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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Dear Federation Family and Chapter Presidents,<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Please see the correspondence from Brian Sigman. Our resolution is on the agenda now for the Advisory Board and State Rehabilitation Council meeting on June 18<sup>th</sup>. Information on how to access the call is within the body of the email.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Best Regards,<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Maryanne Melley<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>President<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>860-212-5549<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>“Live the Life You Want”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><br><b>Subject:</b> Agenda for Advisory Board and State Rehabilitation Council June meetings to discuss VR Policy on Personal Adjustment Programs and NFB of CT resolution<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Good afternoon President Melley,<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>The Advisory Board for Persons who are Blind or Visually Impaired and the State Rehabilitation Council to BESB shall each be taking up the topic of the VR Policy on Personal Adjustment Programs as well as the NFB of CT resolution pertaining to that policy that was passed on April 7, 2020. The Advisory Board meeting is on June 18<sup>th</sup> from 10:00 a.m. to noon and the State Rehabilitation Council meeting is on June 24<sup>th</sup> from 10:00 a.m. to noon. Each meeting is open to the public and there is a public comment opportunity on the agenda of each meeting. The agendas are attached to this email. In advance of their respective meetings, Chairman Sylvestre of the Advisory Board and Chairman Bartley of the State Rehabilitation Council have each forwarded to their membership the relevant VR policy, the NFB of CT resolution and a link to the article that is referenced in the resolution. That information is pasted in below. Anyone who wishes to attend either or both of these tele-meetings can access the meeting by calling 1-877-926-0531 and entering passcode 4506731#. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Brian<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Link to article: <a href="https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nfb.org%2Fimages%2Fnfb%2Fpublications%2Fjbir%2Fjbir17%2Fjbir070202.html&data=01%7C01%7CBrian.Sigman%40ct.gov%7C472c188847394cfe619c08d7fe5a4515%7C118b7cfaa3dd48b9b02631ff69bb738b%7C0&sdata=x5TbdXSJajffphQOADYRK5c5NzcR08Jse%2FtX3rzUNIw%3D&reserved=0">On the Duration of Sleepshade Training in the Adjustment to Blindness</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><u><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>VR Policy: Personal Adjustment Training <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Personal Adjustment Training refers to any training given for one, or a combination, of the following reasons: (A) To assist an individual to acquire personal habits, attitudes, and skills which will enable the individual to function effectively with a disability; (B) To develop or increase work tolerance prior to engaging in pre-employment or vocational training or in employment; (C) To develop work habits and to orient the individual to employment; or (D) To develop skills or techniques for the specific purpose of enabling the individual to compensate for the loss of a member of the body or the loss of a sensory function.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Prior to making a determination that out of state residential personal adjustment training programs are necessary for achievement of the employment outcome as identified in the Individualized Plan for Employment or subsequent amendment, the client will participate in an independent living evaluation with a Rehabilitation Teacher and a mobility evaluation with an Orientation and Mobility Instructor employed by the Bureau. Services available through an in-state option as documented in the rehabilitation teaching evaluation or mobility evaluation shall be provided by staff of the Bureau. In situations where no feasible in-state option exists to address the client’s employment outcome, the Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and client shall review the options available for residential personal adjustment programs in order for the client to make an informed decision. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>For training at community rehabilitation programs, the Bureau may use the approved fee schedules from other agencies, including rates established by the public Vocational Rehabilitation Programs of the applicable state. In addition, the Commissioner of the Department of Rehabilitation Services may negotiate and establish rates. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Progress reports are required at periodic intervals agreed to between the provider and the Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and continued authorizations for training should be based on the demonstration of reasonable progress and the documented need for additional training. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>The Vocational Rehabilitation Program shall not fund more than 12 weeks of attendance at a residential independent living program, including the assessment period, unless the State Director has preapproved an extension beyond that timeframe. In requesting an extension of funding from the State Director, the vendor must include the following information: <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>(A) The list of skills that were not mastered during the first 10 weeks of attendance;<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>(B) The reason(s) the skills cannot be mastered in the remaining portion of the 12 week period;<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>(C) The basis for concluding that the skills could be mastered with additional training beyond 12 weeks; <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>(D) The anticipated length of time required for the client to master these additional skills; and <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>(E) The measure that will be used as the benchmark to demonstrate the skills were mastered.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><u><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Resolution 2020-01: Urging the Department of Rehabilitation Services (DORS), Bureau of Education and Services for the Blind (BESB), Vocational Rehabilitation Program (VR) to Extend its Default Duration of Residential Training<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>WHEREAS, adjustment to blindness training in a residential setting exists to help blind people develop a set of nonvisual skills and techniques, as well as achieve an emotional adjustment to blindness; and<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>WHEREAS, without the emotional adjustment to blindness, a set of nonvisual skills and techniques are unlikely to be used to their optimal benefit in the consumer’s broader life and vocational rehabilitation process, which is why the emotional adjustment is often called the “keystone” or the “glue” of the blindness rehabilitation process; and<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>WHEREAS, as explained in Salisbury’s 2017 peer-reviewed research manuscript in the Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research, “On the Duration of Sleepshade Training in the Adjustment to Blindness,” the emotional adjustment to blindness is specifically what makes personal adjustment training require six to nine months on a full-time basis at a residential center; and<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>WHEREAS, Chapter 3, Section 10, Subsection d) (3) of the Department of Rehabilitation Services (DORS), Bureau of Education and Services for the Blind (BESB), Vocational Rehabilitation Program (VR) Policy Manual begins by stating that “Personal Adjustment Training refers to any training given for one, or a combination, of the following reasons: (A) To assist an individual to acquire personal habits, attitudes, and skills which will enable the individual to function effectively with a disability,” thus acknowledging the emphasis on acquiring personal habits, attitudes and skills; and<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>WHEREAS, Chapter 3, Section 10, Subsection d) (3) of the DORS BESB VR Policy Manual later states that “The Vocational Rehabilitation Program shall not fund more than 12 weeks of attendance at a residential independent living program, including the assessment period, unless the State Director has preapproved an extension beyond that timeframe,” and then discusses only the acquisition of skills as a justification for the extension, thus disregarding the acquisition of personal habits and attitudes which will enable the individual to function effectively with their blindness; and<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>WHEREAS, this policy creates a systematic bias against attending residential programs for the six- to nine-month time period required to assist an individual to acquire personal habits, attitudes, and skills which will enable the individual to function effectively; now, therefore, be it <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>RESOLVED, by the National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut, in a meeting of its Board of Directors on this seventh day of April, 2020, via teleconference, that this organization urges the Department of Rehabilitation Services (DORS), Bureau of Education and Services for the Blind (BESB), Vocational Rehabilitation Program (VR) to change its threshold in Chapter 3, Section 10, Subsection d) (3) of its Policy Manual requiring State Director preapproval for an extension from 12 weeks to 9 months to conform its policy on the default duration of training to match the time required to fulfill the needs of the stated purpose of personal adjustment training. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:105%'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p></div></body></html>