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An Act To Enhance the Duties and Responsibilities of the Director of the Division for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Late Deafened
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §1413-B, sub-§1-A  is enacted to read:
 
1-A.  Supervise vocational rehabilitation counselors for the deaf.     Provide direct supervision and oversight of vocational rehabilitation counselors who provide counseling to deaf, hard-of-hearing and late-deafened persons and who are within the division of vocational rehabilitation within the Bureau of Rehabilitation Services;
Sec. 2. 26 MRSA §1413-E, as amended by PL 2009, c. 174, §19, is further amended to read:
§ 1413-E.Director of the Division for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Late Deafened
 
1. Director.   The Director of the Bureau of Rehabilitation Services shall appoint the Director of the Division for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Late Deafened, who is responsible for administering the Division for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Late Deafened and its programs and policies, including generating and seeking out financial aid, grants and money and overseeing vocational rehabilitation counselors who provide counseling to deaf, hard-of-hearing and late-deafened persons and who are within the division of vocational rehabilitation within the Bureau of Rehabilitation Services.
 
2. Director of the Division for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Late Deafened; staff; qualifications.   The Director of the Division for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Late Deafened and the staff must be knowledgeable of the needs of the deaf, hard of hearinghard-of-hearing and late deafenedlate-deafened persons and possess the ability to communicate on a meaningful basis with those persons.
 
SUMMARY
This bill clarifies that the Director of the Division for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Late Deafened has oversight of vocational rehabilitation counselors who work in the Department of Labor, Bureau of Rehabilitation Services's division of vocational rehabilitation and serve deaf, hard-of-hearing and late-deafened persons. The bill also removes language that provides that the Director of the Bureau of Rehabilitation Services appoints the Director of the Division for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Late Deafened.