About Us

Mission

	Gateway Student

The Hearing and Speech Agency is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to meeting the speech, language, and hearing needs of Maryland's children and adults.  The Agency is a direct service provider, and information resource center, and an advocate for people of all ages who are deaf and hard of hearing, or who have speech and language disabilities.

No other nonprofit organization in Maryland has a mission similar to that of The Hearing and Speech Agency.  Our broad range of services to both children and adults sets the Agency apart from all others both regionally and nationally. 

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Strengths and Accomplishments

Since 1926

The Hearing and Speech Agency is the only nonprofit organization in Maryland  whose sole mission is to meet the needs of children and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing or who have a speech or language disability.

A Broad Base of Support

Since implementing a donor-focused fundraising program three years ago, we have seen a dramatic increase in charitable contributions to the Agency, with a 125% jump in gifts of $1,000 or more to the annual fund.  Our successes have helped lay the groundwork for a capital campaign.  Our Board places a special emphasis on fundraising, and each member participates fully in the annual fund campaign.  In 2001, the Board increased its gifts to the Agency by 20%.

Sound Fiscal Management

The Agency’s operating budget is solidly in the black and has been for six years.  Our income has increased from $2.9 million in FY96 to $4,709,700 in the most recently completed fiscal year (FY2001).As a result, we have established cash reserves of $2.5 million.  Of this, $1 million has been earmarked for the new building.  The remainder – sufficient for 3 months of general operating costs – will remain untouched.

Affordable, Quality Services

We help our low-income clients explore all possible financial resources, and offer financial assistance to those who need it wherever possible.

Through our Clinical Services program, we offer a sliding fee scale to children and adults for speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology services, including the purchase of hearing aids.  Our clients have access to loaner hearing aids and FM systems, state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and a full range of hearing aids and assistive listening devices.  Our clinicians serve diverse populations and provide services throughout the community – in private homes, in our facility at 5900 Metro Drive, nursing homes, senior centers, and at our satellite office at the Hilgenberg Scottish Rite Center for Childhood Language Disorders.

Gateway School is the only special education program in Baltimore that offers an integrated approach to instruction and treatment for children with severe communication disorders.  This means that the school’s teachers and speech-language, physical and occupational therapists work in teams to address the educational and developmental needs of each child.  Just as the faculty and staff treat the whole child, their holistic approach extends to the child’s family.  The school regularly offers workshops and enrichment programs for parents and family members, and encourages them to take an active role in their child’s education.

Our Centralized Interpreter Referral Service is not only the largest provider of oral and sign language interpreting in Greater Baltimore, but is the only one operated by a nonprofit organization.  With demand for round-the-clock services at an all-time high, we offer a mentoring program for “rookie” interpreters so that we can ensure a steady pool of new interpreters.  We offer American Sign Language classes both at our main location and in numerous locations in the area and specialize in teaching children. 

Advocacy

We work tirelessly to advocate for our most vulnerable clients so that they can get the services they need in order to lead productive lives.  In 1999 the Agency joined forces with several other organizations to lobby for the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Act of 1999, which requires that all infants born in Maryland are screened for hearing loss before they leave the hospital.  We were also instrumental in obtaining changes to the Maryland Medical Assistance Program so that children receiving medical assistance could receive speech, language and audiology services from traditional providers.  Earlier legislation in Maryland had effectively cut off access to such services and, as a result, our most vulnerable citizens were not receiving the help they needed with their ability to communicate.

During the 2001 session of the Maryland General Assembly, The Hearing and Speech Agency joined the Maryland Speech-Language-Hearing Association to advocate for two important pieces of legislation, which passed successfully.  One ensured that private insurers cover hearing aids for children, and the other established a statewide loaner hearing aid bank for children. 

Memberships, Licenses and Partnerships

 Memberships

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations

Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities

Maryland Association of the Deaf

Maryland Speech-Language-Hearing Association

National Association of the Deaf

National Association of Private Special Education Centers

National Association of Speech and Hearing Centers

Network of Independent Speech and Hearing Executives

Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf

United Way of Central Maryland

Licenses

Maryland State, Department of Education

Maryland State, Department of Human Resources Child Care Administration

Maryland State, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Partnerships

Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville

Loyola College

Towson University

Graduate students at Loyola College and Towson University may complete practicums at the Agency in speech-language pathology, occupational therapy and physical therapy.  We also offer training opportunities to students in the Sign Language Interpreter program at Catonsville.

Board of Directors

Webpage designed and built by Kimberly Hart and Richard Cresswell.