[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 117 (Friday, June 17, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36516-36517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13037]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Request for Information: Early Hearing Detection and Intervention 
Program

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department 
of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice of request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: HRSA's Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Program 
is requesting input from the public to inform future EHDI program 
development.

DATES: Submit comments no later than July 18, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit electronic comments to [email protected]. Please submit 
your response only one time by July 18, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandra Battiste, MPH at [email protected] 
or (301) 443-0223.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HRSA's EHDI Program, authorized under 42 
U.S.C. of the Public Health Service Act, seeks to enable states, 
jurisdictions, families, and clinical, educational, and social service 
providers to develop coordinated systems of care so that newborns, 
infants, and young children who are deaf or hard of hearing are 
identified as early as possible and receive the services they need. 
Early involvement can help these children meet age-appropriate 
language, literacy, social-emotional, and other developmental 
milestones. HRSA currently funds 59 states and jurisdictions \1\ 
through the EHDI grants program in order to (1) increase health 
professionals' engagement with and knowledge of the EHDI system,\2\ (2) 
improve access to early intervention services and language acquisition, 
and (3) improve family engagement, partnership, and leadership in EHDI 
systems. The HRSA-funded National Technical Resource Center supports 
states and territories by providing technical assistance and resources 
in order to meet EHDI program goals and objectives.
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    \1\ For the purpose of this request for information, the term 
``jurisdiction'' includes the District of Columbia, the Republic of 
the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the 
Republic of Palau, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin 
Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands.
    \2\ For the purpose of this request for information, the EHDI 
system is defined as ``families, consumers, providers, services, and 
programs that work towards developing coordinated and comprehensive 
state and territory systems so that families with newborns, infants, 
and young children who are deaf or hard of hearing receive 
appropriate and timely services that include hearing screening, 
diagnosis, and intervention.'' Early Hearing Detection and 
Intervention Program Notice of Funding Opportunity HRSA-20-047''?
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    HRSA investments also support family engagement and workforce 
development related to EHDI. For example, the Family Leadership in 
Language and Learning program aims to strengthen family leadership and 
inclusion of families, parents and caregivers of children who are deaf 
or hard of hearing within the EHDI system. In addition, HRSA funds the 
Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities 
program, authorized under the Public Health Service Act, to support 
workforce development through audiology training grants. More 
information about the HRSA EHDI program is available online at: https://mchb.hrsa.gov/maternal-child-health-initiatives/early-hearing-detection-and-intervention.html.

Responses

    HRSA is seeking responses that address the following questions. A 
response to each question is not required.
    1. What strategies or programs are needed to support EHDI programs 
to ensure that all newborns are screened by 1 month of age, a diagnosis 
is made by 3 months of age, and children who are deaf or hard of 
hearing are enrolled in and start to receive intervention services by 6 
months of age?
    2. What strategies should be considered to support the timely 
identification and receipt of services for young children up to age 3?
    3. What strategies should be considered to ensure that infants and 
young children receive screening and diagnosis services that are high 
quality and evidence-based?
    4. What strategies should be considered to ensure that providers 
collect and report high quality data on hearing screening, diagnosis, 
and follow-up to EHDI programs for public health surveillance?
    5. What strategies or programs would ensure that families of 
children who are deaf or hard of hearing receive information that is 
accurate, comprehensive, up-to-date, and evidence-based, as 
appropriate, to allow families to make important decisions for their 
children in a timely manner, including decisions with respect to the 
full range of assistive hearing technologies and communications 
modalities, as appropriate?
    6. What strategies would help ensure families, parents, and 
caregivers are continuously engaged as active partners in the EHDI 
system?
    7. What approaches that foster family-to-family and deaf and hard 
of hearing consumer-to-family supports by families and adults who are 
deaf or hard of hearing should be considered?
    8. What new evidence-based or promising approaches that help deaf 
or hard of hearing children meet language, literacy, social, emotional, 
and other developmental milestones should be considered within EHDI 
Programs/the EHDI system?
    9. How has COVID-19 impacted the EHDI system of care, including the 
ability of EHDI programs to share or report information in a timely 
manner? Are there any notable promising practices or approaches used in 
response that should be further explored?
    10. What ongoing and emerging gaps in access to services are 
present within the EHDI system? Are there populations that are 
experiencing inequities in access to timely identification and receipt 
of services? What approaches should be used to address these gaps?
    Respondents can also provide additional comments or recommendations 
that are not specifically linked to the questions above. All responses 
may but are not required to identify the individual's name, address, 
email, telephone number, professional or organizational affiliation, 
background or area of expertise (e.g., program participant, family 
member, clinician, public health worker, researcher, EHDI Coordinator, 
etc.), and topic/subject matter. Information obtained as a result of 
this request for information (RFI) may be

[[Page 36517]]

used by HRSA on a non-attribution basis for program planning. Comments 
in response to this RFI will be made publicly available, so respondents 
should bear this in mind when making comments. HRSA will not respond to 
any individual comments.

Special Note to Commenters

    Whenever possible, respondents are asked to draw their responses 
from objective, empirical, and actionable evidence and to cite this 
evidence within their responses.
    The information obtained through this RFI may help inform the next 
iteration of the HRSA EHDI program portfolio of investments. This RFI 
is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it does not 
constitute a Request for Proposal, applications, proposal abstracts, or 
quotations. This RFI does not commit the U.S. Government to contract 
for any supplies or services or make a grant or cooperative agreement 
award. Further, HRSA is not seeking proposals through this RFI and will 
not accept unsolicited proposals. HRSA will not respond to questions 
about the policy issues raised in this RFI. Responders are advised that 
the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative 
costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with 
responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's 
expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in 
any future procurement or program, if conducted.

Diana Espinosa,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2022-13037 Filed 6-16-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P