Guam § 4109 - Duties and Responsibilities.

§ 4109. Duties and Responsibilities.

(a) UOG CEDDERS: It will be the duty and responsibility of the

Director of UOG CEDDERS to work in collaboration with DPH&SS,

Department of Education (DOE), ICC Subcommittee, and the health care

facilities to implement universal hearing screening and intervention

programs through a four (4) year Federal grant under the United States

Department of Health & Human Services, Health Resources and Services

Administration, Maternal Child Health Bureau (H61 MC 00094-03-00). It

will also be the duty and responsibility for UOG CEDDERS to develop the

tracking and surveillance database monitoring system through a 2-year

Cooperative Agreement with the Center of Disease Control in Atlanta,

Georgia (UR3/CCU923118-02). UOG CEDDERS shall develop a plan for

the collection of data and evaluation of the program in relation to the duties

and responsibilities of the departments and the health care facilities with

guidelines for the screening, identification, diagnosis, and monitoring of

infants hearing impairment and infants at risk for delayed onset of hearing

impairment. At the conclusion of this initial development and

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implementation, UOG CEDDERS will transition all information, materials,

and data on infant hearing screening and intervention to the DPH&SS.

(b) DPH&SS: It is the duty and responsibility of the Director of

DPH&SS to collaborate with UOG CEDDERS, DOE, ICC Subcommittee,

and the health care facilities during this developmental phase to establish

Guam==s universal newborn hearing screening programs to ensure a smooth

transition from UOG CEDDERS and the DPH&SS. Once the transition is

completed, DPH&SS shall be responsible for maintaining universal

newborn hearing screening programs, tracking and surveillance systems and

the evaluation of an island-wide program for early identification of and

intervention for infants with hearing impairments. The DPH&SS shall

conduct a community outreach and awareness campaign to inform medical

providers, pregnant women, and families of newborns and infants of the

availability of newborn hearing screening programs and the value of early

hearing testing.

(c) Health Care Facilities: It is the duty and responsibility of the

Administrator, Director, or whomever is in charge of the health care facility

to collaborate with UOG CEDDERS, DPH&SS, ICC Subcommittee, and

DOE to insure that one hundred percent (100%) of all hearing screening of

all newborns on Guam is part of the standard of care. Health care facilities

shall maintain hearing screening data and shall report hearing results to the

UOG CEDDERS and/or DPH&SS on an annual basis. Health care facilities

shall work in collaboration with the DPH&SS to continue training of health

care providers in conducting infant hearing screening, including cutting

edge techniques, updated technical advances in early hearing screening and

detection, and ongoing personnel training on the importance of early

identification of hearing loss.

(d) ICC Subcommittee: It is the duty and responsibility of the

Chairperson of the ICC Subcommittee to collaborate with UOG

CEDDERS, DPH&SS, health care facilities, and DOE to monitor service

delivery of all infants with hearing loss, assuring that state of the art hearing

screening and diagnostic equipment are being used by health care facilities

to identify children with hearing impairments. In addition, the ICC

Subcommittee shall submit annual reports of Guam=s hearing screening

efforts to the Guam Interagency Coordinating Council.

(e) DOE: It is the duty and responsibility of the Superintendent of the

Department of Education to collaborate with UOG CEDDERS, DPH&SS,

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AND INTERVENTION ACT (UNHSIA) OF 2004

ICC Subcommittee, and the health care facilities to insure that all infants

identified with hearing impairments, and those at risk, receive appropriate

early intervention services, which includes transdisciplinary diagnostic

assessments, development of an Individualized Family Service Plan, and

follow-up with the appropriate medical home. DOE will work in

collaboration with UOG CEDDERS, DPH&SS, ICC Subcommittee, and the

health care facilities in planning future data system linkages so that no

infant born on Guam is lost to follow-up and intervention services.

2009 NOTE: P.L. 28-045:10 (June 6, 2005) changed the name of the Department of

Education to the Guam Public School System. P.L. 30-050:2 (July 14, 2009) reverted the

name of the Guam Public School System to the Department of Education. References to

Guam Public School System have been changed to Department of Education pursuant to

P.L. 30-050:3.