[Nfbmt] Fwd: Public Hearing Announcement - Order of Selection

[Rebecca Stewart]

Hi Jim.  Thank you for this well thought out and informative memo.  It is
very clear and I, for one, appreciate it very much.
Becca 

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbmt [mailto:nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jim Marks
Sent: Friday, December 20, 2013 10:13 AM
To: NFB of Montana Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Nfbmt] Fwd: Public Hearing Announcement - Order of Selection

Hi All,

The public hearing announcement is a public document and may be forwarded to
anyone.  The confidentiality warning at the bottom of the announcement is a
mistake and should not have been included.

The NFB-MT probably will want to pay more attention to the annual spring
public hearing.  Thats when BLVS asks for public input about our state plans
and services.  That hearing will occur in April.

The January public hearing on order of selection gives the public an
opportunity to comment on Vocational Rehabilitation and Blind Services
intent to implement an order of selection.  An Order involves putting new
applicants for vocational rehabilitation programs on a waiting list. 
  It does not affect those already being served, only new applicants after
the Order is officially implemented.

New applicants to BLVS may end up on a waiting list depending on how
expansive the waiting list is.  When someone applies for vocational
rehabilitation services, the Counselor makes a professional judgement based
on the functional limitations to employment encountered by the client.  We
have three categories:  Most significant, significant, and disability.  An
Order deals with resource shortages, that is, when voc rehab doesn't have
enough money or staff to serve everyone, those resources are to go to those
with the most significant disabilities first.  It is possible to close all
three categores, but this is unlikely in Montana because our resource
shortages are not that severe. 
  We may, however, close two of the three categories, although closing one
is the most likely.  All depends on our resource situation.

The Order could affect blind people who are applying for vocational
rehabilitation services depending on their circumstances.  Most BLVS clients
are placed in the most significant or signficant categories, but some also
go into the disability category.  Those on the Order's waiting lists will be
reopened for services when the resource situation improves.

The causes of the resource sshortage are many.  Post-secondary education
costs are on the rise, as are medical costs for assessment and treatment.
Truth is, VRB Services ends up acting like an insurance company because many
of our clients have no health insurance coverage. 
We've also experienced increased personnel costs due to raises and addition
of staff members.  And the cost of everything is on the rise from
information technology to everyday expenses.  Lastly, we are serving more
people than ever before.  The end result is that we just don't have enough
funding to do it all, and the law requires us to implement an Order to deal
with it.

One last point is that those not on the waiting list may expect and get the
same quality and quantity of services.  We will not become overly fiscally
conservative because the Order answers the resource problems. 
Independent Living for the Older Blind and Visual Services Medical, two
other BLVS programs, are not affected by the Order.  The Order applies only
to vocational rehabilitation.  However, those two programs do not have
enough resources all the time, and waiting for services for Older Blind and
Visual Services Medical is nothing new.

Hope this gives everyone more context.  I am writing this e-mail in my role
as the Administrator of the Disability Employment and Transitions Division
of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. 
  BLVS is one of the programs in the Division.

Best!


Jim Marks
blind.grizzly at gmail.com

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