[Nfbc-info] Reaching out to leaders and social workers within the NFB: assistance with education and advocacy efforts…

Mon Jan 16 00:12:39 UTC 2017

Lisa. I realize I am not in CA but have reasons for following the discussion as I am dealing with an employment accessibility issue involving a company with corporate headquarters in the Bay Area.

I'm thrilled that you are addressing issues of Blind clients of mental health agencies and barriers to employment and accessibility. I also hope that you can address issues regarding the needs of otherwise competent Blind rehabilitation consumers whose primary barrier to employment is not Blindness, but mental health or developmental disabilities exacerbated by barriers related to Blindness, such as lack of transportation or inaccessibility assistive technology or other aspects of the workplace.  I think these folks need a coordinated approach between general VR and the Blindness agencies.

Just my thoughts.

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBC-Info [mailto:nfbc-info-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lisa Irving via NFBC-Info
Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2017 6:52 PM
To: NFB LIST SERVE
Cc: Lisa Irving
Subject: [Nfbc-info] Reaching out to leaders and social workers within the NFB: assistance with education and advocacy efforts…

Hello,

I am reaching out to our state president, Tim Elder and Brian Bashon as well as Blind mental health social workers in California. 

With in the past year I have made inroads with in San Diego's public mental health system. That is I have spoken to a health and human services contract operations representative, some employment specialist and more recently the director of all things that are behavioral health in San Diego as well as his deputy directors. Last week I had the opportunity to address the behavioral health advisory board. In the capacity as the local NFB chapter president I covered the topic, barriers to information and resources experienced by blind and visually impaired persons living with a mental health challenge who are seeking services and resources through the public behavioral health community. I addressed for components. Some of these components including barriers to employment due to web access barriers. I address the need for cross disability supported employment services. I also address the need to ensure that classes one day trainings and conferences are inclusive of all individuals including blind and visually impaired person large mental health organizations and conference planners often use third party platforms that have nominal or no excess ability. One of these registration platforms is event bright. One of the third party platforms for submitting applications and resumes is I recruiter. …. 

At the end of my presentation the director of all things behavioral health and San Diego stated that he learned about things that he did not know and he welcomed a conversation with me so did his deputy directors. I am a big proponent of offering solutions. One solution I offered was to bring organizations including state department of rehabilitation Andy NFB to the table to Identify various solutions. I was very well received.

Now, it is time to build a team of individuals within the NFB who are equipped to come to the table to help bring up solutions. Our meetings will not be adversarial or demanding. Although it is essential I must say I am not excited about bringing the department of rehabilitation flying field services representatives to this meeting. That is because as a whole local Blind Department of rehab clients expressed concerns about low expectations and mediocre services. Additionally, in order to create best practices for the inclusion of blind individuals who happened to live with a mental health challenge it is paramount to include Blind social workers who have this knowledge. 

On a separate note, I stated previously in and NFB post that I am having challenges with voiceover. On that note, I sincerely apologize for odd sentences and strange wording. Please contact me off list.

Thoughtfully,
Lisa Irving, Chapter president Sent from my iPhone

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