The Washington D.C. Council passed the Office On Deaf and Hard of Hearing Establishment Amendment Act of 2019 on September 22, according to an article on DCist.
The office will “advocate for legislation and policies that address the needs of the city’s deaf, deafblind, and hard-of-hearing communities…[it] would also serve as a clearinghouse for high-quality American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters, and create and distribute a card to D.C. police with instructions on how to effectively communicate with those residents, among other services.” The bill also mandates that the office director be a hard of hearing or deaf individual.
Related article: Washington DC Council Considers Bill Ensuring Access for Hard-of-Hearing Community
According to DCist, the office will work in tandem with city agencies to assist deaf children with obtaining developmental support and language access, as well as providing access to workforce development opportunities.
To read the entire article, please click here.
