[il-talk] Fwd: Merger

[Lin H.]

This is great news!
Linda

-----Original Message----- 
From: Leslie Hamric via IL-Talk
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2019 6:29 PM
To: NFB of Illinois Mailing List
Cc: Leslie Hamric ; Illinois Association of Blind Students List
Subject: Re: [il-talk] Fwd: Merger

This is such wonderful news! This is what can happen as we continue to work 
collectively as a team.
Lesliee

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 11, 2019, at 3:15 PM, Denise R Avant via IL-Talk 
> <il-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> Denise R. Avant
> President
> National Federation of the Blind of Illinois
> Live the life you want
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> From: "Gordon, John" <John.Gordon at illinois.gov>
>> Date: January 11, 2019 at 3:11:17 PM CST
>> To: "Webb, Andrew" <Andrew.Webb at illinois.gov>, "davant1958 at gmail.com" 
>> <davant1958 at gmail.com>, Rachel Schroeder <rachelrenee70 at gmail.com>, 
>> "Donnie Anderson" <icbvanderson at icloud.com>
>> Cc: "Wade, Quinetta" <Quinetta.Wade at illinois.gov>, "Halvorsen, Ingrid" 
>> <Ingrid.Halvorsen at illinois.gov>, "Hamer, Louis" 
>> <Louis.Hamer at illinois.gov>, "Laird, Cassie" <Cassie.Laird at illinois.gov>
>> Subject: Merger
>>
>> To all of our Community Partners,
>>
>> We are writing to announce that as of today we are no longer considering 
>> the idea of folding services for persons who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing 
>> into the Bureau of Blind Services.  We began discussing this idea several 
>> months ago to enhance and streamline training opportunities for staff and 
>> customers within the Bureau of Blind Services as well as the Deaf and 
>> Hard of Hearing units.  We believed that by combining these two groups of 
>> specially trained staff we would see greater outcomes for our customers 
>> in both programs.
>> Four local offices throughout the state were selected to participate in a 
>> pilot project for us to assess the positive and negative effects of the 
>> proposed merger.  At the end of our pilot there was no conclusive 
>> evidence that the proposed merger would positively enhance service 
>> delivery to either set of customers.  It is our decision that we will 
>> continue to operate the Bureau of Blind Services and Services for Deaf 
>> and Hard of Hearing as separate programs.
>> We continue to focus on our goal of empowering people who are deaf, hard 
>> of hearing, blind, visually impaired, and DeafBlind through employment 
>> and independent living opportunities.   It is for this reason we are 
>> dedicating a full-time position to serve as a statewide liaison for 
>> services to individuals with sensory disabilities.  This position will 
>> oversee the technical assistance and training of professional staff on 
>> rules, policies, procedures, current service trends, communication, and 
>> on the rehabilitation technology of equipment and devices for individuals 
>> with sensory disabilities.  The objectives of this position will enhance 
>> the rehabilitation, education, and general welfare of the services 
>> provided by the Division.
>> We want to take this opportunity to thank you for your sincere interest 
>> and partnership as we investigated this prospect.  Ability to learn and 
>> change has become one of the most important predictors of success.  We 
>> look forward to working  more closely with you in the future as we 
>> investigate efficiencies.
>>
>> Very Sincerely,
>>
>> John Gordon
>> Bureau Chief, Bureau of Blind Services
>> Illinois Department of Human Services
>> 100 West Randolph Street
>> Suite 5-300, Chicago, IL 60601
>> JRTC: 312-814-3323
>> ICRE: 312-633-3596
>>
>>
>>
>> State of Illinois - CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in 
>> this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged or 
>> attorney work product, may constitute inside information or internal 
>> deliberative staff communication, and is intended only for the use of the 
>> addressee. Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this communication 
>> or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you 
>> have received this communication in error, please notify the sender 
>> immediately by return e-mail and destroy this communication and all 
>> copies thereof, including all attachments. Receipt by an unintended 
>> recipient does not waive attorney-client privilege, attorney work product 
>> privilege, or any other exemption from disclosure.
>>
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