2007 Minnesota Statutes

125A.63 RESOURCE CENTERS; DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING AND BLIND OR
VISUALLY IMPAIRED.
    Subdivision 1. Also for multiply disabled. Resource centers for the deaf or hard of hearing,
and the blind or visually impaired, each also serving multiply disabled pupils, are transferred to
the Department of Education.
    Subd. 2. Programs. The resource centers must offer summer institutes and like programs
throughout the state for deaf or hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired, and multiply disabled
pupils. The resource centers must also offer workshops for teachers, and leadership development
for teachers.
A program offered through the resource centers must promote and develop education
programs offered by school districts or other organizations. The program must assist school
districts or other organizations to develop innovative programs.
    Subd. 3. Programs by nonprofits. The resource centers may contract to have nonprofit
organizations provide programs through the resource centers.
    Subd. 4. Advisory committees. The commissioner shall establish an advisory committee
for each resource center. The advisory committees shall develop recommendations regarding the
resource centers and submit an annual report to the commissioner on the form and in the manner
prescribed by the commissioner.
    Subd. 5. Statewide hearing loss early education intervention coordinator. (a) The
coordinator shall:
    (1) collaborate with the early hearing detection and intervention coordinator for the
Department of Health, the director of the Department of Education Resource Center for Deaf
and Hard-of-Hearing, and the Department of Health Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
Advisory Council;
    (2) coordinate and support Department of Education early hearing detection and intervention
teams;
    (3) leverage resources by serving as a liaison between interagency early intervention
committees; part C coordinators from the Departments of Education, Health, and Human
Services; Department of Education regional low-incidence facilitators; service coordinators from
school districts; Minnesota children with special health needs in the Department of Health; public
health nurses; child find; Department of Human Services Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Services
Division; and others as appropriate;
    (4) identify, support, and promote culturally appropriate and evidence-based early
intervention practices for infants with hearing loss, and provide training, outreach, and use of
technology to increase consistency in statewide service provision;
    (5) identify culturally appropriate specialized reliable and valid instruments to assess and
track the progress of children with hearing loss and promote their use;
    (6) ensure that early childhood providers, parents, and members of the individual family
service and intervention plan are provided with child progress data resulting from specialized
assessments;
    (7) educate early childhood providers and teachers of the deaf and hard-of-hearing to use
developmental data from specialized assessments to plan and adjust individual family service
plans; and
    (8) make recommendations that would improve educational outcomes to the early hearing
detection and intervention committee, the commissioners of education and health, the Minnesota
Commission Serving Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People, and the advisory council of the
Minnesota Department of Education Resource Center for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing.
    (b) The Department of Education must provide aggregate data regarding outcomes of
deaf and hard-of-hearing children who receive early intervention services within the state in
accordance with the state performance plan.
History: 1987 c 398 art 3 s 30; 1989 c 220 s 2; 1991 c 265 art 3 s 38; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 11 s
9; art 16 s 13; 2003 c 130 s 12; 2006 c 263 art 3 s 9; 2007 c 146 art 3 s 7