[NFBMT] FW: [EXTERNAL] FW: Question

Sat Nov 23 04:31:38 UTC 2019

thank you very fuch for posting this information.

On 11/22/2019 1:03 PM, president--- via NFBMT wrote:
> 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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>
>   
>
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