(a) For purposes of this Code section, the term "hearing impaired person" means any person whose hearing is totally impaired, is so seriously impaired as to prohibit the person from understanding oral communication spoken in a normal conversational tone, or as a result of either such impairment is severely speech impaired.

(b) The Department of Human Resources shall establish a Georgia Service Center for Hearing Impaired Persons. The center shall provide services to hearing impaired persons, which services shall include, without being limited to:

(1) Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf (TDD) relay services using nonhearing impaired third parties to connect hearing impaired persons with nonhearing impaired persons;

(2) A full range of counseling services to hearing impaired persons and their immediate families including, without being limited to, family, marital, and individual counseling; drug and alcohol abuse support groups; and parenting skills groups; and

(3) Community outreach services to inform the general public and state and local government agencies regarding the services provided by the center.