Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 10, Part 9.

This bill requires the Tennessee School for the Deaf, together with the West Tennessee School for the Deaf, to maintain a deaf-mentor program consisting of three programs with one program to be located at each of the following locations: the West Tennessee School for the Deaf in Jackson; the Tennessee School for the Deaf, Knoxville campus; and the Tennessee School for the Deaf, Nashville campus. The program must:<br /> <br /> (1) Focus on preventing language deprivation, providing a positive impact on a child's social and emotional development through a deaf role model, and ensuring that children who are deaf have equal access to learning opportunities at home and in the community;<br /> <br /> (2) Use a deaf mentor curriculum; and<br /> <br /> (3) Provide hearing parents of children who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind with the option of using a deaf mentor to expose the parents' children to American Sign Language and deaf culture.<br /> <br /> The deaf mentors participating in the program will be required to:<br /> <br /> (1) Make regular visits to the homes of young children who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind;<br /> <br /> (2) Interact with the children using American Sign Language;<br /> <br /> (3) Demonstrate to family members how to use American Sign Language; and<br /> <br /> (4) Help families understand and appreciate deafness and deaf culture.<br />