[Ohio-talk] Services for the blind threatened

Fri Feb 7 18:12:17 UTC 2014

Hello,
I believe the issues surrounding Ohio's program are not related to I Can Connect.
The pot of money for I Can Connect is different.
Colleen Roth

----- Original Message -----
From: DELCINA M BROWN <delcenia at prodigy.net>
To: "NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List" <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
Date: Friday, February 7, 2014 12:28 pm
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Services for the blind threatened

>
>
> Yes, thanks for bringing this to our attention. This makes me wonder if this 
> has anything to do with the federal program that was to help people that 
> were blind deaf with communication equipment. I do know that right now they 
> have put a freeze on things in Columbus for the program call I Can Connect 
> Program (I%). I was wondering why did they put a freeze on things. 
> Hopefully this dispute is resolved.
> 
> Delcenia
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Cheryl Fields" <cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com>
> To: "NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List" <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, February 07, 2014 10:20 AM
> Subject: [Ohio-talk] Services for the blind threatened
> 
> 
> > 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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> 
> 
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