I. Mission Statement
The mission of the
SWVA Regional Deaf Services Program is to provide Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, and DeafBlind
persons living in Southwest
Virginia
access to mental health, substance abuse, and mental retardation services that are
culturally sensitive and delivered in the preferred communication method of the consumer.
II . Program Philosophy
It is the
program’s philosophy that the laws and regulations that require public entities to
provide fully accessible services to person’s with a disability only provide a
starting point for delivering truly equal human services. Although
the involvement of a sign language interpreter in a therapy session with a deaf
individual, for example, may meet the requirements of the law, it does not allow the
person to communicate directly with the therapist, a benefit that is expected by persons
who are hearing. The program desires to shift
the focus of the consumer’s experience away from communication and towards assisting
consumers in meeting their individual goals. The
program will attempt to fulfill the mission statement by providing:
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Direct clinical services such as
therapy, case management, psychiatric medication services, and crisis services.
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Consultation and education to the
professional service community,
particularly Community Services Boards in the region.
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Education to the community.
There are many
controversial cultural issues within the deaf community.
There are also controversies between the deaf community and the hearing community. The controversies are wide-ranging, and like many
cultural issues, elicit strong emotions from persons involved. These issues include the best way to educate a deaf
child, the option of receiving a cochlear implant, and the use of a person’s voice versus the use of sign
language. The Deaf Services Program does not
intend to represent a particular view on these types of issues. When providing education and consultation to the
CSBs or to the community, the program intends to provide the many facets of a situation in
a factual manner based on experience and professional literature. The program does, however, operate from the
perspective that being deaf is not a pathology and staff will
attempt to “de-pathologize” deafness when conducting education. The program recognizes that being deaf is commonly
experienced as a cultural phenomenon and that this perspective can greatly promote
self-esteem and healthy living.
III.
Program Population
The Deaf
Services Program is intended to serve persons with a hearing loss of all ages living in Southwest Virginia who have
been assessed with a mental health, mental retardation and/or substance abuse need. To the greatest extent possible, the program will
also serve persons assessed with a mental health, mental retardation and/or substance
abuse need whose lives are impacted by a hearing loss.
This may include, for example, a hearing child of deaf parents whose primary mode
of communication is American Sign Language. The
program does not intend to functionally define the terms deaf, hard of hearing or
deafblind as these terms are used to describe both physical and cultural experiences. The phrase “persons who are deaf, hard of
hearing, or deafblind” will be used throughout this program description to refer to
the primary population served by this program. Although
this program should be made known to persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafblind,
the use of the program should be based on consumer desire. A deaf woman who reads lips and uses her voice, for
example, may desire to use local mental health, substance abuse, or mental retardation
services in lieu of this program. For the
purpose of this program, Southwest Virginia is defined as those living in the
catchment areas of the following Community Services Boards:
Cumberland Mountain: Tazewell, Buchanan,
and Russell County
Dickenson: Dickenson County
Highlands: Washington County, City of Bristol
Mt. Rogers: Smyth, Wythe, Grayson, Carroll and Bland County, City of Galax
Planning District One: Lee, Scott, Wise County, City of Norton
IV. Program Services
The long term
goal of the Deaf Services Program is to provide persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or
deafblind the same range of services offered to persons who hear. Because of the size of Southwest Virginia, the
comprehensive nature of services currently provided to hearing persons, and limited
program staff, this program must initially limit the extent of direct clinical services. The program currently provides outpatient
counseling services, psychiatric services and medication clinic, crisis services, case
management services, mental health support services (in the area of Lebanon, VA) and
consultation.
Out-patient Counseling
Providing
individual mental health and substance abuse counseling services is a cornerstone of the
Deaf Services Program. Program staff make every effort to communicate in the preferred communication
mode of the consumer. Although program staff are fluent in American Sign Language, Signed English, spoken
English, and can use different “simultaneous communication” methods, the program
recognizes that some clients use home signs or other methods of communication in which the
staff is not proficient. In these cases, staff
will employ a certified interpreter, or a Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI), to facilitate
communication.
Psychiatric Evaluations and Medication Clinic
Those persons
who are opened in the Deaf Services Program will have access to a psychiatrist who will
provide the customary range of services that CMCS currently provides to hearing consumers. Regular times for medication clinic have been
established for consumers of the Deaf Services Program.
The program is proud to have a psychiatrist, Dr. Jana Dreyzehner, on the team who
has experience working with persons with a hearing loss and is able to deliver services in
sign language.
Case Management Services
Case Management
services are designed to help persons with a mental health, mental retardation or
substance abuse issues address problems of independence and daily living. Case management services include monitoring mental
health symptoms, assisting with medications, coordinating medical and other service needs,
advocating to make community resources accessible, problem solving relationship issues,
assistance coping with mental health symptoms, supportive counseling, assistance with
budgeting and daily living skills and other needs.
Crisis
Services
Mental Health
crisis services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to persons who are deaf, hard
of hearing and deafblind. The nature of the
service provided is dependent upon the specific situation and the nature of the crisis. Crisis services after normal working hours and on
weekends are accessed by following the local procedures established for a particular
Community Services Board catchment area. The
local CSB crisis worker when learner that the caller or individual in crisis is deaf will
contact the on-call staff member from the Regional Deaf Services Program for clinical
support. After hours
crisis services are focused on assessing the individual’s capacity to take care of
themselves and remain safe until an outpatient appointment can be sought during normal
working hours. Where this is not possible the
service focuses on assisting the individual in accessing an appropriate level of inpatient
care.
Consultation and Education
The Deaf Services Program will provide consultation and education
services to the professional service community and to Community Services Boards in Southwest Virginia. The extent of consultation and the range of this
service will be determined on a case-by-case basis. The
program will also provide education concerning deafness, deaf culture, sign language, and
other topics to the staff of CSBs in Southwest
Virginia.
V. Delivery
of Services
This section of
the program description is intended to provide a procedural foundation for the delivery of
services. These procedures will be adapted and
modified based on collective experience. Questions
or suggestions for improving the delivery of services are welcome and may be directed to
the Deaf Services Coordinator or to the Director of Mental Health Services at Cumberland
Mountain Community Services.
Location of Services
Staff of the Deaf Services Program are based in the Lebanon, Virginia satellite office
of Cumberland Mountain Community Services. Program
staff providing therapy and case management are routinely
available, however, to meet consumers in the Community Services Board office or facility
closest to the location of the consumer. In many situations, case managers visit consumers
in their homes, at school, or in other community locations.
The only service that is exclusively available in Lebanon, VA is psychiatric
evaluations and medication clinic. Program staff often assist consumers by arranging transportation or actually
transporting them to Lebanon for this service, or in some cases by arranging for consumers to
see the doctor through the Appal-Link Telepsychiatry Network. The “Appal-Link” is a high speed
teleconferencing system available in over 10 locations in SWVA. Using this system, a person can go into their local
Community Services Board office and still meet “face to face” with the doctor
located in Lebanon.
Program Referrals
Requests for
services may come to the Deaf Services Program in different ways.
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Requests for services may come from an
individual, family member, or professional service agency in the community.
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Community Services Boards may refer
consumers to the program by contacting the Coordinator of Deaf Services.
Request
for Consultation and Education
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