The Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, shall make awards of grants or cooperative agreements to develop statewide newborn and infant hearing screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention programs and systems, and to assist in the recruitment, retention, education, and training of qualified personnel and health care providers, for the following purposes:
(1) To develop and monitor the efficacy of statewide programs and systems for hearing screening of newborns and infants; prompt evaluation and diagnosis of children referred from screening programs; and appropriate educational, audiological, and medical interventions for children identified with hearing loss. Early intervention includes referral to and delivery of information and services by schools and agencies, including community, consumer, and parent-based agencies and organizations and other programs mandated by part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.], which offer programs specifically designed to meet the unique language and communication needs of deaf and hard of hearing newborns, infants, toddlers, and children. Programs and systems under this paragraph shall establish and foster family-to-family support mechanisms that are critical in the first months after a child is identified with hearing loss.
(2) To collect data on statewide newborn and infant hearing screening, evaluation and intervention programs and systems that can be used for applied research, program evaluation and policy development.
(3) Other activities may include developing efficient models to ensure that newborns and infants who are identified with a hearing loss through screening receive follow-up by a qualified health care provider, and State agencies shall be encouraged to adopt models that effectively increase the rate of occurrence of such follow-up.
The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall make awards of grants or cooperative agreements to provide technical assistance to State agencies to complement an intramural program and to conduct applied research related to newborn and infant hearing screening, evaluation and intervention programs and systems. The program shall develop standardized procedures for data management and program effectiveness and costs, such as—
(A) to ensure quality monitoring of newborn and infant hearing loss screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention programs and systems;
(B) to provide technical assistance on data collection and management;
(C) to study the costs and effectiveness of newborn and infant hearing screening, evaluation and intervention programs and systems conducted by State-based programs in order to answer issues of importance to State and national policymakers;
(D) to identify the causes and risk factors for congenital hearing loss;
(E) to study the effectiveness of newborn and infant hearing screening, audiologic and medical evaluations and intervention programs and systems by assessing the health, intellectual and social developmental, cognitive, and language status of these children at school age; and
(F) to promote the sharing of data regarding early hearing loss with State-based birth defects and developmental disabilities monitoring programs for the purpose of identifying previously unknown causes of hearing loss.
The Director of the National Institutes of Health, acting through the Director of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, shall for purposes of this section, continue a program of research and development on the efficacy of new screening techniques and technology, including clinical studies of screening methods, studies on efficacy of intervention, and related research.
In carrying out programs under this section, the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Director of the National Institutes of Health shall collaborate and consult with other Federal agencies; State and local agencies, including those responsible for early intervention services pursuant to title XIX of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.] (Medicaid Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Program); title XXI of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.] (State Children's Health Insurance Program); title V of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 701 et seq.] (Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Program); and part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.]; consumer groups of and that serve individuals who are deaf and hard-of-hearing and their families; appropriate national medical and other health and education specialty organizations; persons who are deaf and hard-of-hearing and their families; other qualified professional personnel who are proficient in deaf or hard-of-hearing children's language and who possess the specialized knowledge, skills, and attributes needed to serve deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns, infants, toddlers, children, and their families; third-party payers and managed care organizations; and related commercial industries.
The Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Director of the National Institutes of Health shall coordinate and collaborate on recommendations for policy development at the Federal and State levels and with the private sector, including consumer, medical and other health and education professional-based organizations, with respect to newborn and infant hearing screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention programs and systems.
The Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall coordinate and collaborate in assisting States to establish newborn and infant hearing screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention programs and systems under subsection (a) of this section and to develop a data collection system under subsection (b) of this section.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to preempt or prohibit any State law, including State laws which do not require the screening for hearing loss of newborn infants or young children of parents who object to the screening on the grounds that such screening conflicts with the parents' religious beliefs.
For purposes of this section:
(1) The term "audiologic evaluation" refers to procedures to assess the status of the auditory system; to establish the site of the auditory disorder; the type and degree of hearing loss, and the potential effects of hearing loss on communication; and to identify appropriate treatment and referral options. Referral options should include linkage to State coordinating agencies under part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.] or other appropriate agencies, medical evaluation, hearing aid/sensory aid assessment, audiologic rehabilitation treatment, national and local consumer, self-help, parent, and education organizations, and other family-centered services.
(2) The terms "audiologic rehabilitation" and "audiologic intervention" refer to procedures, techniques, and technologies to facilitate the receptive and expressive communication abilities of a child with hearing loss.
(3) The term "early intervention" refers to providing appropriate services for the child with hearing loss, including nonmedical services, and ensuring that families of the child are provided comprehensive, consumer-oriented information about the full range of family support, training, information services, and language and communication options and are given the opportunity to consider and obtain the full range of such appropriate services, educational and program placements, and other options for their child from highly qualified providers.
(4) The term "medical evaluation by a physician" refers to key components including history, examination, and medical decision making focused on symptomatic and related body systems for the purpose of diagnosing the etiology of hearing loss and related physical conditions, and for identifying appropriate treatment and referral options.
(5) The term "medical intervention" refers to the process by which a physician provides medical diagnosis and direction for medical and/or surgical treatment options of hearing loss and/or related medical disorder associated with hearing loss.
(6) The term "newborn and infant hearing screening" refers to objective physiologic procedures to detect possible hearing loss and to identify newborns and infants who require further audiologic and medical evaluations.
For the purpose of carrying out subsection (a) of this section, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Health Resources and Services Administration such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2011 through 2015.
For the purpose of carrying out subsection (b)(1) of this section, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2011 through 2015.
For the purpose of carrying out subsection (b)(2) of this section, there are authorized to be appropriated to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2011 through 2015.
(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title III, §399M, as added Pub. L. 106–310, div. A, title VII, §702, Oct. 17, 2000, 114 Stat. 1121; amended Pub. L. 111–337, §2, Dec. 22, 2010, 124 Stat. 3588.)
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