Each regional center assisted under this part shall make available at least the following services: (a) (1) Testing and educational evaluation to determine the special educational needs of handicapped children referred to such center. (2) Preference will be given to (i) children for whom local or State services are not available, and (ii) children with the most complicated educational problems. (3) Services under this paragraph shall include the development and appraisal of methods (which can be disseminated by way of demonstration or other appropriate means) for appraising those needs; (4) The recipient shall provide for the dissemination, throughout the States, of information concerning the testing and evaluation capacity of the regional center. (20 U.S.C. 1421(a)(1)) (b) Development of educational programs to meet those needs in cooperation with school officials and the parents of the concerned children. The regional center shall provide ongoing evaluation to identify the methods found most effective in meeting those needs. (20 U.S.C. 1421(a) (2)) (c) Assistance to schools and other appropriate agencies, organizations, and institutions in providing the educational programs (developed under paragraph (b) of this section) through services such as (1) consultation (including, in appropriate cases, consultation with parents or teachers of handicapped children at the regional centers), (2) periodic reexamination and reevaluation of special education programs (including programs developed at the center under paragraph (b) of this section), and (3) regional workshops, (4) dissemination of printed or media packages on educational programming practices, (5) other technical services; (20 U.S.C. 1421 (a) (3)) (d) Following the educational progress of the handicapped childrer. evaluated under paragraph (a) of this section, and modifying the programs developed under paragraph (b) of this section or assisted under paragraph (c) of this section as necessary to meet the special educational needs of those children; (e) Technical assistance to States in the region served by the center in the de velopment of their capacity to evaluate and meet the educational needs of handicapped children; and (20 U.S.C. 1421 (a) (3)) (f) Demonstration of new techniques of testing and new procedures of instruction. (20 U.S.C. 1421 (b)) § 121b.12 Location of centers. To the extent feasible, regional centers will be distributed equitably throughout the Nation, and may, for demonstration purposes, be located both in urban and in rural areas. (20 U.S.C. 1421) § 121b.13 Evaluation and dissemination. (a) Each regional center shall develop and apply effective methods for evaluating (1) the extent to which project objectives are being met, (2) the effectiveness of the educational programs developed for handicapped children by the center, and (3) the efficiency with which human and financial resources were used in providing the services in § 121b.11 and meeting such project objectives. (b) Each center shall disseminate or provide for the dissemination of information regarding its activities, including the evaluation carried out under paragraph (a) of this section. Additional dissemination activities may be carried out under Part 121e of this chapter. (20 U.S.C. 1421, 1424) § 121b.14 Coordinating office for regional resource centers. (a) The Commissioner will establish a Coordinating office for regional resource centers to serve the regional centers, and to set forth strategies which accommodate sharing of resources and nonredundant activities among regional centers in instances where single efforts are warranted. (b) The coordinating office shall: (1) conduct studies to identify needs for educational studies and for evaluation instruments or procedures, (2) announce these needs to organizations which have the potential for satisfying these needs, (3) recommend priorities to the Commissioner in meeting these needs, (4) maintain state of the art information on identification diagnostic, appraisal, and prescriptive techniques for use by the regional centers and State and intrastate agencies, (5) conduct regional and AUTHORITY: Sec. 622, Pub. L. 91-230, 84 Stat. 182 (20 U.S.C. 1422), unless otherwise noted. SOURCE: 40 FR 7414, Feb. 20, 1975, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A-Purpose; Eligible Parties § 121c.1 Scope. (a) This part applies to programs and projects assisted under section 622 of the Act. (b) Assistance provided under this part is subject to applicable provisions contained in Subchapter A of this chapter (relating to fiscal, administrative, property management, and other matters) and Part 121 of this chapter, (20 U.S.C. 1422) § 121c.2 Purpose. Payment of Federal funds under this part may be made for the purpose of providing (by grants to or contracts with eligible parties), through a limited number of model centers for deaf-blind children (referred to in this part as "regional centers"), a program designed to develop and bring to bear upon such children, beginning as early as feasible in life, those specialized, intensive professional and allied services, methods, and aids, that are found to be most effective to enable such children to achieve their full potential (a) for communication with, and adjustment to, the world around them, (b) for useful and meaningful participation in society, and (c) for self-fulfillment. (20 U.S.C. 1422(a)) § 121c.3 Eligible parties. Parties eligible to receive assistance under this part are public or nonprofit private agencies, organizations, or institutions. (20 U.S.C. 1422(b)) Subpart B-Organization of Centers § 121c.10 Cooperative arrangements. (a) General. To receive assistance under this part, eligible parties shall enter into cooperative arrangements with other eligible parties (referred to in this part as "participating agencies"), which may include those in another State. (b) Sponsoring agency. In the case of each cooperative arrangement established under paragraph (a) of this section there shall be a single public or nonprofit private agency, organization, or institution (1) which is designated as the "sponsoring agency", (2) which is the grant or contract applicant for the regional center, (3) which shall be the legal recipient of the grant of contract award, (4) which shall be legally responsible for administering the regional center under the grant or contract, and (5) which may enter into contracts (to the extent permitted by State and local law) for the provision of part of the services under the grant or contract. (c) Parties and terms of service contracts. The contracts specified in paragraph (b) (5) of this section may be made with participating agencies, as well as with other agencies, institutions, or organizations. (20 U.S.C. 1422) The sponsoring agency shall be responsible for stimulating development of and coordinating and monitoring the status of contracted services for deafblind children in the region to be served, including the provision of those activities and services for deaf-blind children specified under §§ 121c.33 and 121c.34. (20 U.S.C. 1422) § 121c.12 Other center components. Each regional center shall have a regional coordinator, a regional committee, and adequate staffing to administer the grant or contract. (a) Regional coordinator. The regional coordinator shall be responsible for (1) preparation of the grant or contract application of the regional center; (2) implementation of approved program goals and supervision of the carrying out of those responsibilities of the sponsoring agency specified in § 121c.10; and (3) establishment of the regional committee pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section. (b) Regional committee. (1) The regional committee shall include in its membership (but shall not be limited to): A representative from the sponsoring agency, at least one representative from each State in the region to be served (including the State official or officials, or their designees, who are responsible for special education), at least one parent of a deaf-blind child in the area to be served, and at least one representative from each of the allied disciplines of medicine, social service, and rehabilitation services (which may in clude a representative of the National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults). (2) The regional committee shall actively assist in (i) the planning, development, and operation of the regional center, (ii) the dissemination of information regarding the regional center's programs, (iii) the assessment of regional needs regarding deaf-blind children and the establishment of priorities respecting those needs for the region, and (iv) the evaluation of the extent to which the objectives of the regional center meet established short and long range regional goals. (c) Staff. The regional center staff shall (1) stimulate early identification and followup of all deaf-blind children in the region, (2) maintain adequately organized records on each such child, and (3) stimulate, support, and monitor services, research, training, and evaluation provided or carried out by the regional center. (d) Participating agencies. Participating agencies may include eligible parties which are health, education, or social service agencies or 'nstitutions in the region to be served, and which are engaged in, or responsible for, direct delivery of services to deaf-blind children or their families, regardless of whether those agencies are assisted through contracts with the sponsoring agency or are assisted from other public or private sources. (20 U.S.C. 1422) Subpart C-Geographical Requirements § 121c.22 Need for center. In providing assistance under this part, the Commissioner will take into consideration the need for a center for deafblind children in the light of the general availability and quality of existing services for such children in the region to be served. (20 U.S.C. 1422 (c)) § 121c.23 Regional plan. Each application for assistance under this part shall include a comprehensive plan to meet the special needs of deafblind children in the region to be served. In the case of an application for a continuation award, the regional committee established under § 121c.12(b) shall actively assist in the development of this regional plan. (20 U.S.C. 1422) Subpart D-Services and Activities 121c.33 Services. Each regional center assisted under this part shall provide at least the following services: (a) Comprehensive and continuing diagnostic and evaluative services for deaf-blind children. Such services shall include (1) examinations by the following qualified personnel: Audiologists, ophthalmologists, pediatricians, and other special consultants as needed, such as child psychologists, optometrists, orthodontists, pediatric neurologists, cardiologists, otorhinolaryngologists, speech pathologists, and occupational and physical therapists and (2) continuing psychoeducational assessments of intellectual, social-adaptive, and communication abilities, and emotional adjustment. (b) A program for the adjustment, orientation, and education of deaf-blind children which integrates all the professional and allied services necessary therefor. This program may include therapeutic and adapted recreational and/or physical education activities and services. (c) Effective professional consultative and counseling services for parents, teachers, and others who play a direct role in the lives of deaf-blind children, to enable them to understand the special problems of those children and to assist in the process of adjustment, orientation, and education of those children. (20 U.S.C. 1422(d) (1)) § 121c.34 Additional activities. (a) In addition to the services specifled in § 121c.33 each regional center shall carry out the following activities under Part 121e of this chapter: (1) Development or demonstration of new, or improvements in existing methods, approaches, or techniques, which would contribute to the adjustment and education of deaf-blind children; (2) Training (either directly or otherwise) of professional and allied personnel engaged or preparing to engage in programs specifically designed for those children, including payment of stipends for trainees and allowances for travel and other expenses for them and their dependents; and (3) Dissemination of materials and information about practices found effective in working with those children. (b) Each regional center shall provide for continuing evaluation of the effec tiveness of each program or project assisted under this part, either directly or by contract with independent organizations. (c) (1) Each regional center may also conduct research under section 624(a) (1) of the Act and Part 121e of this chapter to identify and meet the full range of special needs of deaf-blind children. (2) Applications for assistance under this part shall specifically state any activities which an applicant intends to undertake pursuant to section 624 of the Act. (3) Research activities under section 624(a) (1) of the Act are subject to applicable requirements contained in §§ 121h.1(b), 121h.4, and 121h.7 of this chapter, as well as applicable provisions contained in Part 121e of this chapter and sections 2.1-2.2 and 3.1-3.5 of the guidelines for Part E of the Act. (20 U.S.C. 1422, 1424) § 121c.35 Construction and equipment. Establishment and operation of regional centers under this part may include the construction of necessary facilities, including the construction of necessary residential facilities, and may include the acquisition of necessary equipment. (20 U.S.C. 1404, 1422(b)) § 121c.36 Children to be served. The services to be provided under § 121c.33 shall be available on a continuing basis to all deaf-blind children in the geographic area to be served by the regional center, including deaf-blind children (a) who are enrolled in schools operated by participating agencies, (b) who are attending other programs for handicapped children, and (c) who are not able to cope with a regular school program. (20 U.S.C. 1422) § 121c.37 Determination of deaf-blind children. (a) As used in this part, the term "deaf-blind children" means children who have auditory and visual handicaps, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational problems that they cannot properly be accommodated in special education programs solely for the hearing handicapped child or for the visually handicapped child. (b) Determination that a child is a deaf-blind child within the meaning of paragraph (a) of this section shall be made by the regional center on the basis of an extended period of evaluation, conducted in the center or elsewhere by a team of specialists (at least including specialists in the fields of hearing, vision, and education of the handicapped), who shall make appropriate recommendations to the center as to whether a child is a deaf-blind child within the criteria set forth in paragraph (a) of this section. (20 U.S.C. 1422) § 121c.38 Location of services. (a) Services provided to deaf-blind children by a regional center may be provided to those children (and, where applicable, other persons) regardless of whether they reside in the regional center, and may be provided at some place other than the center. (b) A regional center may use the facilities, services, and resources available in another regional center to provide needed services for its deaf-blind children and their families except where such use will interfere with the program of the other regional center. (20 U.S.C. 1422(d) (2)) § 121c.39 Transportation. The services referred to in § 121c.33 may include the provision of transportation for deaf-blind children (including an attendant), and for parents. (20 U.S.C. 1422 (d) (2)) § 121c.40 Parental participation. If a local educational agency applies for assistance under this part, the application shall contain the policies, procedures, and assurance required under § 121.4(c) of this chapter regarding parental involvement and dissemination of information. Purpose. 121d.52 Other applicable regulations. 121d.53 Applications. 121d.54 Criteria for selection of applications. AUTHORITY: Sec. 623, Pub. L. 91-230, 84 Stat. 183 (20 U.S.C. 1423), unless otherwise noted. SOURCE.: 40 FR 7416, Feb. 20, 1975, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A-Early Education Projects § 121d.1 Scope. (a) Except as otherwise provided, this supart applies to all programs assisted under section 623 of the Act. Assistance under this part will be limited to those programs which the Commissioner determines show the greatest promise of providing a comprehensive and strengthened approach to the special problems of handicapped children. (b) Assistance provided under this subpart is subject to applicable provisions contained in Subchapter A of this chapter (relating to fiscal, administrative, property management, and other matters) and Part 121 of this chapter. (20 U.S.C. 1423) |