have been 2 full days) I am able to see immediately where there would be problems for people with disabilities. Communication issues are huge for deaf and hard of hearing, as you might imagine. Here's what we've just done in that regard:

1. The PIO for the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) has willingly agreed to add an alert to all emergency notices, updates, and press releases issued by the DEM to remind public TV stations to caption the DEM information word for word. It isn't mandated when the emergency is not in the broadcast area but I was able to point out to DEM that they don't want busloads of deaf and/or hard of hearing people driving from Tucson to a fire in Flagstaff to check on their summer homes, friends, family, etc. They readily agreed.

2. The PIO at DEM agreed to contact the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing PIO to establish an emergency warning protocol. They've already begun working on that! DEM will provide information AZCDHH throughout state emergencies so deaf and hard of hearing people can be notified and updated through channels established by AZCDHH. I don't know but I believe the commission is going to develop a voluntary emergency notification list so that those interested can sign up and be notified through a phone tree (TTY), Internet, and text pagers.

3. We've recommended having specific shelters designated as deaf/hoh accessible well in advance of any emergency. It is unrealistic to expect interpreters and ALDs to be available at every shelter. If we know in advance where deaf/hoh shelters are located we can plan to, when possible, to go to those shelters.

4. We are encouraging Arizona Homeland Security and Department of Emergency Management to identify certified interpreters in advance. We will also recommend that interpreters be provided with some form of access badge so that they will be permitted in appropriate restricted areas.

There are alerting devices and services that are accessible to deaf and hard of hearing. There are national, states and regional services that can be accessed through radio receivers that transmit in text. If you haven't heard about this I'll be happy to send you the information.

That's some of where we are at this point. We are working on shelters. As you might imagine Arizona shelters are not accessible to deaf or hard of hearing in most cases. Another big issue for our population is medicine. Emergency professionals tell us that everyone should be prepared to make it 72 hours with no help during an emergency. If we are evacuated to a shelter, say because of fires, there is a good chance our physicians and pharmacists will be evacuated as well. If you need medication you are going to have to jump through some hoops to get it and chances are you are going to have to go through the process without being able to hear well - either over an unamplified phone or in a loud crisis center. Maintaining a fresh supply of hearing aid batteries is also important for hard of hearing people. We can mitigate some of our potential emergency problems by knowing well in advance what to expect when the unexpected happens. In Arizona we are working on community education. Of course first we have to know what we don't know.

Here are some related websites:

National Organization of Disabilities <http://www.nod.org/emergency/>
Federal Communications Commission - Emergency Access <http://ftp.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/emergency_access.html>
FCC's Emergency Alert System (accessible to deaf and to hard of hearing) <http://www.fcc.gov/eb/eas/>
National Weather Radio - For Deaf and for Hard of Hearing <http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/special_need.htm>
Emergency Email Network <http://www.emergencyemail.org/EMENHome.htm>
Emergency Net News <http://www.emergency.com/>

American Red Cross <http://www.prepare.org/disabilities/disabilities.htm>
Center for Disability Issues and Health Professions <http://www.cdihp.org/guide.html>
Emergency Warnings: Notification of Deaf and Hard of Hearing <http://www.nad.org/infocenter/infotogo/legal/EmergencyNotification.html>

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- Article 3: Wireless Industry Unprepared to Provide Hearing Aid Compatible Phones
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Editor: Current law requires all cell phone manufacturers and service providers to provide at least two phones that are hearing aid compatible by next year, and two phones that are telecoil compatible, the following year. Unfortunately, it seems that the industry isn't quite ready to meet those requirements.

This story is reprinted with permission from "Communications Daily".

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November 22, 2004

The wireless industry isn't ready to comply with the FCC's hearing aid compatible (HAC) device requirements just yet, comments filed with the Commission last week revealed.

The FCC last year established new rules relating to hearing aid compatibility and wireless phones and adopted the American National Standards Institute C63.19 technical measurement standard for measuring and rating the wireless devices' compatibility with hearing aids. It required that manufacturers and service providers make available a minimum number of HAC wireless devices and established labeling requirements for compliant devices.

Many wireless service providers told the FCC their ability to meet Commission deadlines for implementing technological handset upgrades was dependent on the work of handset manufacturers that they couldn't control. The Commission has set Sept. 16, 2005, as a deadline for carriers to include in their handset offerings at least 2 digital handset models that comply with the hearing aid compatibility standards. It said by Sept. 16, 2006, carriers must provide at least 2 handset models complying with the "inductive coupling" requirements. By Feb. 18, 2008, at least 50% of carriers' handset models for each air interface should comply with the standards. Wireless service providers and digital wireless handset manufacturers are required to report on the progress toward compliance with the FCC rules every 6 months.

"The industry is on track to comply with the rules before the deadlines," one wireless attorney familiar with the process told us: "It's technically complicated, but service providers and manufacturing companies are working diligently to supply compatible phones before the deadline."

Service providers said in comments their handset vendors, including Motorola, Nokia, LG, Audiovox and Kyocera, were telling them that they were working on developing compliant handsets but didn't have them available yet. The Alliance for Telecom Industry Solutions (ATIS), representing many vendors, said industry and various hearing impaired groups and consumer representatives worked through needed changes referenced in the C63.19 standard "at a faster process than what is typically a standards review and approval process."

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- Article 4: I've Got Hearing Loss Wrinkles
By Denise Portis
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Editor: We've met Denise Portis several times in previous issues, and it's usually because something she posts to one of the hearing loss lists just cracks me up. She's wonderfully gifted at seeing the humor in a situation and painting a picture vivid enough that others can also see it. Here's the latest example.

Denise is one of the founders of the Frederick, MD SHHH chapter. You can contact her at RUPraying@lightkeepers.net

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They tell me that imitation is one of the highest forms of flattery. Recently one of the first graders in my sign language choir started wearing a cell phone adapter in her ear, and had it clipped to her shirt with the wires hanging down around her little neck. Her mother caught my eye and enunciated quietly, "Guess who she looks like!" I grinned and did by best to not laugh out loud; however, that was very difficult! She was so cute! As I watched her however, I noticed that as she talked to friends she would tuck her hair behind her ear and lean her right ("good") ear towards her friends as they talked. I was so tickled to see she'd picked THAT up from me as well. As she spoke I noticed her eyes sort of squint and her chin come forward. Due to middle-age vanity, I had noticed some wrinkles in my mirror lately. As I watched her, it HIT me how I was achieving most of mine! Goodness no, I don't get the clever description of "laugh lines". My lines are "hard of hearing" lines! I think I should coin this phrase! Grin! I really do! So? Does anyone else out there have hearing loss wrinkles? :-)

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- Classifieds
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One Service, one Event and four Employment Opportunities appear in this issue. (Ads appear after this brief table of contents.)

Service 1
Sprint Federal Relay CapTel Program

Event 1
Jewish Deaf Congress Conference 2005
Tampa, Florida
July 3 to 10, 2005

Employment Opportunity 1
Customer Service Representative
Wisconsin Telecommunications Relay System
Madison, WI

Employment Opportunity 2
Staff Attorney
Law Center for Families (LCFF)
Oakland, CA

Employment Opportunity 3
Director of Student Services
Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind (ISDB)
Gooding, ID

Employment Opportunity 4
Information, Referral and Advocacy Program Manager
Washington State Department of Social and Health Services
Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Olympia, Washington

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Service 1
Sprint Federal Relay CapTel Program
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Media Contact:
Stephanie Taliaferro, 913-794-3658
Stephanie.c.taliaferro@mail.sprint.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sprint Provides Free CapTelSM Phones for Hard of Hearing Federal Government Employees and Veterans

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - July 7, 2004 - Sprint (NYSE: FON), the leading provider of telecommunications relay services (TRS), is working with the General Service Administration (GSA) to provide up to fifty (50) free CapTelSM phones every month for federal government employees (civilian and military), Federal retirees and veterans. CapTel offered by the Federal Relay, fully FCC compliant, is an assistive technology aimed at easing communications for the more than 24 million Americans who are hard of hearing, have experienced hearing loss later in life or deaf individuals with good vocalization skills.

CapTel relay service is a leading-edge technology developed by Ultratec, Inc. of Madison, Wis., which allows people to receive both voice and text captioning, nearly simultaneously. A special CapTelTM-equipped phone is required in order to place a call through the CapTel Relay Service. The CapTel phone works like any traditional phone with callers talking and listening to each other, but with one very significant difference - captions are provided live for every call. The captions are displayed on the CapTel phone's built-in screen so the user can read the words while listening to the voice of the other party. The conversation can flow naturally, allowing for normal interruptions and expressed emotions. CapTel through Federal Relay is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week (Spanish - 8am to Midnight Eastern daily)

"Sprint is pleased to provide yet another communications alternative for federal employees who are hard of hearing or deaf," said Mike Ligas, region vice president, Sprint Relay. "Using CapTel through Federal Relay can be a life changing experience for many by allowing them to communicate better with their family, friends and for business purposes."

For further information on Federal Relay or CapTel service or to obtain a free Federal CapTel phone, qualified Federal employees/retirees or veterans need to complete and submit an application form, visit http://www.captionedtelephone.com/availability/FRS.phtml. Additionally, you can contact Randy Murbach, Contract Manager, by e-mail at randy.g.murbach@mail.sprint.com.

How CapTel Works

As the user dials the phone number of the person they wish to call, the CapTel phone automatically routes their call through the CapTel call center and connects them to their called party. At the call center, a specially trained operator uses a customized voice-recognition computer and re-voices whatever is said by the called party. The voice-recognition software transcribes the operator's voice into captions that appear on the CapTel's bright display screen for the user to read. The user also hears the other party's voice on the phone to the best of their ability, just like any other amplified phone.

Sprint Relay Background

Sprint has nearly 14 years of experience in providing relay services to persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind or speech disabled to communicate with hearing persons on the phone. Relay service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with no restrictions on the number of calls placed or call length. Sprint is one of the leading employers of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people in the industry. The 'Sprint Relay' team is comprised of individuals who are daily users of the service, and have greatly influenced the development and quality of Sprint's products and services. For more information on Federal Relay, visit www.fts.gsa.gov/frs/ and Sprint Relay at www.sprintrelay.com.

Sprint Government Systems Division is based in Herndon, Va., and offers the full range of Sprint product and service offerings for federal and state government customers.

About Sprint

Sprint is a global integrated communications provider serving more than 26 million customers in over 100 countries. With approximately 65,000 employees worldwide and over $26 billion in annual revenues in 2003, Sprint is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying state-of-the-art network technologies, including the United States' first nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network and an award-winning Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint provides local communications services in 39 states and the District of Columbia and operates the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide PCS wireless network in the United States. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.

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Event 1
Jewish Deaf Congress Conference 2005
Tampa, Florida
July 3 to 10, 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Something exciting is coming to Tampa, Florida in 2005!

It will be a conference of a different kind!

It will be Jewish Deaf Congress Conference 2005 at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay Hotel (a 4 star property) from July 3 to 10, 2005.

For the first time in JDC history we will have a HANDS-ON conference on Jewish wines, Jewish jewelry, Jewish roots, Jewish cooking and much more.

Participants will be actively involved in activities. Jewish Deaf people and their non-Jewish friends are more than welcome to join & learn "how to do it" while having fun too.

The hotel rates are only $89 a night, no matter how many people in a room. So come and share room with your friends. (psssst, Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay averages $165 a night and its an incredible deal)

Additional information and details can be found at:
www.jdc2005.com
See the website to see what's happening!

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Employment Opportunity 1
Customer Service Representative
Wisconsin Telecommunications Relay System
Madison, WI
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Society's Assets, Inc is seeking a qualified individual to work as a full-time Customer Service Representative at the Wisconsin Telecommunications Relay System in Madison, Wisconsin.

General Information
The Customer Service Representative performs a variety of job functions in order to provide an optimum level of relay customer service. The primary job responsibilities of the Customer Service Representative are to serve as the principal point of contact for WTRS consumers and give educational presentations about the relay system. This position requires travel and schedule flexibility.

Requirements
- Bachelor's Degree
- Three or more years of exposure to Deaf Culture and the diverse communication needs of people who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing and/or Speech Disabled.
- Ability to communicate effectively on the phone and in person
- Experience in public speaking
- Excellent presentation skills
- Excellent customer service skills

Additional Skills Preferred
- Fluency in American Sign Language (ASL)
- Preference for studies in Communications or Social Services
- Basic data entry skills and knowledge of a variety of computer programs (Microsoft Office Suite preferred)
- Knowledge of telecommunications equipment
- Experience teaching ASL classes

Salary
Salary is commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits package!

Submit cover letter and resume to:
Wisconsin Telecommunications Relay System
Attn: Human Resources Manager
8383 Greenway Blvd, Suite 90
Middleton, WI 53562
Phone (Voice/TTY): (800) 600-7826
Fax: (608) 827-0402
Email: kathy.ottelien@hamiltonrelay.com

Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer

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Employment Opportunity 2
Staff Attorney
Law Center for Families (LCFF)
Oakland, CA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Law Center for Families (LCFF) in Oakland, California, seeks a dynamic leader to serve as Staff Attorney for our Deaf Women's Legal Project that focuses on meeting the special needs of deaf victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and assists deaf victims to end abuse and secure financial and emotional stability.

The project has two additional partners, Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services and the California Center for Law and the Deaf. The project partners are committed to providing culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate legal services to deaf survivors. This position provides a unique opportunity for experienced or motivated attorney advocates passionate about domestic violence and or the rights of the deaf.

For a detailed job description and qualifications and how to apply, please go to http://www.lcff.org and click on "employment."

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Employment Opportunity 3
Director of Student Services
Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind (ISDB)
Gooding, ID
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

STARTING DATE:
(Anticipated) April 1, 2005

SALARY RANGE:
Negotiable-Commensurate with education and experience

BENEFITS:
Comprehensive fringe benefit package

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
* Master's Degree in Education (Deaf or Blind preferred), or Business Administration with direct school operations experience
* Three years teaching experience (Deaf or Blind preferred)
* Experience with personnel supervision and evaluation systems, problem solving, complaint resolution, and policy development
* Administrative Certification in field of Education
* Fluency in sign language or Braille communications

DUTIES:
Administer all programs within Student Services, including:
* Cottage Life Program (Residential environment)
* Student Health Center (Nursing staff & care providers)
* Students and Campus Staff Transportation (Land & Airlines)
* Student Activities (After school training and recreational)
* Post Secondary Transition Program (Job & Life skills training)
* Summer Work Experience Program

LOCATION:
ISDB is located in Gooding, Idaho (pop. 3,500), a small farming community at the foothills of the Sawtooth Mountain Range. The city of Gooding is a quiet, family oriented community. Abundant recreational and professional growth opportunities are available within a short driving distance. For more info about ISDB check our website at: www.isdb.state.id.us

APPLICATION PROCEDURES: Submit:
1. Letter of application
2. Copies of certification
3. Three letters of recommendation
4. Official transcripts
5. Resume

DEADLINE:
Open till filled

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Human Resources Department at 208-934-4457 (V/TTY)
or send email to: sherry.hann@isdb.idaho.gov
Successful candidate will be required to furnish a background check within three months of employment as per Idaho Code 33-130.
Hiring is done without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age or disability. In addition, preference may be given to veterans who qualify under state and federal laws and regulations. If you need special accommodations to satisfy testing requirements, please contact the HR Department.

Major Responsibilities:

1. Hire and train qualified staff to supervise students.
2. Conduct annual staff evaluation system based on job performance and growth.
3. Healthy, clean, and safe living environment for students who stay on campus during the week.
4. Comprehensive medical program to meet the needs of individual students.
5. Transportation program for students when they travel to and from school, including coordination of airline schedules and cost analysis.
6. Athletic program for boys and girls from elementary through high school.
7. Recreational program.
8. Student organizations in Cottage Life Program.
9. Employment program that provides opportunities for successful work experiences for high school students during summer vacation. Also, placement of seniors after graduation.
10. Guidance/counseling program for students as needed and required by state policies.
11. Budgets as assigned and provide input as budgets are developed.
12. In-service programs for staff in Students Services Department.
13. Comprehensive school activity calendar.
14. Behavior modification program in Cottage Life Program.
15. Public relations.
16. All other assigned duties at the discretion of the Superintendent.

Typical tasks performed:

1. Provide management, organization, guidance, and leadership for the Department of Student Services.
2. Develop appropriate relationship with students, parents, and staff.
3. Maintain good relations with the public.
4. Foster interdepartmental cooperation.
5. Provide appropriate environment for students served.
6. Communicate effectively with Superintendent and Administrative Leadership Team.
7. Develop departmental goals in accordance with laws, policies, regulations and the mission of ISDB.
8. Develop personal goals to meet employment needs and personal life needs.

Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind (ISDB)
Serving Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Blind and Visually Impaired Students of Idaho Since 1906

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Employment Opportunity 4
Information, Referral and Advocacy Program Manager
Washington State Department of Social and Health Services
Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Olympia, Washington
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Classification: Social & Health Program Manager 1 (SHPM1)
Working Title: Information, Referral and Advocacy Program Manager
Salary Range: $34,092 - 43,644 plus benefits
Deadline: Until filled

ODHH Profile: ODHH is organized within the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), in Olympia, Washington. ODHH provides an array of services to the deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind communities throughout Washington State. Services include Telecommunication Relay Services, telecommunication equipment distribution, Regional Service Centers on Deaf and Hard of Hearing contracts, videoconferencing sites, information & referral, outreach & training. There are approximately 506,000 individuals with a hearing loss in Washington, including 12,600 individuals who are profoundly deaf.

Duties: Design, implement, administer and oversee a statewide Information, Referral and Advocacy (IRA) and Outreach / Training (OT) program. Develops guidelines, forms and related materials. Analyzes, summarizes and reports fiscal and programmatic data to management to identify problems, trends, efficiencies and effectiveness of the delivery system.

Disseminate information regarding federal and state laws and regulations on accessibility obligations of private and public entities and other matters affecting individuals with hearing loss. Make appropriate referrals to local, regional and state-wide resources and programs. Manage a resource library. Work with ODHH staff & management for system changes to address accessibility issues.

Coordinates all ODHH outreach/training activities. Responsible for ODHH client satisfaction surveys. Exhibits at events and conferences. Develops and provides presentations and training curriculums on utilization of TTYs, interpreters, relay and other pertinent accessibility topics to DSHS divisions and other interested state agencies. Develops brochures, posters, handouts and the quarterly newsletter and other periodicals. Responsible for website content. Serves as diversity liaison to Native American Tribes and other ethnic minorities. Maintains Diversity initiatives, updates the plan and ensures goals are met by target dates

Minimum Qualifications: A Master's degree in social work, a health or social science, public administration or a related field or a Juris Doctorate; and one year of professional experience in planning, administering, developing, or delivering social, financial, health or chemical dependency treatment services programs.

A Bachelor's dgree in social work, a health or social science, public administration or a related field; and two years of professional experience in planning, administering, developing, or delivering social, financial, health or chemical dependency treatment services programs.

AND

Additional qualifying experience will substitute, year for year for the required
Education.

Special Requirement: Fluency in American Sign Language is required. Must have two years full-time working experience and/or living with deaf and hard of hearing individuals in an environment of a cultural/linguistic minority: deaf culture. Note: This experience should be frequent and regular vs. incidental or occasional. Full-time experience is considered to be 32 hours or more a week. Experience less than 32 hours per week will be prorated.

Application: To apply, applicants will need to complete the state application and on-line exam through the Department of Personnel website. Go to http://hr.dop.wa.gov/statejobs/bulletins/CURRENT/14382ocs.htm for more information about the Social and Health Program Manager 1 (SHPM1) position. Be sure to indicate having Sign Language proficiency (Code 031) on your application!

Please also submit a current resume to:

Director
Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Post Office Box 45300
Olympia, Washington 98504-5300

The state of Washington is an equal opportunity employer. Persons with a disability who need assistance in the application or testing process, or those needing the application or testing information in an alternate format may call (360) 664-1960 or (360) 664-6211 TTY.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Contact Information and Disclaimers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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