Section 10-295-1 - Use of funds(a)Persons to be served: Available funds shall be used to meet the needs of deaf-blind persons twenty-one years of age or over who were included in the pilot study authorized by SA 77-81 before any other deaf-blind adults are served.(b)Definitions:(1) Blindness: As set forth in Connecticut General Statutes, sec. 10-294a.(2) Visual Impairment: As set forth in Connecticut General Statutes, sec. 10-294a.(3) Deafness: A person is deaf if hearing is non-functional for the purpose of understanding ordinary conversation with optimum amplification.(4) Deaf-blind: Having combined vision and hearing losses which challenge a person's ability to communicate and interact with others, to access information and to move about safely.(5) Specialized Public or Private Facility: A facility located within the state of Connecticut operated by a state agency or private agency licensed by the state which provides residential as well as necessary specialized services to meet the individual needs of a deaf-blind person.(6) Programs: Identifiable services other than residential and basic care as required by an individual training plan-including, but not limited to, speech and hearing therapy; recreation; day activity center; work activity center; sheltered workshop; physical therapy, occupational therapy, etc.(7) Day Activity Center: A center providing a variety of different activities, with highly structured supervision where there is emphasis on meaningful activity and on preparation for more independent functioning. The population attending such a day activity center shall require full-time supervision in order to perform simple crafts or worklike activities and their involvement may be for only a limited time span.(8) Work Activity Center: A workshop, or a physically separated department of a workshop having an identifiable program, separate supervision and records, planned and designed to provide therapeutic activities for handicapped workers whose physical or mental impairment is so severe as to make their productive capacity inconsequential.(9) Sheltered Workshop: A rehabilitation facility, or that part of a rehabilitation facility, engaged in a production or service operation and which is operated for the primary purpose of providing gainful employment or professional services to the handicapped as an interim step in the rehabilitation process for those who cannot readily be absorbed in the competitive labor market or during such time as employment opportunities in the competitive labor market do not exist.(c)Advisory committee: There shall be an advisory committee to assist the board of education and services for the blind; and all major policy and planning issues will be reviewed with the committee before implementation. The committee shall hold at least four regular meetings annually with the provision for special meetings if necessary. Official membership on the committee shall include: from the board of education and services for the blind-an administrator, a board member, and the agency coordinator; a representative of Oak Hill School; from the department of mental retardation-representatives from the central office, Southbury and Mansfield; a representative from the commission on the deaf and hearing impaired; a representative from the New England regional center; and one-third of the members shall be parent representatives (including at least one Southbury and one Oak Hill parent). Appropriate consultants will be invited including the American Foundation for the Blind and the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults.
(d)Individual training plan (ITP) team:The ITP Team shall consist of:
The agency coordinator (chairperson).
The appropriate program coordinator.
The appropriate day program staff member.
The appropriate residential program staff member.
The student and/or guardian shall be invited.
Ancillary staff as appropriate will be included; i.e. medical person, social worker, vocational counselor, behavior specialist, therapists, consultants, etc.
(e)Placement review team (PRT): The placement review team shall consist of: the student and/or legal guardian, or independent advocate, board of education and services for the blind coordinator, current facility coordinator and accepting facility coordinator.Conn. Agencies Regs. § 10-295-1
Effective March 23, 1982; Amended May 9, 2011