Rehabilitation Amendments

(Measure indefinitely postponed in Senate, H.R. 12467 passed in lieu)

Rehabilitation, Comprehensive Services, and Developmental Disabilities Amendments - =Title I: Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973= - Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to extend for three years (1) the authorization of appropriations for the basic State grants program of vocational rehabilitation services, (2) the authorization of appropriations for the grant program to assist States and public and nonprofit agencies in meeting the cost of projects initiating or expanding services for the handicapped, and (3) the authority to carry out pilot projects dealing with client assistance.

Revises requirements for State rehabilitation plans, including adding requirements that they contain (1) provisions relating to standards which assure the availability of personnel trained to communicate in a client's native language or mode of communication, (2) assurances that services will be provided on an equal basis to handicapped American Indians, and (3) assurances that rehabilitation facilities comply with the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968.

Expands the scope of telecommunication services.

Requires that each State agency which receives assistance under the Rehabilitation Act establish specified procedural safeguards.

Revises formulae for State allotments.

Authorizes a program of grants to pay 90 percent of the costs of vocational rehabilitation services for handicapped American Indians residing on reservations.

Extends the appropriational for vocation rehabilitation research and for rehabilitation personnel training. Eliminates certain restrictions with respect to the use of research funds. Authorizes research grants to profitmaking entities.

Makes amendments concerning Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers and Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers.

Directs the Secretary to develop a long-term rehabilitation manpower plan designed to target resources on areas of personnel shortages.

Extends the authorization for appropriations for the following: (1) rehabilitation facility construction and operation; (2) vocational training services grants and contracts; (3) special projects and demonstrations; (4) the National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults; (5) program evaluations; (6) program projections; and (7) the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board.

Provides for the development and delivery of psychiatric services as an integral part of rehabilitation programs.

Authorizes research programs to develop methods of attracting professionals to serve handicapped individuals in rural areas.

Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to State agencies and private nonprofit organizations to provide reading services to blind persons.

Establishes a National Institute of Handicapped Research within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to be responsible for: (1) overseeing all programs and activities carried out under this title; (2) disseminating information to public and private organizations; (3) conducting educational, training, and informational programs; and (4) reporting to Congress with respect to the implementation and conduct of such programs and activities. Directs the Institute to develop within 18 months of enactment and in consultation with specified officials and agencies a long-range plan on research activities affecting handicapped individuals.

Establishes an Interagency Committee on Handicapped Research to coordinate rehabilitation programs among Federal departments and agencies.

Specifies amendments with respect to the following aspects of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board: (1) Board composition; (2) Board members' terms of office and compensation; (3) Board authority to enforce standards under the Architectural Barriers Act; (4) Board sanctions against noncomplying public conveyances and rolling stock; (5) assistance to persons affected by Board regulations; and (6) judicial review of Board orders.

Makes available to persons alleging discrimination on the basis of handicap in Federal employment or in federally-assisted activities the remedies, procedures, and rights set forth in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Establishses an Interagency Coordinating Council with responsibility for developing and putting into effect agreements and policies concerning efficient, consistent implementation and enforcement of the nondiscrimination and architectural barrier removal provisions of the Rehabilitation Act.

Authorizes grants to States to assist in developing and implementing comprehensive services for severely handicapped individuals.

Conditions receipt of funds on assurances that an individual written program is developed for each person provided comprehensive services.

Directs each State desiring to participate in the comprehensive services program to (1) submit annual State plans to the Secretary for approval and (2) submit within 18 months of the enactment of this Act a long-range plan for the provision of services to all severely handicapped persons.

Requires States receiving payments for comprehensive services to make grants to local public agencies, private nonprofit organizations, or tribal organizations of Indian tribes located on Federal and State reservations for the establishment or operation of centers to provide services for severely handicapped individuals, such as independent living centers, designed to enable such individuals to secure and maintain employment or to enhance their ability to live independently or function in the society.

Details application requirements for entities wishing to receive State grants.

Sets the Federal share for comprehensive services at up to 80 percent of necessary cost and at up to 90 percent of necessary cost in urban or rural poverty areas.

Requires each recipient State (1) to provide the Secretary satisfactory assurances that the State has in effect a system to protect and advocate the rights of severely handicapped individuals and (2) to take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified handicapped individuals.

Requires each State receiving assistance to establish a State Council on Severely Handicapped Individuals to serve as an advocate for the severely handicapped.

Directs the Secretary to provide public agencies and nonprofit institutions financial assistance for (1) the developemnt and demonstration of models for centers and (2) the provision of services for the severely handicapped.

Authorizes the Secretary to make research and training grants to public agencies, nonprofit private organizations, and academic institutions with respect to services for the severely handicapped.

Directs the Secretary to conduct studies of: (1) the impact of vocational rehabilitation services provided under this Act on recipients of disability payments under certain provisions of the Social Security Act; (2) the impact of this title on eligibility requirements and service availability for severely handicapped individuals, and the relationship between eligibility requirements and service availability under this title and under the Developmental Disabilities Services and Facilities Construction Act; (3) the special problems and needs of handicapped individuals who reside in rural areas; and (4) ways to structure Federal programs to eliminate disincentives for handicapped individuals receiving benefits to obtain and continue in employment.

=Title II: Federal Council on Handicapped Individuals= - Establishes the Federal Council on Handicapped Individuals. States that the Council shall: (1) provide advice and assistance to the President concerning the problems and needs of handicapped and severely handicapped individuals; (2) review and evaluate on a continuing basis all policies, programs, and activities concerning handicapped and severely handicapped individuals conducted or assisted by all Federal Departments and agencies; (3) serve as an ombudsman on behalf of handicapped individuals by making recommendations to the President, to the Secretary and to the Congress with respect to Federal policies, programs, and activities concerning handicapped and severely handicapped individuals; (4) inform the public about the problems and needs of handicapped and severely handicapped individuals by collecting and disseminating information; and (5) provide public forums for discussing and publicizing the problems and needs of handicapped and severely handicapped individuals by conducting or sponsoring conferences, workshops, and other such meetings.

Directs the Secretary to make available to the Council such assistance as it may require.

=Title III: Amendments to the Developmental Disabilities Services and Facilities Construction Act= - Amends the Developmental Disabilities Services and Facilities Construction Act to extend for five years the authorization of appropriations for construction, demonstration grants, and allotments.

Revises the definition of "developmental disability" under such Act.

Authorizes the appropriation of funds to assist States to meet requirements regarding institution of a system to advocate and protect the rights of the developmentally disabled.

Abolishes the National Advisory Council on Services and Facilities for the Developmentally Disabled.

Makes further amendments to such Act including those with respect to State allotment, State plans, State planning councils, and grant authority.

Changes the name of such Act to the "Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act.

=Title IV: Readers Services for the Blind; Interpreter Services for the Deaf - Reader Services for the Blind, Interpreter Services for the Deaf, and Rehabilitation Services for the Older Blind Act= - Authorizes payments to States for reading services for the blind upon submission and approval of State applications which are to contain specified assurances. Directs that funds provided under this Act be used to complement and augment, rather than to duplicate or replace, existing reader services programs. Stipulates that applications required under this Act may be submitted as part of a State's plan for vocational rehabilitation for the blind under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Authorizes payments to States through similar means for rehabilitation services for older blindness persons which are designed to facilitate adjustment to blind and promote self-reliance.

Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to authorize the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, through the Office of Human Development Services, to establish up to 12 programs for training interpreters for the deaf. Designates six institutions which may serve as base centers and requires that the six additional authorized centers have ongoing operating programs for training interpreters.

Permits centers to operate satellite interpreter training programs.

Directs the Secretary to institute a program for the establishment of information and referral centers and of interpreter referral centers for the deaf in each State.

=Title V: Prohibition Against Certain Research and Demonstration Projects= - Prohibits funds appropriated under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Older Americans Act of 1965, or the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act from being expended for research, demonstration, or evaluation programs or projects which are not directly managed and monitored by the office charged by law with direct responsibility for carrying out such programs or projects under such Acts.