[nfbmi-talk] right in the brief history

[joe harcz Comcast]

Note the role of planning and policy making even in MCB’s own brief history of MCB here:

 

http://mi.gov/dleg/0,1607,7-154-28077_28313_28319_28324_32052-145843--,00.html

A Brief History of the Michigan Commission for the Blind -- Established October 1, 1978

 

Brief History of Services for the Blind in Michigan,

 

1903 to present

 

For the first half of the twentieth century, services for the blind consisted of a sheltered workshop in Saginaw and the blind concession program.  In the

1950s, the Michigan Department of Social Services (DSS) assigned a few caseworkers to a "blind-only" caseload to provide financial and employment assistance.

 A few years later, the DSS combined the workshop, blind concessions, and these caseworkers into a Division of Services for the Blind.

 

In the mid 1960s, a group of state legislators recognized that the broom-making workshop in Saginaw presented the wrong image of blind workers and should

be closed.  After studying other state programs, they decided that a new facility should be constructed that emphasized independence rather than sheltered

work.  As a result, the Michigan Rehabilitation Center for the Blind was opened in Kalamazoo , in 1970, for purposes of teaching blind persons the skills

necessary for independence.

 

In the mid 1970s, organized blind consumers initiated legislation to create an agency structure where blind persons would play a major role in planning

and policy making.   This initiative led to the passage of

Public Act 260 of 1978

on October 1, 1978, creating the Michigan Commission for the Blind (MCB), a five-member, governor-appointed commission, and requiring that at least three

commissioners be legally blind.  The act also transferred the agency from DSS to the Department of Labor, and made the Commission a partner with the federal

government in providing employment services and vending facilities for blind persons.  It also established a broad range of teaching and counseling roles

and responsibilities.

 

In the early 1980s, MCB gained state and federal funds to establish independent living services for older blind individuals, and state funds to establish

low vision services for blind and visually impaired youth.  In addition, the vending program was expanded to include cafeterias and highway vending locations

at welcome centers and rest stops, the center in Kalamazoo was renamed the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center, a statewide DeafBlind service

was established, and formal strategic planning began with the production of a mission statement. In 2000, MCB launched its Vision 2020 Initiative looking

toward the year 2020 to design customer responsive service systems.  The mission of the Commission is to assist blind persons to achieve independence and

employment.

 

The 1990s have been highlighted by the Americans with Disabilities Act, a major anti-discrimination statute designed to remove barriers in employment, government

services and public accommodations; and, the 1992 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act which calls for greater attention to client choice and independent

living services.  In 1996, MCB was transferred from the abolished Department of Labor to the Department of Consumer and Industry Services and to the Family

Independence Agency (FIA), formerly DSS.  In 1997, the Client Assistance Program was privatized.  In 1998, the Workforce Investment Act was enacted, incorporating

the newly-amended Rehabilitation Act, calling for greater interaction between rehabilitation agencies and local Workforce Boards. In 2003, Governor Jennifer

M. Granholm transferred MCB to the newly created Department of Labor and Economic Growth, now the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth (DELEG).

 

Today, in addition to serving as the vocational rehabilitation agency for the blind, the Commission operates the residential training center in Kalamazoo

and provides independent living services for Michigan' s older blind population, low-vision services for the state ' s youth, DeafBlind services, entrepreneurial

opportunities for blind persons through its Business Enterprise Program, and business services to employers with employees who are blind or visually impaired.

 The commission serves under a five-member board appointed by the governor and has a staff of nearly 100 in offices throughout the state.