2021 Montana Legislature

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_____________ bill NO. _____________

INTRODUCED BY _________________________________________________

By Request of the ****

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT Providing requirements for evaluating and assessing language and literacy development in deaf and hard-of-hearing children; providing for the selection of language-specific evaluation and assessment tools and the sharing of the tools with providers; and providing for an annual report regarding the language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children."

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

 

NEW SECTION. Section 1. Evaluation and assessment of language and literacy development in deaf and hard-of-hearing children -- report. (1) In providing early intervention services for deaf and hard-of-hearing children and their families pursuant to Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1431, et seq., the department of public health and human services shall select one or more tools for qualified personnel to use in evaluating and assessing the language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

(2) A tool:

(a) must be in a format that shows the stages of language development for English, for American sign language, or for another language spoken in the child's home;

(b) must be used by qualified personnel to track the development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children's expressive and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages toward literacy;

(c) must be selected from existing instruments or assessments used to assess the development of all children from birth to 3 years of age; and

(d) must be appropriate, in both content and administration, for use with deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

(3) The tools may be used, as part of the assessment required by federal law, by a child's individualized family service plan to track the child's progress and to establish or modify the child's individualized family service plan.

(4) The department shall provide a list of tools selected pursuant to this section to providers of early intervention services to track the language and literacy development of the deaf and hard-of-hearing children to whom the provider is providing services.

(5) The department shall prepare an annual report, using existing data that is reported in compliance with federal requirements, regarding the language and literacy development in deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth to 3 years of age. The department shall make the report available on its website.

 

NEW SECTION. Section 2. Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as a new part in Title 52, chapter 2, and the provisions of Title 52, chapter 2, apply to [section 1].