[Ohio-talk] OOD and braille instruction
Cheryl Fields
cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com
Sat Jan 7 23:36:53 UTC 2017
The agency has restructured some things... read below for changes. A
friend sent this to me. Perhaps there is someone on this list to
appeal to about braille literacy for adults. Cheryl Fields
Weekly Focus Banner
Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities
Kevin L. Miller, Executive Director
January 6, 2017
The mission of the Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities Agency
is to ensure individuals with disabilities achieve quality employment,
independence and disability determination outcomes.
What's Inside:•Elevating OOD's Commitment to Employers and
Strengthening Services for the Visually Impaired
•18 Walmart Stores Receive Recognition
•OOD Processes First Case Nationally in New Federal System
•STABLE Account
•Do You Have a Disability and Want To Work?
•Did You Know? Local Resources are Available to Help Seniors and Families
•OOD By the Numbers
Elevating OOD's Commitment to Employers and Strengthening Services for
the Visually Impaired
A message from OOD Executive Director Kevin Miller
Director Miller
In just the past few years OOD’s commitment to engaging with our
employer partners has not only been a great success from OOD’s
perspective, but this success has been recognized as a national model
amongst peer vocational rehabilitation agencies. This is evidenced by
our employer partnerships with the Ohio Workplace Initiative, the
growth of the Ohio Business Leadership Network and connecting
employers with jobseekers through our job fairs.
With the continued positive impact and commitment displayed by our
employer partners, I am very pleased to announce that effective next
week I am further elevating the agency’s focus on employers as our
dual customer, by consolidating OOD’s business relations activities
and staff. They are currently managed between the Bureau of Services
for Visually Impaired (BSVI) and the Bureau of Vocational
Rehabilitation (BVR). They will now become part of a newly formed
Division of Employer and Innovation Services, led by Deputy Director
Raivo Murnieks.
Reporting to Murnieks will be Assistant Deputy Director Bob Nicholson,
who will supervise Business Relations Manager Jon Hackathorn and our
regional Business Relations Specialists Stephanie Branco, Cynthia
Crews, Kelly Jordan and Heather Mauk. Employer Services Liaisons Chris
Glover and Craig Marsh will continue reporting to Hackathorn. This
structure also connects these business relations resources directly to
our staff that are dedicated to managing labor market information,
data analytics, performance management and process improvements. We
look to expand our employer partnerships in an effort to secure a more
fluid sourcing process thereby assuring jobseekers match available
positions more accurately.
In addition to the changes in Business Engagement, OOD’s BSVI has
added Program Services Manager Sarah Kelly. She will report to Deputy
Director Mindy Duncan and will lead BSVI’s efforts on a number of key
priorities. Kelly’s focus will include development of new BSVI staff
training; supporting BSVI’s provision of Orientation and Mobility,
Activities of Daily Living, Rehabilitation Technology and Low Vision
Services; identifying, sharing and promoting promising practices in
service delivery across all services leading to improved BSVI customer
experience and outcomes; and engaging with partners and professionals
to increase BSVI referrals. Kelly brings extensive experience to this
new opportunity with five years of experience at OOD, where she has
served as both a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and a Vocational
Rehabilitation Supervisor.
I have always approached every decision on its alignment with our
strategic direction and what is in the best interest of those we
serve. This restructuring not only fits that criteria, but is critical
to OOD’s compliance with new federal workforce legislation and aligns
with the Governor’s workforce transformation priorities. My ultimate
goal is that not only will we continue to be recognized as a national
model for other vocational rehabilitation agencies, but that OOD will
serve as a blueprint for all workforce agencies.
18 Walmart Stores Receive Recognition
Walmart Grove City
Pictured above are representatives from the Stringtown Road Walmart
located in Grove City.
OOD recognized 18 Walmart stores as Committed to Opportunity Award
recipients for their leadership in integrating individuals with
disabilities into Ohio’s workforce. The Committed to Opportunity
Awards recognize companies that have had four consecutive years of
successful hires of OOD consumers.
In recognizing Walmart on their achievement, OOD Director Kevin Miller
stated, “Walmart is the largest retailer in the world and they have
taken it upon themselves to make sure that well-qualified and capable
individuals who happen to have a disability are integrated into their
corporate culture. By embracing inclusion and diversity, individuals
with disabilities lives are enhanced, the community benefits and
Walmart’s workforce is strengthened.”
Walmart Market Manager Jeff Stone said, “In every one of our stores
across the state, we make it a priority to serve our community the
best we can and help people to live better. So it’s very important to
us as employers that we find opportunities for those with disabilities
because they are important members of our community with much to
contribute.”
For more information about OOD’s Opportunity Awards, visit
http://ood.ohio.gov/Employers/Opportunity-Awards.
OOD Processes First Case Nationally in New Federal System
OOD’s Division of Disability Determination (DDD) is leading the way on
the development and implementation of the Social Security
Administration’s (SSA) new Disability Case Processing System (DCPS).
DDD is assisting SSA in their effort to modernize and bring greater
consistency to the 54 separate state disability determination services
across the country. Ohio is one of only three states to implement DCPS
and Ohio was the first state in the nation to process a claim
utilizing this new technology.
In addition to processing the first case in the new system, DDD is
leading the way in testing and helping other states troubleshoot any
issues that arise when they bring the system on board. When fully
implemented across the nation, DCPS is expected to simplify system
support and maintenance, improve the speed and quality of the
disability process, and reduce the overall growth rate of
infrastructure costs.
STABLE Account
Stable
STABLE Account, the nation’s first savings and investment accounts for
people with special needs, dramatically improves the lives of
individuals with disabilities. Since Ohio rolled out its STABLE
Account on June 1, 2016, more than 1,900 people have enrolled.
Previously, if Ohioans with disabilities saved more than $2,000 in
their name, they risked losing essential benefits, such as Medicaid or
Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Individuals with disabilities are
now empowered to save and invest up to $14,000 a year with a maximum
account limit of $426,000, without losing their healthcare benefits.
This will give them the opportunity to live more independent and
financially secure lives.
Diane Cox, who opened a STABLE Account for her 13-year-old son Ben
said, “It is money he can use for anything related to his disability
in the future. We can save for him the same way as we can for his
siblings without restrictions.”
STABLE Accounts are available nationwide and can be opened by an
individual with a disability or by an authorized legal representative.
They function as an investment account (similar to a 529 college
savings or a 401(k) retirement). Not only can participants withdraw
and spend money as needed, but the STABLE Account will also allow the
money to grow in order to save for long-term expenses. Earnings on
savings are tax-deferred when used to pay for qualified disability
expenses. Qualified expenses range from housing and rent, to assistive
technology (like hearing aids or an iPad) or employment training.
For more information, visit www.stableaccount.com or call 1-800-439-1653.
Do You Have a Disability and Want To Work?
OOD Works
If you have a disability and want to work, OOD can help! At
oodworks.com starting on the path to employment is as simple as 1, 2,
3. You can explore Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), take a
self-assessment, create your profile and apply for services.
VR is a program that assists individuals with physical, intellectual,
mental health and sensory disabilities to obtain and retain
employment. More simply, VR helps individuals with disabilities find
jobs and be more independent. This involves deciding if a person is
eligible, setting an employment goal, putting the goal into a plan,
and getting the job services and training needed to get a job. Job
coaching and other employment services may also be involved.
At OOD, both the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation (BVR) and the
Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired (BSVI) are involved in
providing VR services.
Visit oodworks.com to get started today on your path to employment.
Did You Know? Local Resources are Available to Help Seniors and Families
eldercare
The Eldercare Locator, a service of the U.S. Administration on Aging,
helps seniors and families identify local resources for financial
assistance, health care, home modifications and more. For
information, visit
http://eldercare.gov/Eldercare.NET/Public/Index.aspx
or call 188-0677-1116 weekdays 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
OOD By the Numbers
Vocational Rehabilitation
Current FFY2017
Individuals in Job Ready Status: 2,984 1,774
For county level information
& map, visit our website.
Individuals Employed: 2,277
1,554
Employed, not yet
successfully closed
Successful Closures:
1,631
Employed for over 90 days,
case closed successfully
Disability Determination
(FFY 2017 as of 12/30/2016 – Week 13)
Applications Received:
43,862
Determinations:
47,215
Productivity Per Work Year (PPWY) 351.9
Total number of cases processed divided
by the number of work years funded
Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities
Questions?
Contact Us
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On 1/6/17, barbara.pierce9366--- via Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Please, let’s get it right. OOD is the new name for the Rehabilitation
> Services Commission, not BSVI. Richard made this slip on the convention
> platform, and Bob Nicholson corrected him instantly. This may not seem very
> important to some of us, but we undermine our contention that we are serious
> players at the state level when we get these names wrong. Sorry to be
> passionate about this, but I do think it is important. RSC became OOD. BSVI
> has been BSVI since the seventies when its name was changed from BSB, the
> Bureau of Services for the Blind.
>
> Thank you,
> Barbara
> Barbara Pierce
> President Emerita
> National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
> Barbara.pierce9366 at gmail.com
> 440-774-8077
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
> characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
> between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
> blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>> On Jan 5, 2017, at 2:24 PM, Marianne Denning via Ohio-Talk
>> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Does everyone remember that at our state conventions we have been told
>> that
>> bblind adults do not want to learn braille in Ohio so it is not needed
>> here? Also, on the rare occasion when someone requests braille the
>> individual is referred to Hadley. I have been doing some research. I have
>> learned that when braille is recommended by a rehabilitation teacher OOD
>> counselors will not provide the service. I have also learned that if
>> someone wants other training from a vision rehab therapist it is usually
>> limited to four hours of service. I understand this is in an effort to
>> hold
>> down costs but this severely limits the ability of a blind adult to learn
>> skills to live independently. I do not blame the counselors for this but
>> the people at the top of OOD.
>>
>> --
>> Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
>> Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
>> (513) 607-6053
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>
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--
Wishing You All the Best,
Cheryl E. Fields
A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human
life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will
never sit.
--D. Elton Trueblood
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