[Ohio-Talk] Fwd: BSVI Bulletin February/March, 2020

[Jordy Stringer]

Greetings one and all. I thought some of you might find the below email of interest. Happy reading.


Jordy D. Stringer
Executive Director, Southeastern Ohio Center for Independent Living 

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities <ood.ohio at public.govdelivery.com>
> Date: March 3, 2020 at 3:32:18 PM EST
> To: jssocil at gmail.com
> Subject: BSVI Bulletin February/March, 2020
> Reply-To: ood.ohio at public.govdelivery.com
> 
> 
> BSVI Bulletin February/March 2020
> 
>                Welcome to the first edition of the BSVI Bulletin for 2020. This issue features a year-in-review of OOD outreach activities, request for reader feedback and tech tips that may be of interest to many readers.
> 
> 2019 BSVI Outreach Efforts
> 
> Over the last year, the OOD BSVI team has been working on several projects to increase the visibility of OOD within the blind and low vision community, strengthen our relationships with community partners and individuals with vision loss, and improve the services that are available. Below are the highlights from our year-in-review:
> 
>  BSVI staff around the state have been tasked with reaching out to local chapters of different advocacy groups with the expectation that they will attend meetings at least twice per year to hear from the community on how to better work together.
>  The BSVI Bulletin was created to share information about our efforts, as well as different topics of interest, to the community of stakeholders.
>  A pilot “town hall” meeting was held in partnership with the Cleveland chapter of the National Federation of the Blind to hear from individuals with vision loss on how we can better partner and support them in their goals towards employment and independent living.
>  A series of participant focus groups were held around the state to get feedback on the VR program, services available, and ideas for improvement.
>  A training guide was developed for staff on the production of braille to improve the quality of information that is distributed.
>  OOD partnered with the Ohio State Fair and Aira to make the service available to anyone attending the Ohio State Fair. The service was also made available at each of the OOD regional job fairs held around the state.
>  OOD has partnered with the Ohio State School for the Blind and Franklin University to make BlindSquare available on their campuses and surrounding communities. This is an expansion of the pilot project completed in 2018 with Columbus State Community College.
>  The VR Fee Schedule was updated, and changes were made to the fees associated with services related to blindness and vision loss. New credentialing requirements were also put in place to improve the quality of the services that are provided to participants of the VR and Independent Living Older Blind programs.
>  A new onboarding tool for staff was developed and implemented to help new staff develop knowledge, skills, and resources for working successfully with individuals with vision loss.
>  Training and resources were developed related to Work Incentives and individuals who are blind in order to maximize their benefits and their income gained through employment. This was designed to help educate the larger community on work incentives and reduce the misunderstandings about working and benefits.
>  Outreach efforts are being made to the community of individuals with traumatic and acquired brain injuries. Training was provided to staff on the impact of brain injury on vision.
>  BSVI partnered with the Employer and Innovation Services Division to provide trainings to employers attending the five regional OOD sponsored job fairs. This training focused on the types of assistive technology available across several disability categories, including vision loss and hearing loss.
>  A provider partnership was developed with the Louisiana Center for the Blind allowing a new avenue of adjustment to blindness training to be made available to individuals who are living with vision loss.
>  The agency worked with the Ohio State School for the Blind and the Ohio State School for the Deaf to create two new Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor positions that are immersed within the school environments.
> We Want to Hear from You!
> 
>                What ideas do you have for outreach in 2020? How can we continue to spread the word about OOD and our services to appropriate audiences? We welcome your outreach ideas and feedback. Please email kathryn.frederick at ood.ohio.gov or call (614) 438-1260.
> 
> Tech Tips and News
> 
>                February is designated low vision awareness month. As a result, this month’s issue of the technology magazine AccessWorld features many articles that may be of interest to readers. Some article highlights include:
> 
>  2020 Senior Solutions: Low-Tech and No-Tech Tools for Independence
>  The BlindShell Classic Accessible Feature Cell Phone, a Smart Alternative
>  IPEVO VZ-X Doc Cam: A Stealth Video Magnifier
> Aira March Update Hands-Free Glasses Support Ending Soon
> 
>                According to the Aira March Update, the company is discontinuing support for the Horizon Glasses beginning April 1, 2020. The release states the reason for this decision and provides some frequently asked questions for those who use the Horizon Glasses.
> 
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> Programs provided by Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD) are funded, in whole or in part, with federal grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). For purposes of the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Program, including Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS), OOD received 78.7% of its funding through the DOE VR grant. In Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2019, OOD received $99,548,657 in federal funds. Funds appropriated by the State covered 21.3 % of the total costs, or $26,942,648.  Of these federal funds, $14,932,299 is set aside for Pre-ETS. For purposes of the Supported Employment (SE) Program, the DOE SE grant funded 90% of the costs for the Supported Employment for Youth with a Disability Program up to the grant amount and 100% of the costs of regular Supported Employment program costs up to the grant amount. In FFY 2019, OOD received $297,857 for SE Youth with a Disability and State appropriated funds paid a small amount more than the remaining 10% or $33,192 of the total costs.  In FFY 2019, OOD received $297,857 in regular SE grant funds. For purposes of the Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who are Blind (OIB) Program, the federal grant received from DOE in FFY 2019 paid 90% of the total costs incurred under the program. In FFY 2019, OOD received $1,153,208 in federal grant funds. Funds appropriated by the State paid over the 10% required match or $130,000 of the total costs incurred under the OIB program.For purposes of the Independent Living (IL) Program, the federal grant received from HHS paid 90% of the total costs incurred in FFY 2019. In FFY 2019, OOD received funding of $640,571. Funds appropriated by the State paid 10% or $71,175 of the total costs incurred under the IL Program.
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