Minnesota Agencies

The Newborn Hearing Screening Advisory Committee advises and assists the Department of Health and the Department of Education in:

• developing protocols and timelines for screening, rescreening, and diagnostic audiological assessment and early medical, audiological, and educational intervention services for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing;
• designing protocols for tracking children from birth through age three that may have passed newborn screening but are at risk for delayed or late onset of permanent hearing loss;
• designing a technical assistance program to support facilities implementing the screening program and facilities conducting rescreening and diagnostic audiological assessment;
• designing implementation and evaluation of a system of follow-up and tracking; and
• evaluating program outcomes to increase effectiveness and efficiency and ensure culturally appropriate services for children with a confirmed hearing loss and their families.

The Newborn Hearing Screening Advisory Committee was reviewed by the Legislative Commission on Planning and Fiscal Policy (LCPFP) in 2013 as part of their biennial duty required by Minn. Stat. 3.885 Subd. 11. The LCPFP's 2013 Recommendations called for keeping the committee.

The advisory committee was originally set to expire on June 30, 2025. However, the Legislature eliminated that expiration date in 2025 (Laws of Minn. 2025, 1st Sp. Sess., chap. 3, art. 1, sec. 58).

The commissioner of health shall appoint at least one member from each of the following groups with no less than two of the members being deaf or hard-of-hearing:

• a representative from a consumer organization representing culturally deaf persons;
• a parent with a child with hearing loss representing a parent organization;
• a consumer from an organization representing oral communication options;
• a consumer from an organization representing cued speech communication options;
• an audiologist who has experience in evaluation and intervention of infants and young
• children;
• a speech-language pathologist who has experience in evaluation and intervention of infants and young children;
• two primary care providers who have experience in the care of infants and young children, one of which shall be a pediatrician;
• a representative from the early hearing detection intervention teams;
• a representative from the Department of Education resource center for the deaf and hard-of-hearing or the representative's designee;
• a representative of the Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing;
• a representative from the Department of Human Services Deaf DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing State Services Division;
• one or more of the Part C coordinators from the Department of Education, the Department of Health, or the Department of Human Services or the department's designees;
• the Department of Health early hearing detection and intervention coordinators;
• two birth hospital representatives from one rural and one urban hospital;
• a pediatric geneticist;
• an otolaryngologist;
• a representative from the Newborn Screening Advisory Committee under this subdivision; and
• a representative of the Department of Education regional low-incidence facilitators.
• a representative from the deaf mentor program; and
• a representative of the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf from the Minnesota State Academies staff.

Members of the committee shall receive no compensation for their service, but shall be reimbursed as provided in section 15.059 for expenses incurred as a result of their duties as members of the committee.

Commissioner of Health