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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Please attend this meeting. Let’s take action. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Here is a note from our member Justin Salisbury. He said it perfectly. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>From Justin: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Hi everyone,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>If you go to this meeting, please remember the discussion we had at the state convention. We need the Mass Commission for the Blind to make all of the policies governing VR services available to the public. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We brought this up at a recent meeting of the Statutory Advisory Board. Commissioner D’Arcangelo responded by talking about regulations, like he did at our state convention. The regulations are public, but the policies, we are told, are not all public. Even if only one policy item is not made public, if that one policy item is consistently used to deny services to blind consumers, then it is very literally a secret weapon.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>My explanation of policy versus regulations:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Regulations create a set of rules that must be followed in a program of government and any agency which runs such program. Agencies make their own policies to carry out the functions of the agency (deliver the program), and the policies set by the agency must not contradict the regulations of the program placed on the agency.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Even the Client Assistance Program in our state doesn't have a copy of the full version of the VR agency policies, which seems ridiculous. How can we expect CAP to do its job without having all the policies?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Personally, I am much less interested in axing the current Commissioner and much more interested in figuring out how we can use this moment to bring about sweeping systemic reform to our state agency. Changing out the Commissioner, in my opinion, would be short-changing the blind of Massachusetts. There are many additional reforms that need to happen, such as divorcing MCB from what President Riccobono named the Vision-Centered Approach. Even if we put a good person with honest values, etc., in charge of MCB, how much do we really think will change if nothing else changes? In my opinion, if we allow all this attention to result in only a change in Commissioner, we will have failed as an advocacy movement to seize an opportunity to improve blind services in our state. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>True reform will take ongoing involvement from the NFB. It’s worth it. I hope my fellow Federationists on this list are up for it. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Justin<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'>Shara Winton<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'>President, National Federation of the Blind of Massachusetts<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'>617-600-8130<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Hello Federationists, <span style='mso-ligatures:none'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal>Here is the zoom link for today’s mornings statutory advisory board meeting. Given the recent series of events, including the recent globe article and the upcoming rally on Wednesday, I strongly urge everyone who can attend. Please call me if I can help you in any way. Warmly, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Shara Winton<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h1 style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:4.8pt;margin-left:0in'><span style='color:#141414'>MCB Statutory Advisory Board (SAB) Meeting - Virtual<o:p></o:p></span></h1><p class=MsoNormal>Tuesday, April 4, 2023<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87225762575?pwd=Umh1U3ZteTNnclA0ejdWbm84RTUyQT09"><span class=macallout-linktext><span style='color:#14558F;border:solid #8AAAC7 2.25pt;padding:11.0pt;background:#E8EEF4;text-decoration:none'>Join Meeting </span></span></a><o:p></o:p></p><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><hr size=1 width="100%" align=center></div><h2 style='margin-top:0in;-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;box-sizing: inherit;font-size:2.25rem;margin-bottom:1rem'><span style='font-family:"Noto Sans",sans-serif;color:#141414'>Overview<span class=visually-hidden><span style='border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'> of MCB Statutory Advisory Board (SAB) Meeting - Virtual</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></h2><p style='margin-top:0in;-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;box-sizing: inherit;margin-bottom:1.5rem'><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:"Noto Sans",sans-serif;color:#141414'>Join Zoom Meeting<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-top:0in;-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;box-sizing: inherit;margin-bottom:1.5rem'><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:"Noto Sans",sans-serif;color:#141414'><a href="https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87225762575?pwd=Umh1U3ZteTNnclA0ejdWbm84RTUyQT09"><span style='color:#14558F'>https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87225762575?pwd=Umh1U3ZteTNnclA0ejdWbm84RTUyQT09</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-top:0in;-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;box-sizing: inherit;margin-bottom:1.5rem'><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:"Noto Sans",sans-serif;color:#141414'>Meeting ID: 872 <a href="tel:2576%202575"><span style='color:#14558F'>2576 2575</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-top:0in;-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;box-sizing: inherit;margin-bottom:1.5rem'><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:"Noto Sans",sans-serif;color:#141414'>Passcode: 2022<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-top:0in;-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;box-sizing: inherit;margin-bottom:1.5rem'><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:"Noto Sans",sans-serif;color:#141414'>Phone: <a href="tel:1-305-224-1968"><span style='color:#14558F'>1-305-224-1968</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-top:0in;-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;box-sizing: inherit;margin-bottom:1.5rem'><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:"Noto Sans",sans-serif;color:#141414'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-top:0in;-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;box-sizing: inherit;margin-bottom:1.5rem'><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:"Noto Sans",sans-serif;color:#141414'>One Tap Mobile: <a href="tel:+13052241968"><span style='color:#14558F'>+13052241968</span></a>,,87225762575#,,,,*2022# US<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-top:0in;-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;box-sizing: inherit;margin-bottom:1.5rem'><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:"Noto Sans",sans-serif;color:#141414'>Find your local number: <a href="https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kAnmnn8Ph"><span style='color:#14558F'>https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kcUgZ6il4</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-top:0in;-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;box-sizing: inherit;margin-bottom:1.5rem'><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:"Noto Sans",sans-serif;color:#141414'>This meeting will be recorded. The recording made by MCB is a public record and will be posted following the meeting on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@massblind"><span style='color:#14558F'>MCB’s YouTube Channel</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'>_._,_._,_<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><hr size=1 width="100%" align=center></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'>Shara Winton<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'>President, National Federation of the Blind of Massachusetts<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'>617-600-8130<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'><a href="nfbma.org">Visit NFB MA Website for more information</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'><a href="nfb.org">Visit the NFB website for more info</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'><a href="https://www.facebook.com/National-Federation-of-the-Blind-of-Massachusetts-1593379944322253">Visit us on Facebook</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:white'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none'>“</span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#01893E;mso-ligatures:none'>You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.</span><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none'>”</span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>