[NFBMT] FW: [EXTERNAL] FW: Question

Fri Nov 22 20:03:47 UTC 2019

FYI, here is a longer string of e-mails I exchanged with Chanda
Hermanson-Dudley, Montana Vocational Rehabilitation Director and DETD
Administrator.  From the bottom up, these e-mails start with my asking the
US Rehabilitation Services Administration whether continuing funding for NFB
Newsline is prohibited by federal rules.  It is not, although there is no
federal mandate that Montana fund NFB Newsline.

Jim Marks

president at nfbofmt.org <mailto:president at nfbofmt.org> 

From: president at nfbofmt.org [mailto:president at nfbofmt.org] 
Sent: Thursday, November 21, 2019 12:50 PM
To: 'Hermanson-Dudley, Chanda' <ChandaHD at mt.gov>
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] FW: Question

Hi Chanda,

I remembered one more point.  However, please know we do not expect a
response because arguing the details of the DPHHS decision to discontinue
NFB Newsline won't help at this point.  We heard the decision, although we
definitely do not agree with it.

Services to individuals meshes well with services to groups.  For example,
NFB Newsline includes a job search that's accessible to and usable by
clients in-plan or on the wait lists.  The National Federation of the Blind
of Montana routinely works with Montanans with disabilities who are on the
wait lists under the Order of Selection.  These people grasp at any straws
they can because going without vocational rehabilitation services wreaks
havoc with one's vocational and independent living goals.  The Order breaks
our hearts, as we are certain it does yours as well.  Some of those
individuals waiting for services count on NFB Newsline not just to conduct
job searches, but also to engage and integrate in their communities.  Of
course natural supports never measure up to what vocational rehabilitation
services can do, but those stuck on a wait list have very little choices.
Removing NFB Newsline for those qualified for the service oppresses them
even more severely because there exist no natural supports for information
in Montana.  Imagine not being able to read a Montana newspaper or news
feed, not being able to read an emergency weather alert, or not being able
to search for work.  We understand that moving clients from the Order to
services is a priority, and we firmly believe NFB Newsline, due to the
substance of what it delivers as well as the fact that there are no
alternatives to NFB Newsline, is also a top priority.  Priorities cannot be
established fairly without the voices of those served.  It feels like the
value of NFB Newsline is lessened by those who do not understand it.  Here
we are, asserting what's important to us, and we encounter assertions of
other things being more important than what we value.  This is not right.
Compounding the injustice is the reality that NFB Newsline is affordable.
NFB Newsline costs very little, yet it delivers massive benefits.  That's
why we will never leave off this struggle until we get NFB Newsline
restored.

Thank you for listening.

Jim Marks

President

National Federation of the Blind of Montana

(406) 438-1421

president at nfbofmt.org <mailto:president at nfbofmt.org> 

www.nfbofmt.org <http://www.nfbofmt.org> 

From: president at nfbofmt.org <mailto:president at nfbofmt.org>
[mailto:president at nfbofmt.org] 
Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2019 12:34 PM
To: 'Hermanson-Dudley, Chanda' <ChandaHD at mt.gov <mailto:ChandaHD at mt.gov> >
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] FW: Question

Hi Chanda,

We are disappointed.  At the same time, we are just beginning our advocacy
to restore NFB Newsline.  As I'm sure you know, NFB Newsline is the
difference between inclusion and exclusion of Montanans with print
disabilities in our communities.  As you also know, the Rehabilitation Act
and its amendments acknowledge that services like NFB Newsline are critical
parts of independent living and vocational options for people with print
disabilities.  State government can and will do better by its citizens with
disabilities because we will advocate for the restoration of the services
relentlessly and well.

To that end, I'll forward to you my e-mail to Director Hogan.  I imagine
Director Hogan will stick with her misguided decision.  However, we are just
getting rolling.  I know you understand we have no choice but to press for
the restoration of NFB Newsline.  Life is tougher than words can convey when
one cannot read a Montana newspaper, access emergency weather alerts, search
for a job, or use other critical information everyone else accesses easily.
For us, restoring NFB Newsline is a fight in which we must persist because
the consequences of the isolation and segregation are so terrible.

Sincerely,

Jim Marks

President

National Federation of the Blind of Montana

president at nfbofmt.org <mailto:president at nfbofmt.org> 

www.nfbofmt.org <http://www.nfbofmt.org> 

From: Hermanson-Dudley, Chanda [mailto:ChandaHD at mt.gov] 
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2019 3:39 PM
To: president at nfbofmt.org <mailto:president at nfbofmt.org> 
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] FW: Question

Hi Jim,

Thanks for reaching out on this matter.

Unfortunately due to the current situation with the VR budget we are not in
a position to pick up funding for NFB Newsline, our top funding priority at
this time is movement of the OOS waitlist.

Chanda

From: president at nfbofmt.org <mailto:president at nfbofmt.org>
[mailto:president at nfbofmt.org] 
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2019 11:55 AM
To: Hermanson-Dudley, Chanda <ChandaHD at mt.gov <mailto:ChandaHD at mt.gov> >
Subject: [EXTERNAL] FW: Question

Hi Chanda,

FYI, see my question to RSA and RSA's reply below.  Montana's loss of NFB
Newsline has inflicted serious damage to its 363 subscribers.  There is no
viable alternative to NFB Newsline, and those of us who relied on the
service find ourselves isolated and segregated from our communities.
Director Sheila Hogan made her decision not to continue funding for NFB
Newsline based on an incorrect interpretation of federal rules.  Please
consider restoring the funding.  Thank you!

Jim Marks

President, National Federation of the Blind of Montana

president at nfbofmt.org <mailto:president at nfbofmt.org> 

(406) 438-1421

From: Pierre, Samuel <Samuel.Pierre at ed.gov <mailto:Samuel.Pierre at ed.gov> > 
Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2019 11:45 AM
To: president at nfbofmt.org <mailto:president at nfbofmt.org> 
Subject: RE: Question

Dear Mr. Marks:

Thank you for your recent email and inquiry regarding whether Federal rules
in the public vocational rehabilitation program prohibit a state vocational
rehabilitation agency from continuing funding for a Services to Groups
project while the State VR agency is under an Order of Selection with all
categories closed. There is nothing in the Rehabilitation Act or the VR
program regulations  prohibiting services to groups while an agency is on an
order of selection. The funding of the NFB Newsline is a decision made by
the DSU at the State level.

Kind regards,

Samuel Pierre, M.S.

Vocational Rehabilitation Program Specialist

U.S. Department of Education, OSERS

Rehabilitation Services Administration, SMPID

550 12th Street, SW, RM 5060C

Washington, DC 20202

Phone:  202-245-6488

Samuel.Pierre at ed.gov <mailto:Samuel.Pierre at ed.gov> 

From: president at nfbofmt.org <mailto:president at nfbofmt.org>
<president at nfbofmt.org <mailto:president at nfbofmt.org> > 
Sent: Tuesday, November 5, 2019 11:03 AM
To: Pierre, Samuel <Samuel.Pierre at ed.gov <mailto:Samuel.Pierre at ed.gov> >
Subject: Question

Mr. Pierre,

My name is Jim Marks, and I serve as the President of the National
Federation of the Blind of Montana.  We tried to speak over the phone, but
we've not been able to speak in person.  Thus, I am writing this e-mail.

Do federal rules in the public vocational rehabilitation program prohibit a
state vocational rehabilitation agency from continuing funding for a
Services to Groups project while the state agency is in an Order of
Selection with all categories closed?

The reason I am asking this question is that Montana Vocational
Rehabilitation and Blind Services decided not to continue funding for NFB
Newsline, the telephone-based information service, as of June 30, 2019.  NFB
Newsline closed its operations in Montana as of November 1, 2019.  Actually,
the state VR agency did not make the decision.  Sheila Hogan, Director of
the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, made the
decision.  Hogan cited federal rules with her interpretation that the Order
of Selection prohibits VRBS from funding NFB Newsline.  The NFB-MT wants to
know whether Hogan is interpreting the rules correctly.

We know that funding NFB Newsline is an option, and that Montana could
decline to continue funding NFB Newsline.  Since Hogan cited her
interpretation of federal rules as the reason to stop funding NFB Newsline,
we seek only clarification on whether the Order of Selection rules prohibit
Montana from continuing its fiscal support for NFB Newsline.

NFB Newsline was part of the 2015 State Plan for Vocational Rehabilitation,
but Montana dropped the service from its 2017 State Plan.  As I'm sure you
know, Montana is experiencing severe budget problems dating back to
September 2016.  I am painfully aware of the fiscal problems because I
formerly served as Montana State VR Director from 2010-2017.  I originally
incorporated NFB Newsline into the Montana VR budget around 2013 or so.
After Montana overspent its funds in Federal Fiscal Year 2016, I
successfully talked the Montana Committee on Telecommunications Access by
People with Disabilities into funding NFB Newsline with the intent that NFB
Newsline would remain a VR priority.  I believe about 45 states pay for NFB
Newsline through their state VR agencies or through the state's
telecommunications funding.  This past spring, the Montana
Telecommunications Committee declined to continue its support for NFB
Newsline.  The NFB-MT then advocated that the Montana VR agency pick up the
expenses, and the result was Hogan's denial based on what I believe to be
faulty premises.  The NFB-MT hopes to restore NFB Newsline in Montana.  Part
of our ability to restore the service hinges on an accurate interpretation
of federal rules.

Thank you so much for getting back to me.  Now that Montanans who are blind
and otherwise have print disabilities are isolated and segregated from vital
information, there is an urgency to learning how RSA answers the question I
have asked.  I really appreciate your getting back to me as soon as you can.

Best!

Jim Marks

President

National Federation of the Blind of Montana

(406) 438-1421

president at nfbofmt.org <mailto:president at nfbofmt.org> 

www.nfbofmt.org [nfbofmt.org]
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