MCB REPORT

June 14, 2004

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE AGENCIES SERVING THE BLIND

The National Council of State Agencies Serving the Blind (NCSAB) held its annual Spring Conference, April 28-30, in Bethesda, Maryland.  The three-day conference was highlighted by Commissioner Joanne Wilson, Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), who delivered the conference’s keynote address and met with administrators of blind agencies throughout the country.  MCB Director Pat Cannon and Elizabeth White, Assistant Supervisor in the East Region, attended the conference, which included discussion on developing strategies to sustain adequate funding for public rehabilitation programs, reauthorization of the federal Rehabilitation Act, independent living services for the older blind and other national issues. 

Conference attendees also examined the issues of separate agencies for the blind.  Conference presenters referred to several studies which continue to prove that blind persons receiving rehabilitation services from a separate agency for the blind (such as the Michigan Commission for the Blind) are more likely to be employed and will earn incomes higher than those served through combined agencies.  There was also discussion on establishing standards and performance measures for residential training centers operated by state agencies for the blind.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY ACT

On Wednesday, May 19, a bill (HR 4278) was unanimously endorsed by the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce to reauthorize the Assistive Technology Act.  According to the National Rehabilitation Association (NRA), the bipartisan bill, entitled Improving Access to Assistive Technology for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004, is critically important for individuals with disabilities and their ability to attend school, maintain employment and live independently.  The bill includes a permanent continuation of the state grant program with no sunset and no scheduled decrease in funds (per current law), and a requirement that 60 percent of state grant funds be spent on a set of four state level activities: alternate financing, device loan programs, device demonstrations programs, and device reutilization programs.   States must support state leadership activities and may use remaining funds to do so, including public awareness, technical assistance and training, and outreach.  Representative Dale Kildee of Michigan, who received the NRA’s Legislative Service Award in March, is a strong supporter of this and other bills benefiting individuals with disabilities.  The bill is expected to go to house floor and the Senate is working on its version which it hopes to introduce shortly.

FCC VIDEO DESCRIPTION

Congress is still pursuing audio description for major networks.  According to a report from the American Foundation for the Blind, a bill (HR 4311) was introduced May 6 to reinstate the Federal Communication Commission’s rules for the description of video programming and was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

YOUTH LEADERSHIP FORUM

The fifth annual Michigan Youth Leadership Forum for high school students with disabilities is June 13-17 at Michigan State University.  Thirty-four students from across the state were selected through a competitive application process.  The Director of the Department of Labor and Economic Growth, Mayor David C. Hollister, said this annual program provides these individuals with an opportunity to learn about public service and gives them a hands-on approach to the ways high school students can prepare to be leaders in their local communities.  The forum program is based on mentor relationships and developing leadership by example.  The event is coordinated by the Michigan Commission on Disability Concerns, with numerous partners and supporters, including the Michigan Commission for the Blind and General Motors.

MINI ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMS

The third MCB Mini-Adjustment event of the year was held May 2-7 in Farmington Hills, serving 43 consumers.  Workshop participants were introduced to a variety of skills of blindness, such as cane travel, Braille, managing time and money, adaptive kitchen skills and other skills to enhance independence, and an Employment Readiness Seminar was held. 

Two specialized mini adjustment programs developed for the deafblind and youth take place in June and July.   The Mini Adjustment Program for DeafBlind consumers at the Holiday Inn South, Lansing takes place June 20-25.   The summer youth program, “Quest for Success,” will be held the week of July 11 at Camp Tuhsmeheta, and there are currently fifteen referrals.  The program is for students between the ages of 14-19 who are not yet prepared to participate in the training center program. Several MCB staff have offered to teach the various skill areas, and teaching assignments are being finalized. 

Regarding the fourth and final regular Mini-Adjustment program for 2004, based on input from MCB counselors and teachers, the decision was made to move the location from the previously scheduled Thumb area to Grayling.  The program will be held at the Holiday Inn, August 29-September 3rd. 

SUMMER WORKSHOP FOR DEAFBLIND

A summer workshop/conference, “Transition Planning for Students Who are Deafblind,” will be held July 28-29 at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing, and is open to parents, siblings, teachers, aides, advocates or other professionals involved with a deafblind student of transition age.  MCB’s DeafBlind Unit is coordinating this program, in cooperation with DB Central.  Guest speaker will be Dr. Jerry Petroff, Director of the New Jersey DeafBlind Project, who has done national research and completed his dissertation based on the needs of students who are deafblind.

VISIONS 2004 VENDOR FAIR

The Washtenaw County Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled and the Michigan Commission for the Blind cosponsored another very successful vendor fair on May 5, with over 1,100 participants.   The fair, the third since 2000, was held at the Morris Lawrence Building, Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor, and evaluations from attendees, staff and 52 vendors were all extremely favorable.  Sighted assistants were available to guide attendees to the sites and vendor booths.  MCB staff hosted a booth and peer counseling sessions.  Visions 2006 is already in the planning stage.

CONSUMER SERVICES DIVISION REPORT

For the past several months, a number of staff members have served as Ambassadors to the department’s vision and values initiative, which is in harmony with the governor’s strategic program, vision and values of teamwork, integrity, excellence and inclusion.  The ambassadors worked with the Planning and Quality (PAQ) team in aligning MCB’s strategic goals and objectives with the department’s objectives.  Many of the staff are participating with the PAQ team in designing the strategic objectives of MCB’s short and long term goals.  Thanks to all staff for their contributions.

The staff continue to be involved in activities in the Intermediate School Districts (ISDs) to transition students from school to work in pre-employment projects.  Many of the ISDs are working collaboratively with MCB staff in the development of these opportunities.  The Consumer Services staff are providing avenues for transitioning students to gain additional information in regards to vocational choices.  Several ISDs are entering into cash match agreements with the Commission in order to expand services.  The objective of the agreements will be to ensure that blind and visually impaired students participating in transition will be included in activities such as pre-employment, career exploration, community involvement, job shadowing and employer participation.  In an effort to improve staff’s understanding of cash match agreements, a one-day training is scheduled for August 2, 2004 in Lansing.  The training will focus on all aspects of cash match agreements.  The objective is to help staff to become familiar with practices and procedures in the development of cash match agreements.

The MI Connections project is moving forward and some students have been identified to participate in a one-week program during the summer.  The summer program will be located in Grand Rapids in connection with the Kent County schools and MCB will play an integral part in this program.  As the MI Connections program continues to grow, the next pilot project will be in Genesee County.  The goal is to provide high school students with the opportunity to transition from school to work and assist the participants in acquiring pre-employment skills and vocational choices.

In the East Region, specifically the Detroit area, staff are working collaboratively with Youth Voices and Detroit Public Schools to provide employment choices to ensure that blind students are involved in employment opportunities.  The Detroit staff participated in a Choices Fair that was provided by Detroit Public Schools for all students with disabilities.  The fair provided opportunities for seniors to become familiar with an array of service providers to assist in vocational, educational and employment endeavors. The visually impaired and blind students were included in this informational fair.  This and other community activities in which the Commission staff have been involved serves to increase the agency’s visibility in the community as well as increase awareness about blindness issues in general. The MCB Detroit office is working collaboratively with the Detroit Public Schools to provide a summer work experience for several students.  These students will obtain competitive employment for the summer.  The program will also provide exposure and training of technology that is being used in the world of work as it relates to persons with visual impairments. 

Regarding outreach activities, the East Region continues to dialogue with Community Mental Health agencies for the purpose of identifying individuals that can benefit from MCB’s services.  In Western Wayne County, the supervisor and staff have initiated meaningful dialogues that will lead to the expansion of services to individuals that can benefit from supported employment opportunities.  At the time, about 30 individuals have been identified that can benefit from supported employment services.  Such efforts will help the agency in providing services to multiply impaired individuals through the use of supported employment funds.  It will also provide more services to the community.

The Detroit office celebrated MCB’s 25^th Anniversary in May and it was a huge success.  A number of the BEP staff helped to make it a success and MCB Training Center staff participated by providing information regarding the Center’s program. The Detroit Public Schools is planning its Career Day in November 2004.  The Western Wayne Public Schools Career Day is scheduled for October 29, 2004.  MCB staff will work with ISDs and the community to facilitate these outreach activities.

The Independent Living program staff met in April and a number of issues were discussed relating to services delivery.  Eligibility criteria were discussed for the older blind.  Further, discussion was held regarding the federal government requirements for services to the older blind population, which states that a person with a severe visual disability is eligible to receive IL services.  Discussion centered on the timeliness of services.  Using the standard criteria utilized for MCB services would enable the IL staff to provide timely services to this population.  The IL staff met again June 10th to discuss collaboration with other community agencies to facilitate additional services to the older blind population.  The Commission will be exploring ways to collaborate more effectively with the Office of Services for the Aging and Area Agency on Aging offices to improve services for the older blind.

The Employment Readiness Seminar, held in conjunction with the Farmington Hills Mini Adjustment program held in May, was very successful.  Several job ready consumers benefited from interviewing with local employers and there were some potential job offers.  The program overall provided excellent information for job seekers.  The continual collaboration with the Michigan Works! Offices and employers are proving to be the catalyst that drives this program.  There are some discussions regarding additional time for the job readiness program possibly expanding from the current one day to two or more days for the Employment Readiness Program.  The VR staff continues to work collaboratively with community agencies and employers to increase vocational opportunities.  This report reflects many activities in which the staff are engaged and that are producing employment outcomes.

MCB has posted job announcements to fill three vacancies in Escanaba, Gaylord and Lansing.  MCB has received several applications from candidates.  The interviews are anticipated to occur in late June 2004.  MCB will continue to work to fill vacancies as quickly as possible.

As part of the State Plan activities, MCB has received verbal confirmation from RSA that the 107 Standards and Indicators Review has been scheduled for August 23-27, 2004.  The review will focus on 100 cases and the supervisory staff will participate in the review.

TRAINING CENTER REPORT

Currently, the proposed changes to the MCBTC guidelines have been submitted to the Attorney General's office for comment.  The team had some questions that need to be answered by the Attorney General's office.  In the meantime, the proposed changes were presented to the Consumer Involvement Council for their review.  The changes will also be sent to MCB staff for their comments and suggestions.

With the assistance of Joanne Pilarski, MCB Chairperson, Jim Baird and Melody Lindsey participated in a four-day educational program for fourth and fifth graders in Alpena.  It was estimated that there were 800 children who participated in this experience.  The MCB Training Center staff set up various stations around a room where students could experience various activities such as:  cane travel, Braille, the use of adaptive computers, handwriting, etc.  The children participated in most of these activities using sleepshades so they could understand how blind people use other senses to do the same things they do using their eyes.

MCB and Opportunities Unlimited for the Blind are working out a cash match agreement that will enable both organizations to provide much-needed services for blind youth such as role modeling and confidence-building activities.

On May 5, several MCBTC staff and students attended the Visions 2004 event in Ann Arbor.  Students reported that they learned about resources that are available to them as blind Michiganians.

During the week of June 13, Melody Lindsey will participate in the final session of the National Rehabilitation Leadership Institute in San Diego.  The title of this session is "Integrating Strategic Systems" and will focus on how to change systems to bring about effective outcomes. 

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES REPORT

Administrative Services staff are working intensely on the scheduled July 1 transfer of accounting and personnel functions from the Family Independence Agency (FIA) to the Department of Labor and Economic Growth.  A cut-off date of June 18 has been established for final submission of payment related data to FIA.

Additionally, Administrative Services staff are collaborating with the staff of the Consumer Services Division to increase the number of cash match agreements for the agency.

BEP REPORT

The Annual Workshop for the Business Enterprise Program was held the weekend of April 23-25, at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing.  It was deemed to be a great success.

Training class for BEP operators began Monday, June 7.   The classroom portion of the training concludes on August 13.  Students will participate in on-the job experience between August 23 and October 15.  Eight students are enrolled, and this is the largest class in quite some time.  All of the BEP staff will be participating in the training of the students, as the MCB trainer retired earlier this year.  BEP, with the senior trainer from McVety and Associates, is developing standard lesson plans and instructor’s notes for each of the class sessions taught.

The BEP staff, in consultation with the Elected Operators Committee and MCBTC staff, have developed a new Vending Stand Training (VST) Assessment.  The revised assessment document will now be used to evaluate any VR consumer who wishes to enter future vending stand training.  It is believed that the revised assessment will identify those VR consumers who have the skills to successfully operate a small business under the BEP. 

The proposed new rules for the BEP are in the final steps of promulgation.  They have been sent to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR).  If JCAR has no objections, they will then be sent in late June to the Secretary of State Office of the Great Seal.  The Office of the Great Seal publishes the Notice of Filing Administrative Rules, and the new BEP rules become effective on October 1, 2004.