[CT-NFB] Bullets About BESB for Our Letters to Our State Assembly Representatives and Senators

[Nathanael T. Wales]

NFB of Connecticut Colleagues:

 

Following our board meeting Saturday, here are bullet points to use as a
starting point when contacting your state assembly representatives and
senators regarding our concerns about the Bureau of Education and Services
for the Blind (BESB). Of course, please add your own personal stories and
experiences, especially those related directly to these issues if you are a
senior, parent of a blind child, or an advocate for a senior not being
served appropriately.

 

--

[insert your address, if possible, the one at which you are registered to
vote]

 

Dear [insert name of state legislator]:

 

I am blind and live in [insert name of town]. I, and fellow members of the
National Federation of the Blind throughout Connecticut, are concerned about
the inadequate quality of services that we are receiving from the Bureau of
Education and Services for the Blind (BESB). We ask you to take on oversight
at the upcoming session and direct BESB to fix the following problems:

1.	BESB does not have effective leadership dedicated to blind
residents. The last director retired on October 1, 2021, and the
commissioner of the Department of Rehabilitation Services (under which BESB
is housed) has taken no action to share a proposed job description with
advocates for the blind. Without leadership dedicated to the blind
specifically, our unique needs-as job seekers, college students, seniors
losing vision, and blind children-cannot be effectively met. Best practices
in other states, such as New York and New Jersey, is to have a dedicated
agency serving the blind; right now, there is no leadership nor even a plan
to find it. Please direct the commissioner of DORS to fill this leadership
void quickly and communicate her plan to fill it with clients and advocates
for them.
2.	BESB is not effectively serving seniors losing vision who need not
return to the workforce. Services are limited, and suggestions from blind
seniors, such as for group classroom instruction, have been ignored. We are
concerned that BESB is not using Federal dollars specifically earmarked to
serve blind seniors. Please ask the commissioner of DORS to account for this
failure to use Federal dollars or to spend them appropriately.
3.	Blind children under the age of fourteen are not receiving services
from BESB following best practices such as those followed in New Jersey
(which starts at infancy). Please ask the commissioner of DORS to report on
how its services for blind children align with those in other states.
4.	Information provided by BESB on client satisfaction is shockingly
biased. Satisfaction surveys are only taken from clients that have been
placed in jobs; in the last survey, this was fifty-six clients, but over
eight hundred are on BESB's books to receive services. Many of my fellow
members [insert "and I" if you are a BESB client] are awaiting services, and
our opinions were not asked for.  This survey cost $19,000. Please demand
much greater accountability and accuracy of metrics that you receive from
BESB and DORS management.

 

Thank youfor your consideration of this priority of mine. [Add any
additional closing you like.]

 

[Your signature]

--

 

If you don't know who your state assembly representative and/or senator are
or how to contact them, I and our outreach office (Lucia) can help with a
bit of patience.

 

Thank you for helping to advocate for better services from our BESB!

 

Nathanael T. Wales, Treasurer

NFB of Connecticut

 

Live the Life You Want

 

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