Definitions (Part II)

“External Communication Assessment” means a person, called a Qualified Assessor, will read the paper list of ways to share information with Deaf or Hard of Hearing people to see which work for you. What they think will be written down on paper. That paper will be part of what DCS uses to write a Communication Plan. Paragraphs 2-9 of this Agreement explain more about this.

“Intake” means the meeting between you and a DCS officer to start your parole or probation. There could be more than one meeting. DCS will explain how things work and talk to you about what rules you must follow.

“Internal Communication Assessment” means a kind of Communication Assessment done by the DCS staff person called an ADA Coordinator

“Internal Intake Assessment” means that the first time a DCS officer meets a person on parole or probation who might be Deaf or Hard of Hearing, the officer may ask some questions about the person’s hearing and how to share information.

“Presumed to Know Sign Language” means that a person on parole or probation may:

• use sign language or gesture and the DCS officer sees that
• agree when the DCS officer asks in spoken English “Do you know sign language?” or the person looks to not understand the question
• point, gesture, or nod to an “ASL interpreter” picture with “A.S.L.” written in English and finger-spelled below the picture.

“Qualified Assessor” – This person will have a contract with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (“DBHDD”) to do the External Communication Assessment. This person knows American Sign Language, oral communication, and gestural communication. This person will have done the work before of figuring out how much a Deaf or Hard of Hearing person can read or write. This person will be able to tell DCS the best ways to give information. That might include using Qualified Interpreters.

“Qualified Individual with a Disability” – This is a legal term copied from a law that you can find at 42 U.S.C. § 12131(2). This means there are some legal rules about if a person has a disability. If the law agrees, a person with a disability will get services or be a part of programs in a way that helps the person with a disability share information. This rule is for government organizations providing services or programs.

“Qualified Interpreter” means an interpreter who can interpret in a way that works well for the people sharing information together. The interpreter must get the information right. The interpreter must not help one side or the other. The interpreter should work well with English and ASL. The interpreter must understand the words used in each meeting by all people.

The interpreter must work with the deaf or hard of hearing person’s language needs well. The interpreter will be in the same room as the people sharing information, or the interpreter will be on a video screen. An “interpreter” can mean someone who works with sign language, someone who works with deaf people who need to read lips only, or someone who works with cued speech.

Another law in the State of Georgia, O.C.G.A. § 24-6-651, also says that a “Qualified Interpreter” is someone who has been tested and passed by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf or someone that a court has said can interpret. This Agreement also says that a Certified Deaf Interpreter (“CDI”) is also a Qualified Interpreter.

“Unplanned Critical Interaction” means a Critical Interaction with DCS and a Deaf or Hard of Hearing person on parole or probation where DCS did not have enough time for DCS to use the best way to share information like DCS has to do for a Critical Interaction.