[nfbmi-talk] means Test and College Policy in Response to ImportantLetter

[Marcus Simmons]

You can't give up. This is exactly what MCB wants us to do. It took me 4 
years to get my laptop and it cost MCB more to keep my case open than the 
equipment cost. Then my counselor quit! Don't play into their trap.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Elizabeth" <lizmohnke at hotmail.com>
To: <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 1:58 PM
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] means Test and College Policy in Response to 
ImportantLetter



Hello Joe,

Thanks for the full version of the regulation. I already posted the part 
about Social Security benefits in a comment that I submitted for Monday's 
meeting. So as the saying goes, been there, done that, and got the tee shirt 
to prove it. Or in this case, I should probably say that I got the recording 
to prove it. It seems to me that no matter what argument we use to refute 
the use of the new DELEG financial needs form, the agency always seems to 
have a counter argument as to why it needs to be included in the policy. 
During the meeting on Monday, they said it was not a means test, but rather 
a tool that the counselors can use when providing services to college 
students. They also said that the financial aid offices at the college or 
university would be able to complete the form in a timely manner because 
they are already use to filling out this form since it is used by Michigan 
Rehabilitation Services. However, from what I can tell by reading through 
their policy, Michigan Rehabilitation Services appears to use this form as a 
part of the means test they use for providing services to college students.

I tried voicing my concern about whether or not the financial aid offices 
will actually be able to fill out this form in a timely manner given the 
recent increase of students requesting financial aid. I also mentioned the 
fact that I typically do not receive anything in writing from my financial 
aid office until classes have already started or just before classes start. 
It did not seem as though these comments were taken seriously because it is 
the job of the financial aid office to fill out these forms. And it was 
somehow my fault that the college did not have enough time to send me a 
letter notifying me that I was eligible to receive financial aid even though 
I typically fill out the forms in March or April. It was like they had an 
answer for everything and that my experience was somehow invalid because it 
did not fit into what they knew to be true.

So I am at a loss as to what to do next. It seems as though nothing I ever 
do or say ever really gets through to them, and I am tired of banging my 
head up against a brick wall trying to figure it out. I am tired of simply 
arguing with the Michigan Commission for the Blind all of the time. If they 
would put as much time and energy into working with consumers and providing 
services as they do arguing against us and creating barriers for obtaining 
services, then we would probably have one of the best vocational 
rehabilitation agencies for the blind in the country. If anyone else has any 
ideas, I would love to hear them. The new DELEG financial needs form is 
attached to this message for anyone who would like to read it.

Elizabeth


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