La. Admin. Code tit. 22 § I-312

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section I-312 - Effective Communication with the Hearing Impaired

A. Purpose. To establish procedures to provide auxiliary aids and services whenever necessary to ensure effective communication with qualified individuals with disabilities.

B. Applicability. Deputy Secretary, Undersecretary, Chief of Operations, Assistant Secretary, Regional Wardens, Wardens, Director of Probation and Parole, Director of Prison Enterprises, offenders, employees and visitors who are hearing-impaired. Each unit head is responsible for ensuring that appropriate unit written policy and procedures are in place to comply with the provisions of this regulation.

C. Policy. It is the secretary's policy to ensure that communication with offenders, employees and visitors with disabilities is to the same extent as communicating with others. The department shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to afford an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, a service, program or activity conducted by the department where the auxiliary aids or services does not constitute an undue administrative and financial burden or fundamentally alter the service, program, or activity. Any male offender whose hearing cannot be restored to a "within normal limits" medical level with an auxiliary aid will be housed at either the Louisiana State Penitentiary (LSP) or Rayburn Correctional Center (RCC). Any female offender whose hearing cannot be restored to a "within normal limits" medical level with an auxiliary aid will be housed at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women (LCIW.)

D. Definitions

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) -a comprehensive federal law which requires the state to provide equal access for people with disabilities to services, programs, and activities of the department.

Auxiliary Aids and Services (AAS) -external aids used to assist people who are hearing-impaired and may include qualified sign language or oral interpreters, written materials, telephone handset amplifiers, assistive listening devices, telephones compatible with hearing aids, closed caption decoders, open and closed captioning, telecommunication devices for deaf persons (TDD/TTY), videotext displays or other effective methods of making aurally delivered materials available to individuals with hearing impairments.

Departmental Personnel -for the purpose of this regulation, this shall include, but not be limited to, nurses, physicians, social workers, therapists, admitting personnel, security staff, probation and parole officers and any other administrative staff who have or are likely to have direct contact with offenders and/or visitors.

Disability -a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of an individual, including a record of such impairment or being regarded as having such impairment.

Effective Communication -communication with persons with disabilities that is as effective as communication with others. Effective communication is achieved by furnishing appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to afford qualified individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in or benefit from the services, programs and activities of the department.

Major Life Activity -walking, seeing, hearing, breathing, caring for one's self, sitting, standing, lifting, learning, thinking, working and reproduction. This list is illustrative only. The impairment to a major life activity must be long term.

Offender -anyone committed to the physical custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections or under the supervision of the Division of Probation and Parole.

Qualified Interpreter -an interpreter who is able to interpret effectively, accurately and impartially both receptively and expressively, using any necessary specialized vocabulary.

Note: An employee who signs "pretty well" or has only a rudimentary familiarity with sign language or finger spelling is not a qualified sign language interpreter pursuant to this regulation. Likewise, someone who is fluent in sign language but who does not possess the ability to process spoken communication into the proper signs or to observe someone else signing and change their signed or finger spelled communication into spoken words is not a qualified sign language interpreter. A departmental employee should not be allowed to interpret if his presence poses a conflict of interest or raises confidentiality and privacy concerns. On occasion, an offender may possess the skill level necessary to provide interpreting services; however, the impartially concerns remain, and in many-if not most-situations, offender interpreters should not be used due to confidentiality, privacy and security reasons.

Reasonable Accommodation -a modification or adjustment to a job, service, program or activity, etc. that enables a qualified individual with a disability to have an equal opportunity for participation.

Requestor -a person who requests an accommodation for a disability.

TTY/TDD -a device that is used with a telephone or computer that has telephone text capability to communicate (by typing and reading communication) with persons who are deaf or hearing-impaired.

Visitor -for the purpose of this regulation, includes any non-departmental employee who is authorized to be on institutional grounds. i.e., volunteers, contractors, official guests, etc.

E. Procedures

1. Establishment of Auxiliary Aids and Services (AAS) Program. The department shall design and institute a program to provide auxiliary aids and services, schedule, announce and promote all training required, and draft, provide and maintain all reports as required by this regulation.

2. Designation of an official or office responsible for AAS.

a. Each unit ADA coordinator will be responsible for the AAS Program and shall maintain all necessary information about access to and the operation of the program.

b. LSP, RCC and LCIW unit ADA coordinators shall maintain a combination voice, TDD/TTY telephone line or dedicated TDD/TTY telephone line and shall publicize the purpose and telephone number broadly within the unit and to the public.

c. Each unit ADA coordinator shall provide appropriate assistance regarding immediate access to, and proper use of, the appropriate auxiliary aids and services available. It is the responsibility of the unit ADA coordinators to know where the appropriate auxiliary aids are stored, how to obtain services and how to operate them and shall facilitate maintenance, repair, replacement and distribution.

d. Each unit ADA coordinator shall maintain a recording system for inquiries regarding the provision of auxiliary aids and services and the response.

3. Provision of Appropriate Auxiliary Aids and Services

a. The department shall provide to offenders, employees and visitors who are deaf or hearing-impaired an appropriate auxiliary aid or service that may be necessary for effective communication as soon as practicable after determining that the aid or service is necessary.

b. The determination of which appropriate auxiliary aids and services are necessary and the timing, duration and frequency with which they will be provided shall be made by unit personnel, who are otherwise primarily responsible for coordinating and/or providing offender services, in consultation with the person with a disability. When an auxiliary aid or service is required to ensure effective communication, the unit shall provide an opportunity for an individual with a disability to request the auxiliary aid or service of the requestor's choice and shall give consideration to the choice expressed, but shall have the final decision regarding the accommodation to be provided.

c. The initial offender communication assessment shall be made at the time of the intake interview at a reception and diagnostic center or other appropriate classification center within 48 hours of arrival. Properly trained staff shall perform and document a communication assessment to determine the offender's level of effective communication. This assessment shall be conducted by an outside provider or departmental staff, barring any unusual or emergency condition within 10 weeks from the initial assessment. The written assessment shall be made a part of the offender's master prison record.

i. During the initial communication assessment, each offender shall be given a Request for Accommodation Form. This form shall also be made available to the current offender population. Offenders are free to reject or to fail to request auxiliary aids and services, but failure to use the designated form does not relieve the reception center/institution of its duty to assess the offender, nor to inform the offender of the availability of appropriate auxiliary aids and services. Refusal or failure by an offender to complete or return the Request for Accommodation shall not constitute a violation of the ADA or of the Resolution Agreement by the department.

ii. If the initial assessment reveals that an offender's hearing is below normal limits as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a male offender shall be transferred to LSP for continuation and completion of the classification process.

d. Each unit shall conduct a minimum of a yearly assessment of each offender with hearing or speech disability regarding the provision of appropriate auxiliary aids and services. If an intervening problem or adjustment is required, the offender shall request a medical call-out. Each unit shall maintain appropriate documentation that reflects the ongoing assessments. The information shall be filed in the offender's medical record.

4. Nothing in this regulation shall require that an electronic device or piece of equipment used as an appropriate auxiliary aid be used when or where its use may be inconsistent with other departmental regulations or unit policies or when use may pose security concerns. (For example, closed-captioned televisions are provided consistently for offenders with hearing disabilities with the same duration and frequency as televisions are provided to the other offenders classified in the same status. No offender will be provided a television if his status would not otherwise permit access.)

5. The department shall maintain an effective complaint resolution mechanism regarding the provision of auxiliary aids and services. Records shall be kept of all complaints filed and actions taken in response. All complaints shall be handled through each unit ADA coordinator and the grievance systems currently in effect. The warden designated to oversee the operation of the ADA Program at each institution or division shall conduct a meaningful review of this regulation on a semi-annual basis.

6. If an offender who is deaf or hearing-impaired does not request appropriate auxiliary aids or services, but departmental and/or unit personnel have reason to believe that the offender would benefit from appropriate auxiliary aids or services, the offender may be asked if the use of auxiliary aids would be beneficial and initiate the testing procedure without violating ADA.

F. Qualified Interpreters

1. The department shall provide qualified sign language or oral interpreters when necessary for effective communication with, or effective participation in, departmental programs and activities by employees, offenders and visitors who are deaf or hearing-impaired. In addition, the department shall offer qualified sign language interpreters to offenders who are deaf or hearing-impaired and whose primary means of communication is sign language and qualified oral interpreters to offenders who rely primarily on lip reading, as necessary, for effective communication.

a. The following are examples of circumstances when it may be necessary to provide interpreters:

i. initial intake and classification processing;

ii. regularly scheduled health care appointments and programs, such as medical, dental, visual, mental health and drug and alcohol recovery services;

iii. emergency health care where having an interpreter would not present an undue burden (e.g., interpreter can arrive at the scene quickly);

iv. treatment and other formal programming;

v. educational classes and activities;

vi. parole board hearings;

vii. disciplinary board hearings;

viii. criminal investigations (to the extent controlled by the department);

ix. classification review interviews;

x. grievance interviews;

xi. religious services; and

xii. formal internal investigations.

2. The department shall establish a contract with individual sign language interpreters or with interpretive agencies for hearing impaired offenders, employees or visitors who require this service, or shall provide other effective means to ensure that qualified interpreters or oral interpreters are provided within three hours of an unscheduled request and timely for scheduled requests. Additionally, as a back-up measure, the headquarters ADA coordinator shall maintain a list of all qualified sign language and oral interpreters (and their contact information) residing or working within a 50-mile radius of any unit housing deaf or hearing-impaired offenders. The headquarters ADA coordinator shall provide this information to the unit ADA coordinators at LSP, RCC and LCIW.

NOTE: The department shall ensure by contract or other arrangements that all services, programs or activities provided or operated by contractors are in compliance with ADA. Contracts with those entities that fail or refuse to comply with ADA shall be subjected to formal termination proceedings.

3. Between the time an interpreter is requested and when an interpreter arrives, unit personnel shall continue to try to communicate with the person who is hearing-impaired to the same extent as they would communicate with a person without a hearing impairment, using all available methods of communication. However, in an emergency, seeking the services of an interpreter shall not mean that medical treatment will be delayed until the interpreter arrives. In addition, upon arrival of the interpreter, unit personnel shall review and confirm with the offender, employee or visitor all information received prior to the interpreter's arrival.

4. Offenders requesting auxiliary aids and/or services, after the initial assessment and which would require a medical evaluation, shall be charged the standard medical co-pay.

EXCEPTION: The offender may be assessed the total costs of replacement of an auxiliary aid if it is determined that replacement is a direct result of the offender's negligence/damage to property.

G. Hearing Aids and Batteries

1. Each unit shall purchase appropriate types of hearing aid batteries and keep them in stock in the medical supply room during the length of time an offender who wears a hearing aid is housed at that unit. Replacement hearing aid batteries shall be provided to offenders who request them on the first business day following receipt of the request. If the request is made on a weekend or holiday or a night after regular business hours, the replacement battery will be provided on the first standard business day following the request.

2. Each unit shall send offender hearing aids to a hearing aid repair company as soon as possible, but no later than 24 hours (excluding weekends and holidays) following a request for repair of the offender's hearing aid. The unit shall inform the offender in writing, as soon as possible, when his hearing aid was sent for repair and when it is expected to be returned by the repair company. The unit shall maintain written documentation of all hearing aid repairs, including detailed information regarding the vendor used, the date of the repair and the specific repairs performed. This information shall be submitted by each unit to the medical department at the Louisiana State Penitentiary quarterly for statistical compilation purposes.

H. Telephones

1. The department shall provide telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDDs/TTYs) for offenders who are deaf or hearing-impaired in a manner that ensures effective access to telephone services. In addition, the following is required so that those offenders who do hear will have access to TDDs/TTYs to communicate with family members or friends who are deaf or hearing-impaired.

a. Each unit shall make at least one TDD/TTY device available in each of the visiting areas where non-contact visits are conducted and the communication exchanged is accomplished over a telephone device. The unit can either permanently install the required TDD/TTY or make available a sufficient number of portable TDDs/TTYs for these visits.

b. Each unit shall provide a TDD/TTY to all deaf or hearing-impaired offenders residing in housing areas to the extent that pay telephones are available to other offenders. In those situations where the unit provides portable TDDs/TTYs, the housing officers shall provide them upon the offender's request, absent emergency circumstances such as lockdown.

c. The department shall take the necessary steps to provide offenders, with toll-free access to "800" numbers for telephone relay services and TDD/TTY operators. These numbers will be posted near all offender telephones, with notice that they are toll-free numbers. The telephone calls to the TDD/TTY operator will be provided free of charge, but any charges incurred to the receiving party will be handled as a standard offender telephone call. Thus, the offender or the receiving party shall be responsible for any long distance charges accrued.

d. Due to the fact that telephone calls placed via a TDD/TTY take longer than telephone calls placed using standard voice telephone equipment, the unit shall allow offenders needing TDD/TTY assistance to have 30 minutes per telephone call, barring any unusual circumstances.

2. Each unit shall ensure that at least one and no less than 25 percent of all offender telephones are equipped with volume control mechanisms and appropriate signs are displayed indicating the phone is volume controlled.

3. Each unit shall ensure that no less than 25 percent of all of its offender telephones are hearing aid compatible in the general population.

4. Each unit shall maintain records of all offenders who have been medically evaluated for any type of hearing impairment, the results of such assessment, date of any reassessment, any transfer or discharge of offenders assessed with a hearing impairment, requests for accommodations including the date requested and the determination and the provision of auxiliary aids or services and the date(s) provided. This information shall be submitted by each unit to the medical department of the Louisiana State Penitentiary quarterly for statistical compilation purposes.

I. Visual and Tactile Alarms

1. Where there are audible emergency alarms in visiting areas, each unit shall add visual alarms when an individual who is deaf or hearing-impaired is anticipated to spend significant periods of time in these areas.

2. Each unit shall place visual emergency alarms in rooms where offenders who are deaf may reside alone or work alone to ensure that they will always be alerted when an emergency alarm is activated. To be effective, such devices must be located and oriented so that they will spread signals and reflections throughout a space or raise the overall light level sharply.

3. Where each unit has audible alarms in housing areas, the unit shall add visual signal devices, when necessary, to alert offenders who are deaf or hearing-impaired to announcements (e.g., roll call.)

J. Televisions

1. Each unit shall provide and maintain closed-captioned television decoders (or built-in decoder televisions) in television rooms to enable offenders who are deaf or hearing-impaired to enjoy the same opportunity for television viewing as that afforded to other offenders.

K. Training

1. Annual training regarding this regulation shall be provided by the department to all employees through the regularly scheduled ADA Training Program.

2. The training program shall be sufficient in duration and content to instruct a reasonable number of personnel in access to the AAS Program, use of the program, and sensitivity to the needs of the deaf and hearing-impaired offender population. Such training shall include:

a. topics relevant to the health care needs of deaf and hearing-impaired offenders, such as the various degrees of hearing impairment;

b. language and cultural diversity in the deaf community;

c. dispelling myths and misconceptions about persons who are deaf or hearing-impaired;

d. identification of communication requirements of persons who are deaf or hearing-impaired;

e. the unique needs and problems encountered by late-deafened individuals;

f. psychological implications of hearing loss and its relationship to interaction with hearing health care professionals;

g. types of auxiliary aids and services as required pursuant to this regulation;

h. the proper use and role of qualified sign language interpreters;

i. procedures and methods for accessing the AAS Program for providing interpreters;

j. making and receiving calls through TDDs/TTYs and the Louisiana Relay or other relay service providers;

k. third party resources which can provide additional information about people who are deaf or hearing-impaired; and

l. the existence of the department's complaint resolution process.

L. Recordkeeping

1. The Headquarters ADA Coordinator shall maintain records of all requests for accommodation made throughout the department.

2. The headquarters ADA coordinator shall maintain and track statistics concerning all requests for accommodation from offenders, employees and visitors and the nature and outcome of the accommodations requested.

3. If a pattern becomes apparent following review of the statistics, the headquarters ADA coordinator shall seek to remedy and/or correct any problems noted and report same to the secretary.

La. Admin. Code tit. 22, § I-312

Promulgated by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Corrections Services, LR 35:2190 (October 2009).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 49:950.