History

National Council of State Agencies (NCSA) adopted a ‘constitution and bylaws’ on June 21, 1983. NCSA changed its name to National Council of Agencies on Deafness (NCAD) and extended membership to non-profit organizations on May 22, 1987. NCAD origins began in Spokane, Washington. The Council never incorporated nor filed with IRS for tax exempt status. Unfortunately, the Council became defunct and only a few records from the 1990s could be found. Download the NCAD documents: NCAD

Chris Hunter of Michigan has been active in encouraging a loose coalition of state agencies to began meeting in 1998 at the National Association of the Deaf biennial conference. To his credit, he called for meetings every two years, maintained email communications with all of the Directors, conducted biennial surveys of the state agencies until his retirement in 2006. Notable long-serving Directors such as Hunter and David Myers of Texas shared a bit of history at these meetings. Initially these meetings were basically introductions and taking turns, sharing updates about what is happening in their respective states.

This changed when Directors became more involved and Steve Florio of Rhode Island took the lead by establishing agendas on specific issues of concern and requesting Directors to submit a brief report on what happening in their respective states for later reading and to save time. These meetings became very productive and eventually the Directors began talking about reestablishing a national nonprofit for several years.

Finally, Eric Raff of Washington State took the lead to formalize the coalition into an incorporated nonprofit and apply for 501(c)(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He worked with Steve Florio, Rebecca Rosenthal of Kansas, Loretta Sarro of Delaware to draft the Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and to incorporate the new organization in the State of Delaware. Through a distribution list managed by Rebecca Rosenthal, state administrators collaborated on the new name and purpose for the Articles and gave feedback with the Bylaws. At the 2012 meeting, the Bylaws was adopted and the new officers agreed to assign tasks among themselves to develop NASADHH.

  • Virginia Moore of KY established the first bank account with a national bank.
  • Sherri Collins of AZ developed the first NASADHH logo.
  • Rebecca Rosenthal of KS developed the first news release announcing NASADHH establishment
  • Eric Raff of WA developed the first website.

While state agencies of the deaf and hard of hearing has been around for awhile, NASADHH is still new and it will require long-term strategic planning and fund development to become a prominent organization providing a public service.

NASADHH Historical Dates:

  • Loose coalition of state agencies began meeting in 1998
  • NASADHH was “founded” on 6/27/2006.
  • NASADHH was officially incorporated in Delaware on 6/18/2010.
  • NADSADHH obtains Employer Identification Number (EIN) on 7/2/2010
  • NASADHH adopted the Bylaws on 7/2/2012
  • NASADHH files Form 1023, “Application for Recognition of Exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code” on 08/18/2012
  • NASADHH is recognized as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization on 09/28/2012.

NASADHH Founders:

  • Eric Raff, c/o Washington State Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
  • Loretta Sarro, c/o Delaware Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
  • Steven A. Florio, c/o Rhode Island Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
  • Rebecca J. Rosenthal, c/o Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing