A bill that would create and fund the new position of mental health coordinator was unanimously approved Tuesday by the House Health and Human Services Committee.

Sponsored by Riverton Republican Rep. David Hogue, the measure is designed to help the state's overworked two-person Division of Services for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired in Taylorsville. House Bill 178 carries a $57,800 fiscal note.

Joene Nicolaisen, a counselor at the Taylorsville center, believes a coordinator will give her more leverage and lobbying power when it comes to finding mental health providers with the willingness and know-how to take on the hearing-impaired.

"Many of these providers won't take our clients because they don't have interpreters and figure there are more appropriate venues out there. But there is no other place," said Nicolaisen, who is forced to send some of the 500 clients she serves annually outside the state.

The deaf represent a cultural and linguistic minority, who often suffer as a result of misunderstandings that inevitably arise when ill-equipped counselors try to help them kick drug addictions or escape abuse.

Nicolaisen said avoiding the deaf because they have special needs violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. But as it stands, there is no one charged with enforcing the law and making mental health providers aware of the problem.