Texas Administrative Code
Title 26 - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Part 1 - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION
Chapter 3 - MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH OTHER STATE AGENCIES
Subchapter B - MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING CONCERNING COORDINATION OF SERVICES TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
Section 3.63 - Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired
Universal Citation: 26 TX Admin Code § 3.63
Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) Financial and service responsibilities to disabled persons.
(1) The Texas Commission
for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired (TCDHI) is authorized to provide direct
delivery services to persons who are deaf or hearing impaired. These services
are rendered through annual contracts with local service providers. TCDHI
currently has contracts with service providers located in 16 cities: Abilene,
Amarillo, Austin, Beaumont, Big Spring, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort
Worth, Houston, Lubbock, McAllen, San Antonio, Sherman, Tyler, and
Waco.
(2) The number of staff,
types of direct services, and number of clients at each service provider vary
considerably. Many provide other direct services in addition to those
authorized and subsidized by the state through TCDHI. The range of
TCDHI-contracted services include:
(A)
Interpreter services. Interpreters are provided for clients who are deaf or
hearing impaired to assist them in obtaining, medical, legal, governmental, and
economic services. Interpreters are also available through the local service
providers for state agencies, courts, and businesses; however, these entities
must reimburse the service provider. Payment for interpreters is reimbursed
monthly by TCDHI on an hourly basis for services provided. The rate of payment
is determined by the fee schedule recommended for interpreters by
TCDHI.
(B) Information and referral
services. Service providers disseminate information regarding general and
specialized community services to persons who are deaf or hearing impaired, as
well as information about deafness to the general public.
(C) Services to older hearing impaired Texans
(SOHIT). Clients who are age 60 or older and deaf or hearing impaired are
assisted in obtaining information and/or services from agencies such as the
Texas Department on Aging, local agencies on aging, social security offices,
and local parks and recreation departments. Services provided may include case
management, transportation assistance, nutrition, social interaction, and
communication. This program reduces the need for long-term care, provides
information to concerned individuals, and provides training to other personnel
serving the elderly. These programs are referred to as Services to Older
Hearing Impaired Texans (SOHIT). Currently, 11 local service providers offer
SOHIT services.
(D) Other services.
In addition to the services described in subparagraphs (A)-(D) of this
paragraph, TCDHI has service and financial responsibilities to:
(i) develop and implement a statewide
advocacy and education program to ensure the continuity of services to Texans
who are deaf or hearing impaired;
(ii) ensure more effective
coordination/cooperation among public and nonprofit entities that serve persons
who are deaf or hearing impaired;
(iii) establish a board for the evaluation of
interpreters which commission approval, conducts interpreter exams, prescribes
qualifications, evaluates, and certifies interpreters at varying levels of
skill. TCDHI is required to charge fees for these services. In addition,
statutes require that the Board for Evaluation of Interpreters work with the
Texas Rehabilitation Commission to develop a communication competency
evaluation for TRC's vocational rehabilitation counselors and other staff who
work with clients who are deaf or hearing impaired. Commission (TRC) a
communication competency evaluation for vocational rehabilitation counselors
who work at TRC with clients who are deaf or hearing impaired;
(iv) establish a system to approve courses
and workshops for the instruction and continuing education of
interpreters;
(v) annually review
fees recommended by TCDHI for the payment of interpreters and adopt a schedule
of reasonable fees for interpreters at varying levels of skill. This schedule
of fees must be made available to and recommended for adoption by other state
agencies;
(vi) prescribe the
qualifications for, and compile a list of, qualified interpreters available for
assignment by state agencies, courts, and political subdivisions. This list is
to be disseminated to these entities and the general public;
(vii) adopt a schedule of reasonable fees
recommended for the payment of interpreters required by law to be provided in
proceedings of state agencies, courts, and political subdivisions;
(viii) adopt a sliding fee scale for persons
who are deaf or hearing impaired who receive interpreter services in
nongovernmental settings which are reimbursed by TCDHI. The fee scale is based
on the requestor's financial ability to pay; however, a client may not be
denied this service because of his/her inability to pay;
(ix) design and provide a decal to be
attached to motor vehicles regularly operated by persons who are deaf or
hearing impaired with a cost of not more than $2.00 per decal;
(x) offer a one-week summer camp session for
children and youth who are deaf or hearing impaired to participate in
barrier-free recreational and instructional activities. TCDHI annually
contracts with a private facility for this program. Eligibility requirements
are that students must be deaf or hearing impaired, ages 8 through
17;
(xi) charge reasonable fees for
TCDHI publications. Fees for publications may be waived for a client who is
deaf or hearing impaired if he/she is unable to pay; and
(xii) publish an annual Directory of Services
and an agency newsletter (based on available funding) and make available a
Registry of Interpreters.
(E) Interagency contracts. Currently, TCD has
interagency contracts primarily concerning interpreter services with the Texas
Employment Commission, Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Texas
Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental
Retardation, and the Texas Department of Health.
(F) Memorandum of understanding. House Bill
550, passed by the 70th Legislature, required TCDHI to write (and adopt by
rule) memoranda of understanding to coordinate the delivery of services to
persons who are deaf and hearing impaired and to reduce duplication of services
with each of the following agencies: Texas Department of Human Services, Texas
Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Texas Employment
Commission, Texas Department of Health, Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board, Texas Education Agency, Texas Department on Aging, Texas School for the
Deaf, Texas Rehabilitation Commission, and the institutional division of the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and other state agencies that provide
services to persons who are deaf or hearing impaired. TCDHI also participates
in two multi-agency memoranda of understanding which facilitate the
coordination of services to persons with disabilities and to inmates of the
Texas prison system who have disabilities.
(b) Service delivery data.
(1) The contact person for TCD may be reached
at (512) 444-3323 (voice/TDD) and (512) 326-9639 (fax machine).
(2) Information regarding councils for the
deaf is provided in:
(A) the TCDHI Contracted
Services Listing that provides lists of services provided by each service
provider;
(B) the Registry of
Interpreters that makes available, on request, the names, locations, phone
numbers, and interpreting skill levels of TCDHI-certified (or National Registry
of Interpreters for the Deaf-certified) interpreters in Texas;
(C) the legislative appropriations request
(LAR) which is the agency's request for biennium funding (and information about
its program activities, goals, and objectives). The LAR is prepared and
submitted to the Legislative Budget Office;
(D) Resource Handbook on Interpreting,
Interpreter Certification, and Principles of Ethical Behavior explains the
interpreter certification procedure, the use of interpreters, and the laws
relating to the use of interpreters.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Texas may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Service apply.
