[rehab] Fighting Discrimination in the VR Application Process

[BrianMiller]

Hi Justin,

The office of civil rights (OCR) for the federal department of education
would be the place to take a discrimination complaint based on race, gender,
age, or disability. They will determine whether or not the complaint has
merit and pursue appropriate remedies.  The nearest OCR office would be in
San Francisco, but it's possible they have a few people stationed in Hawaii,
but start with the San Fran office first.

Good luck,

Brian Miller




-----Original Message-----
From: rehab [mailto:rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Dick Davis via
rehab
Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2017 3:46 PM
To: Rehabilitation Counselor Mailing List
Cc: Dick Davis
Subject: Re: [rehab] Fighting Discrimination in the VR Application Process

Justin,

If it is the agency you work for, you are in a conflict of interest
situation and should recuse yourself and get someone from outside the
agency, probably in the NFB, to help.  If it's a different agency that has a
relationship with your agency, do the same.

If it is happening in your agency and you feel you must do something, the
best thing you can do is alert someone higher in the chain of command and
let them handle it.  Don't expect them to tell you the outcome, as there are
laws against that.

I am answering this purely from an employment perspective.  I could provide
additional information on the discrimination issue itself, but there are
many on this list who could advise you.

Dick


On May 20, 2017 2:19 PM, "Justin Salisbury via rehab" <rehab at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Aloha everyone,
>
> I want to ask a few questions about racial/place of origin 
> discrimination in the VR application process by giving a scenario.
>
> A blind applicant for VR services sat down with a VR counselor to do 
> an intake meeting, where the VR counselor acted as the scribe for the 
> application form. After the intake meeting, the applicant was denied 
> VR services, and the simple decision form said that the person had no 
> impediment to employment. When the applicant and counselor met again 
> to discuss the decision, the counselor, flustered, said that people 
> from the applicant's ethnic background always feel like they are 
> entitled, when they are not. She added that blind people, more 
> broadly, always think they are entitled to receive VR services, which 
> they are not. After meeting with local legislators and the 
> super-agency administrator, the applicant was able to be found 
> eligible due to his SSI recipient status, which was recorded 
> incorrectly by the counselor/scribe on the form. Since the applicant 
> learned that parts of the intake form were filled out incorrectly, he
requested a copy of the intake form in order to check it.
> One of the errors is that the racial identity section was not filled 
> out at all. This applicant may or may not have been properly qualified 
> to receive VR services, but there appears to have been discrimination. 
> What can this applicant do to overcome the discrimination? The 
> applicant has complained and, after determination of eligibility, been 
> transferred to another counselor, but progress has not occurred. The 
> agency director, counseling supervisor, and all counselors that the 
> applicant has met are all members of the local ethnic majority 
> (Japanese) and are recalcitrant at best. Even if the applicant can get 
> what they need in this one scenario, which is far from true at this 
> point, it might be a good idea to file formal discrimination 
> complaints so that it is on record if any further retaliation or 
> instances of discrimination are viewed as a continuation instead of a new
incident.
>
> What do you think? What can or should this applicant do?
>
> Mahalo and aloha,
>
> Justin
>
> Justin M. Salisbury, MA, NOMC, NCRTB, NCUEB Legislative Committee 
> Chair Honolulu Chapter National Federation of the Blind of Hawaii
> Email: President at Alumni.ECU.edu<mailto:President at Alumni.ECU.edu>
> LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury
>
> "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
>
> William Butler Yeats
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> rehab mailing list
> rehab at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/rehab_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> rehab:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/rehab_nfbnet.org/ddavis%40blindinc.o
> rg
>
_______________________________________________
rehab mailing list
rehab at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/rehab_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for rehab:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/rehab_nfbnet.org/brianrmiller88%40gmail.co
m