Sec. 4. The center shall carry out the following duties in an unbiased manner to ensure that children who are deaf and children who are hard of hearing acquire optimal language skills and academic abilities, regardless of the mode of communication used:

(1) Monitoring and tracking the identification, early intervention, education, and successful transitions of children who are deaf and hard of hearing from birth through twenty-one (21) years of age and who are enrolled or preparing to enroll in early intervention services, preschool, elementary, or secondary school.

(2) Developing student learning opportunities.

(3) Providing family support.

(4) Developing child assessment service models, consistent with federal and state early childhood intervention and special education law, for the following:

(A) Audiological assessments.

(B) Social and developmental assessments.

(C) Communication (including language) assessments.

(D) Academic achievement assessments.

(5) Providing technical assistance related to classroom instruction, acoustics, and other environmental aspects.

(6) Assisting professionals who provide students with sign language interpreting, oral interpreting, cued speech transliteration, and captioning services.

(7) Providing consultation to school corporations in providing services to students who are deaf and students who are hard of hearing.

(8) Acting as a liaison with all state agencies that provide services to individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing, including the department of education, the Indiana department of health, the family and social services administration, and the Indiana School for the Deaf.

As added by P.L.109-2012, SEC.16. Amended by P.L.56-2023, SEC.198; P.L.147-2023, SEC.33.