[Mn-at-large] FW: Day at the Capitol Fact Sheet

[Andrews, David B (DEED)]

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From: NFBMN-News [mailto:nfbmn-news-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of NFBMN President via NFBMN-News
Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2018 2:03 PM
To: nfbmn-news at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfbmn-news] Day at the Capitol Fact Sheet

Greetings, Fellow Federationists,
Below is the text of the 2018 fact sheet, which we will distribute at our day at the capitol on Tuesday. I offer my sincere thanks To Steve Jacobson and Jennifer Dunnam for putting the sheet together, and to Judy Sanders for research and consultation on the voting issue.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.
See you on Tuesday!
Warmly,
Ryan

Members of the 2018 Minnesota Legislature

FROM:	The National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota (NFBM)
RE:	Legislative Agenda for the 2018 Session
DATE:	February 27, 2018

Legislative Priorities for the 2018 Session:

1. Protect the right of blind persons to parent children by strengthening legislation on custody and support of children

2. Avert a pending crisis in the education of blind children by establishing an in-state teacher preparation program

3. Amend Minnesota statutes to preserve private and independent voting by blind Minnesotans and others

About the NFB of Minnesota

This information is provided by the members of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota (NFBM), the state’s oldest, largest, and most active membership organization of blind and interested sighted people, who have worked together since 1920 to formulate much-needed social change.  With chapters throughout the state, we deliver a message of hope and encouragement that blindness need not hold us back.  We promote policies that will bring blind people of all ages into full participation in our communities.

Over the years, we have worked successfully with the Legislature to enact laws that improve opportunities for blind Minnesotans, and you can help us again this year.  We want to share with you a positive approach to the legislative needs of blind individuals.  We ask that you consider the following information about our current efforts and lend your support.

Protect Civil Rights of Blind Parents

Blind persons who are competent parents have sometimes been denied the opportunity for adoption, or have lost child custody on the basis of blindness. The Minnesota legislature took a step toward addressing the problem with recent amendments to statute, but stronger protection under the law is needed to eliminate the bias and discrimination that blind persons face in court decisions regarding custody, visitation, foster care, guardianship, or adoption.  Legislation should include procedural safeguards if blindness is raised as a factor—setting a proper legal standard of proof, shifting the burden to the party making the assertion, and taking into account the use of supportive parenting services if such services are needed.

Background: Social service agencies today are often asked to conduct investigations to ensure that children receive proper care and adequate protection. Our courts are then called upon to settle child custody disputes. Like other members of the general public, blind persons have sometimes found themselves in the midst of child custody and other family disputes. Unfortunately, a parent’s or prospective parent's lack of vision often becomes the overriding factor used by the courts and social service agencies when making decisions about the care of children.  Since blindness is not well understood by court and agency officials, it can become the primary factor in denying custody to blind parents and guardians.

The National Federation of the Blind has documented thousands of cases of blind people who are successfully raising children, many right here in Minnesota.  This vast experience demonstrates that blindness is not a relevant factor in whether a person is fit to be a parent. We have represented many blind persons in child custody cases across the country, as well as in other situations involving the care of children.  Unfortunately, blatant discrimination still occurs in too many of these cases.  The capabilities of blind individuals to care for children are often brought into question even when they have been successfully caring for their children for many years.

When a custody dispute arises between blind and sighted spouses, the sighted spouse frequently makes unsubstantiated accusations about the incompetence of the blind spouse. In other legal proceedings, the defendant is deemed innocent until proven guilty. In custody cases, however, court officials assume that the blind defendant is incompetent or guilty.  Frequently this defendant has to prove that the accusations are false.

In September 2012, the National Council on Disability issued a report entitled Rocking the Cradle: Ensuring the Rights of Parents with Disabilities and Their Children (http://www.ncd.gov/publications/2012/Sep272012).  This report states that parents with disabilities, “are the only distinct community of Americans who must struggle to retain custody of their children.” The report goes on to say, “In families where the parental disability is physical, 13 percent have reported discriminatory treatment in custody cases. Parents who are deaf or blind report extremely high rates of child removal and loss of parental rights.”

Existing Law: The Minnesota Legislature has demonstrated its understanding that disabled parents should not be denied a role in raising their children merely on the basis of disability. Current law1 states that "Disability alone, ... of a proposed custodian or the child shall not be determinative of the custody of the child."
Although this law was a positive step, the language needs to be strengthened to require a judge to be more specific about the reasons for a decision—in other words, to require the court to show that no discrimination has occurred. Additionally, the law should be changed to offer a blind parent the opportunity to demonstrate his abilities or to learn about supportive parenting services before limiting or denying custody rights.

Our proposed legislation defines supportive parenting services as “…services that may assist a blind parent or prospective blind parent in the effective use of nonvisual techniques and other alternative methods to enable the parent or prospective parent to discharge parental responsibilities as successfully as a parent who is not blind.” Supportive parenting services may be accomplished by having the blind person work with other blind parents.  They may learn that, for example, putting bells on an infant’s or toddler’s shoes will help the blind parent keep track of the child’s location.  Another example of supportive parenting services may be the provision of training to help the blind parent improve her independent living and mobility skills.

Legislation Needed: Minnesota statutes should be amended to prohibit any legal presumption that a blind parent is unfit to carry out parental or caregiving responsibilities. A party raising blindness as an issue would have the burden of proving, by clear and convincing evidence, that specific behaviors are endangering the health, safety, or welfare of the child. If the burden is met, the blind parent or prospective parent will be given the opportunity to demonstrate how the implementation of supportive parenting services can alleviate any concerns which have been raised. If a court determines that a blind parent’s right to custody, visitation, foster care, guardianship, or adoption should be denied or limited in any manner, the court must set forth specific written findings stating the basis for such a determination and explaining why the provision of supportive parenting services is not a reasonable accommodation that must be made to prevent such denial or limitation.


[Footnote 1 Minnesota statutes 518.17 Subdivision 1b(5)]

Establish an In-state Licensure Program for Teachers Who Work with Blind Children and Youth

A recently-commissioned report to the Minnesota legislature2 documents a current shortage of teachers trained to provide needed education services to blind children and youth in Minnesota. Further, the report projects that within the next two to three years, one third of the existing group of teachers, about 65% of whom are over the age of 50, will retire. The ability to hire new teachers to replace them is severely limited by the lack of a licensure program within the state.
To prevent significant deterioration of the education of blind children and youth in Minnesota, the state needs its own teacher preparation program.

With proper education and opportunity, blind children and youth grow up to enter the workforce and become fully contributing members of society. In order to access the same academic standards as other students, blind students must learn specific skills such as reading and writing Braille, using computers with speech or braille output, moving safely and confidently through the environment, using transportation, etc. These and other such skills, known as the Expanded Core Curriculum, are taught by teachers with specialized training as required by federal and state law.

The number of students who are blind in Minnesota has remained stable for several years, but there is an increasing shortage of available qualified teachers. Teachers of the Blind and Visually Impaired represent the highest percentage of shortages among teachers in Minnesota. Additionally, the current teachers are, by age, the oldest group of special educators in the state. The most recently available date show that of the 69 current teachers, 45 are over the age of fifty, with ten of those 45 over the age of sixty. One-third of them are expected to retire in the next two to three years.

The effects of the teacher shortage can already be seen. For example, students learning to read in braille, who need instruction daily just as do sighted students learning to read in print, may only have the opportunity to receive reading instruction from a teacher once a week or less. Educational decisions must not be made based on the availability of teachers, but on the needs of students.

For teachers of the blind/visually impaired, recruitment and retention is limited by the lack of a teacher preparation program in Minnesota.
A program of this type once existed in this state, but it was eliminated more than fifteen years ago with the retirement of its director. Since then, there has been no direct pathway to licensure in Minnesota for these teachers. Teacher candidates have only two
options: either leave the state for school, or participate in a virtual program at an out of state institution. For teacher candidates from Minnesota, both of these options create barriers, as there are limited slots available in the virtual programs, and programs have preference for in-state candidates. For teachers who prepare in other states, there are no automatic pathways to licensure as there would be for teachers who graduate from a Minnesota Board of Teaching approved program. Nor is there a guarantee that programs from other states will address standards for licensure in Minnesota, since other states do not have the same standards. With an extremely limited pool of teacher candidates, the districts, cooperatives and regions of the state lack the specialized skills to meet the unique educational needs of blind students in Minnesota.

Legislation Needed: We urge the Legislature to appropriate $250,000 per year for a five year period of time to explore, develop and establish a teacher preparation program at the University of Minnesota or other appropriate institution of higher education, leading to licensure as a teacher of the Blind/Visually Impaired, consistent with Minnesota Rule 8510.6100. The dollar amount is based on information gathered about the start-up of existing programs in other states. The funding will be used for staff time and benefits, and research on how to develop/implement outcomes-based practices to support education of students who are blind/visually impaired.

[Footnote 2 Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired, Fiscal Year
2016: Report To the Legislature As required by Minnesota Statutes, section 125A.63. Summary of efforts, data, and results of work from education-based agencies, departments and individuals who serve students who are blind or visually impaired in Minnesota. Statistics and recommendations on teacher preparation begin on page 34.
http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/about/rule/leg/rpt/2016


Preserve Accessibility and Privacy for Blind Voters

As a result of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and related state legislation, blind Minnesotans have for the past ten years been able to vote privately and independently in elections by the use of technology that displays and speaks the ballot information and enables the voter to mark the paper ballot. This technology has also opened the possibility of independent voting by people with reading difficulties or other disabilities that impede access to the print ballot.  The AutoMark, which is the machine currently used most often in Minnesota for this purpose, complies completely with Minnesota's requirement that a paper ballot be used.  However, in light of the fact that the AutoMark machines are aging, are difficult to maintain, and are no longer manufactured, additional new solutions are needed to ensure that individuals who are blind or have other disabilities can continue to vote privately and independently while allowing for affordable options.

The Minnesota Secretary of State has investigated the matter and found there to be additional accessible voting machine options that meet Minnesota's requirement for the use of a paper ballot.  However, cheaper prices, smaller size and wait, and lower maintenance are often achieved by producing a paper ballot that is of a different design and size. Such machines are not only for use by blind and disabled voters but can be effectively used by anyone.

Legislation introduced in 2017 (HF 1569 and SF 1141) would amend Minnesota statutes to allow for continued access to independent and private voting by broadening certification criteria, so that newer machines, as well as other voting technology yet to be developed, can be eligible for certification in the state of Minnesota. The National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota urges your support for this legislation, provided that it continues to include provisions that:

* assure that voters who use the accessible technology have access to all of the same information that is available to voters who do not use the technology to read and mark their ballots;
* assure that voters using the technology can vote for all offices and questions, perform write-ins if desired, verify and correct votes before casting the ballot, and access all other voting options available to voters not using the technology;
* assure that ballots of voters using the technology are not segregated from ballots of voters who do not use it;
* take proactive measures to ensure preservation of the anonymity of the paper ballots in the event of a re-count or post-election review.

For further information on these legislative priorities, or should questions arise on any matters affecting blind people anywhere in Minnesota, contact Ryan Strunk, President, National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota, by phone at (612) 872-9363 or email president at nfbmn.org