[Ohio-talk] Services for the blind threatened

[Marianne Denning]

Cheryl, thanks for sending this article.  It raises more questions
than it answers.  First, are blind and visually impaired people
affected by this?  If so, how?  I believe we should be concerned even
if it doesn't affect one blind or visually impaired person at this
time.  Did the organizations in question misuse the funds?  Hopefully,
these questions and many more will be answered soon.

On 2/7/14, Cheryl Fields <cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello,
> This article appeared yesterday in the Columbus Dispatch, it is
> disturbing. There has been no press coverage in Cleveland on this
> serious issue. If this is not resolved, services for blind persons
> will be greatly effected. Please read, how can we, nfb, become pro
> active
>
> Best,
>
> Cheryl Fields
>
>
> If there are images in this attachment, they will not be displayed.
> Download the original attachment
>
>
>
> Page 1
>
> Columbus, OH February 6, 2014
>
> Social services
>
> Funding flap threatens programs for disabled
>
> Chris Luzader, who is developmentally disabled,
>
> greets shoppers at the Walmart store in Westerville. Luzader is part
> of the state's Bridges to Transition
>
> program, which is in jeopardy because of a funding dispute.
>
> Sometimes the weight of a government dispute falls squarely on the
> shoulders of average citizens.
>
> This is one of those times for Chris Luzader, 46, who loves his job as
> a greeter at the Walmart on Schrock
>
> Road in Westerville.
>
> Luzader, who suffered permanent neural motor-control damage from a
> bout with spinal meningitis when
>
> he was 6 weeks old, knows the program that keeps him employed is in
> danger, but he tries not to think
>
> about it.
>
> "If I didn't have this job, I'd be hurting for money," he said. "I
> hope it don't come down to that."
>
> Luzader is one of 300 people in the Bridges to Transition program
> operated by the Franklin County Board
>
> of Developmental Disabilities that helps disabled adults find and keep
> jobs. About $1 million for the local
>
> program comes from the federal government. It's a great deal for local
> agencies, which put up $1 for
>
> every $3.69 in federal money.
>
> And there's the problem.
>
> A compliance dispute between the Office of Ohioans with Disabilities,
> or OOD, and the U.S. Department
>
> of Education threatens to cut $30 million going to Bridges to
> Transition and dozens of other programs for
>
> disabled Ohioans. Local agencies put about
>
> $10 million into the programs overseen by the federal Office of
> Special Education and Rehabilitative
>
> Services.
>
> The dispute goes back to early 2011 when Kevin Miller, newly appointed
> as head of what was then the
>
> Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission (now the OOD), wrote to
> federal officials about questions
>
> raised in prior reports concerning spending by third-party
> contractors. The U.S. Department of Education
>
> indicated that the issues appeared to be resolved, Miller said. The
> program also got a green light last year.
>
>
>
> Page 2
>
> But a routine audit this year concluded that the state was improperly
> using federal funds. That finding
>
> means $30 million going to dozens of agencies -- including the Center
> of Vocational Alternatives in
>
> Columbus, Goodwill and the Franklin County Developmental Disabilities
> Board -- could be cut off. The
>
> Oct. 18 finding gave the state a month to terminate contracts. There
> was also an indication the state might
>
> have to pay back money spent previously.
>
> The federal agency cited several issues, most involving administration
> functions performed by some of
>
> the 73 third-party state contractors that regulators said did not
> benefit disabled clients. The draft federal
>
> report cited examples including $10,000 spent on financial services,
> plus expenses for liability insurance,
>
> an audit fee, chamber of commerce dues and cellphone charges.
>
> "We feel we're in compliance," Miller said. "We believe this is a very
> rigid interpretation of what the
>
> federal code says and a misunderstanding of how Ohio's program is
> structured."
>
> Jacqueline Romer-Sensky, a commissioner of the disabilities office,
> said the cutoff order "may
>
> dramatically disrupt services for 8,500 Ohioans with disabilities
> currently receiving assistance to find a
>
> job. ... This we find an outrageous and unconscionable affront to our
> consumers and the providers who
>
> partner with them."
>
> Members of Ohio's congressional delegation are preparing a letter
> asking U.S. Education Secretary Arne
>
> Duncan to intervene.
>
> Officials from two statewide agencies say cutting off the contracts
> would have damaging results.
>
> Cheri Walter, executive director of the Ohio Association of County
> Behavioral Health Authorities, said
>
> Recovery to Work projects with agencies throughout the state help
> recovering addicts and those with
>
> mental illness return to the workforce.
>
> "For some of our agencies and our clients, this is not just about a
> job. It's about life and death," Walter
>
> said. "We just think it's a terrible injustice to the clients we're
> serving."
>
> Adam Herman, spokesman for the Ohio Association of County Boards of
> Developmental Disabilities,
>
> said the Bridges to Transition program serves about 4,000 people in 55
> of 88 Ohio counties.
>
> "It would be a travesty if bureaucratic disagreement between the state
> and federal governments were
>
> allowed to get in the way of people with significant disabilities
> getting the skills they need to find and
>
> keep a job," Herman said.
>
> "Through no fault of their own, people with developmental disabilities
> already face an uphill battle when
>
> seeking a job and trying to live independently. They don't need the
> government working against them as
>
> well."
>
> ajohnson at dispatch.com
>
> @ohioaj
>
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-- 
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053