[nfbmi-talk] it appears these things are still going on

joe harcz Comcast joeharcz at comcast.net
Mon Sep 12 16:27:47 UTC 2011


December 7, 2007

 

 

 

Dear MCB Board Commissioners:

 

We, the members of Advocates for the Blind (AB), are writing this letter to the Board calling for the immediate implementation of new internal control policies that will drastically improve the delivery of services by the MCB’s Detroit Office in particular, and the state agency overall.  We sought too late to get on the agenda to discuss our concerns and present our resolutions at the December 10th Board Meeting, so we will do our best with this brief letter.

 

Advocates for the Blind is a new group that formed in August of 2007 in order to forcefully advocate for Detroit’s disenfranchised blind and VI population in such critical areas of life as: employment, education, vocational training, independent living, political empowerment, and discrimination.  Our first order of business was to investigate and practically address the mountain of complaints that past, present, and perspective clients were levying against the counselors, supervisors, and practices of the MCB’s Detroit Office.  Utter frustration with the agency’s practices and failures was growing so steadily among blind and VI Detroiters that perspective new clients were not even contacting the Detroit Office because they had heard from others, “Don’t expect any help from the Commission.”  “Those new counselors down there don’t care about anybody.”  “--- (rehab counselor) doesn’t even return phone calls.” 

 

There was no way for us as outsiders to validate or invalidate the dozens of “mishandled case” charges against the MCB that started coming-in to us.  We knew that we were only receiving a fraction of the charges that existed in our area for frustration with the MCB’s Detroit Office had spread throughout Metro Detroit.  We had to take action immediately.

 

First, we contacted those who we knew had serious complaints and we documented them.  During this process, we noticed definite patterns between the documented complaints of our members and non-members.  We knew that this many people could not have been lying about having similar, bad experiences with the MCB.  

 

There had to be some, to a lot of truth in widespread charges that the MCB was: not making a strong effort to meet the vocational needs of many clients, intentionally withholding needed services from some clients, and not supplying clients attending junior colleges and training programs with the adaptive technology that they needed in order to successfully complete their programs.  Dido for the documented charges that some MCB counselors took the official CAP complaint process for a joke, and refused to return initial phone calls or open numerous perspective rehab cases that should have been opened.  

 

All of our community’s frustration was not aimed solely at our local MCB Office.  We documented charges that the MCB as an agency was doing little to address the %90 unemployment rate of blind and severely VI Detroiters (according to the 2000 Census), operating in a manner that discriminated against African-American clients, and had historically under-represented and mistreated African-Americans and other racial minorities in the Business Enterprise Program (BEP).  When presented with our research, our legal advisors concluded with us that the current policies of the MCB are in gross violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the civil rights of the very clients whom the agency is suppose to serve.  

 

We proceeded with urgency down our path to create change within the MCB, but not with any reckless or unnecessary adversarial behavior.  After all, the Commission is our Commission, which we pay taxes to help fund.  Some of us have had wonderful relationships with the agency in the past, and would prefer to do so into the future.  

 

In September, we held a press conference and public demonstration in front of the MCB’s Detroit Office, alerted MCB Director Patrick Cannon of our actions and concerns, and spoke in-depthly with the Director of the MCB’s Consumer Services Division Leamon Jones.  Our subsequent conversations with Mr. Jones and Mr. Cannon have been pleasant and informative.  Mr. Jones assisted in resolving one egregious mishandled case that we referred to him, and started the ball moving towards resolving another.  Yet there are two many cases for anyone to resolve on a one-by-one basis, so we refused to discuss them with the MCB in this manner.  

 

We concluded that the MCB could revitalize itself, repair its now tarnished image, and better serve all clients by implementing a series of new internal control policies designed to prevent such accused violations from occurring.  To show that we were more interested in building-up and helping the MCB to get stronger than we were in attacking its weaknesses, we carefully crafted a series of six such policies and referred them to both Mr. Jones and Mr. Cannon.  While both of them applauded our policy recommendations, neither of them gave us any real hope or plan through which they would be implemented.  

 

That brings us back to this letter to you Board Members.  This is our appeal to you to take swift action towards resolving our serious concerns.  Of course, we would prefer that you review and implement our policy recommendations.  However, if you don’t like them, craft and implement some better ones.  

 

Our now seven recommendations are as follows:

 

Periodically update the training of all MCB Rehab Counselors around their job duties, their clients’ rights, and the laws that govern both;  

Provide reasonable accommodations to all clients in junior colleges or training programs;  

Review all cases that have been opened through the MCB’s Detroit Office over the past two years in order to assist numerous clients whose cases have been mishandled;  

Mandate the keeping of reviewable phone in-take records on perspective client; 

Hire a Jobs Placement Specialist in each MCB Office to work diligently at placing the blind and VI into productive employment situations; 

Ensure that African-Americans are fairly represented and treated in the BEP each year; and

Decrease the size of the territories that your office supervisors have to cover so that they can get a better handle on what is actually going on in the offices.

 

When we narrowly circulated a petition calling for the implementation of the first six of these policy recommendations, we found overwhelming support.  Along with this letter, we are submitting to the Board dozens of petition signatures that we collected.  The signatories include: MCB Clients, NFB Members, ACB Members, and sighted individuals who support our cause.  

 

There are so many issues that the MCB and the 
AB need to work together on like lobbying the State Legislature for more funding for blindness issues.  That is why we truly hope that you will take swift, progressive action where you can.  While our members cannot follow you to policy meetings across the state, we will help you where we can.

 

If the Board does not take action this winter however, we will be forced to address our concerns through other means.  Our attitude is that the MCB can, must, and will change for the better.  That change should occur willingly.  Thank you for considering our point of view.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Advocates for the Blind

Chairperson Richard Clay

(313) 247-3301

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michigan Commission for the Blind Services Improvement Petition

 

We, the undersigned residents of Detroit, believe in developing and supporting the talents, abilities, and full employment of blind and visually impaired people.  Therefore, we believe that the taxpayer funded Michigan Commission for the Blind (MCB) must do a much better job at living up to its mandate of facilitating the education, rehabilitation, job training, and job placement of the blind and visually impaired in our city, without exhibiting any kind of bias or discrimination towards clients.  We are calling for the MCB to implement new control policies that accomplish the following:

 

Periodically update the training of all MCB Rehab Counselors around their job duties, their clients’ rights, and the laws that govern both;  

Provide reasonable accommodations to all clients in junior colleges or training programs;  

Review all cases that have been opened through the MCB’s Detroit Office over the past two years in order to assist numerous clients whose cases have been mishandled;  

Mandate the keeping of reviewable phone in-take records on perspective client; 

Hire a Jobs Placement Specialist in each MCB Office to work diligently at placing the blind and visually impaired into productive employment situations; and 

Ensure that African-Americans are fairly represented and treated in the Vendors Stand Program, the state’s most lucrative jobs training program for the blind.  

 

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