[blindkid] Elimination of BESB in CT

Wed Mar 2 13:03:31 UTC 2011

Is there someone there who can organize the 
parents?  We are in the middle of it here in NJ 
and are in high gear for mobilization.  I would be happy to share strategies.
Carol

Carol Castellano
Director of Programs
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nopbc.org

At 04:05 AM 3/2/2011, you wrote:
>For anyone who's blind in Connecticut, this may 
>mean no more services for our kids. Concerned 
>mom of an 18 year old in high school 
>Â  Â  Information for anyone interested in 
>services for children with VI or Blindness 
>Â  Appropriates House Bill #6380 Elimination of 
>BESB Move Children Services to the State 
>Department of Education Move the remainder of 
>BESB services to the Department of Social 
>Services Public Hearing Testimony begins March 
>4th at 5:00 PM in room 2C at the Legislative 
>Office Building Â  Â  Appropriations Committee: 
>SENATORS HARP, (Chair), 10th District;Â PRAGUE, 
>(Vice Chair) 19th; DUFF, 25th; GOMES, 23rd; 
>HARTLEY, 15th; MAYNARD, 18th. SENATORS KANE 
>(Ranking Member), 32nd District; MARKLEY, 16th; 
>WELCH, 31st. REPRESENTATIVES WALKER, (Chair), 
>93rd District; ABERCROMBIE, (Vice Chair), 83rd; 
>MILLER, (Vice Chair), 145th;Â GENGA, (Vice 
>Chair), 10th;Â CANDELARIA, 95th; CLEMONS, 124th; 
>DILLON, 92nd; FAWCETT, 133rd; FLEISCHMANN, 18th; 
>GONZALEZ, 3rd; HADDAD, 54th; HAMM, 34th; HEWETT, 
>39th; HOLDER-WINFIELD, 94th;Â HURLBURT, 53rd;Â 
>KIRKLEY-BEY, 5th;McCRORY, 7th;Â NAFIS, 27th; 
>ORANGE, 48th; REYNOLDS, 42nd; RITTER, 38th;Â 
>ROLDAN, 4th; RYAN, 139th; SAYERS, 60th; 
>SCHOFIELD, 16th;Â TERCYAK, 26th; THOMPSON, 13th; 
>URBAN, 43rd;Â VILLANO, 91st; WILLIS, 64th. 
>REPRESENTATIVES MINER, (Ranking Member), 66th 
>District, BETTS, 78th;Â CARPINO, 32nd;GIULIANO, 
>23rd; HWANG, 134th;Â KLARIDES, 114th;Â LAVIELLE, 
>143rd; Oâ€™NEILL, 69th;PERILLO, 113th; RIGBY, 
>63rd; SAMPSON, 80th; SAWYER, 55th,Â SIMANSKI, 
>62nd; WADSWORTH, 21st; WOOD, 141st. Senior 
>Committee Administrator:Â  Susan A. Keane Room 
>2700, LOB 860-240-0390 Â  See www.cga.ct.govfor 
>information on the bill, committee members and 
>hearings Â  Future legislative bills: 
>Â  Implementation bill # H1102 Human Services 
>Committee Details not yet available Â  Â  Here 
>are some implications of the proposed bill. If 
>you are so inclined, contact members of the 
>Appropriations committee or your own Senator or 
>Representative.Â  You may wish to pick out 1 or 
>2 points that you feel are important to share 
>with them.Â  The more people that they hear 
>from, the more they will understand the 
>implications.Â  Remember, if you call, you may 
>only be given less than a minute to make your 
>point. Â  On paper, it looks like BESB will 
>simply be divided and the parts assimilated into 
>other agencies.Â  The proposed cost savings is 
>that of 4 personnel at the administrative 
>level.Â  Due to supportive federal dollars, this 
>comes to about a $288.000 savings.Â  In fact, 
>there will be no cost savings; it will cost the 
>state more.Â  Let me explain why. Â  By 
>splitting the agency into two parts, they will 
>have to divide up its resources, resulting in 
>the need to duplicate services, equipment and 
>personnel.Â  Right now the agency shares a 
>braille unit which produces braille for adults 
>and children; it shares a professional library, 
>specialized equipment and material for the 
>blind, a low vision center, and an assistive 
>technology lab.Â  In addition, special 
>assistants and braillists do work for multiple 
>divisions.Â  The cost of reproducing these 
>services is huge.Â  For example, just the cost 
>alone for a new braille embosser that is 
>currently used by the agency is $50,000.Â  This 
>is just one of multiple expenses.Â  The Low 
>vision center is filled with Closed Circuit TVs 
>and adaptive equipment.Â  One CCTV can run $3000 
>while specialized software costs around 
>$1000.Â  Braille note takers cost approximately 
>$6000.Â  To set up both locations with this 
>equipment and hire the personnel to support it 
>will cost far more than what is projected to be 
>saved. Â  In addition, by splitting the agency 
>it results in reduced programing for their 
>clients.Â  BESB is well known for its ability to 
>work together between divisions to create high 
>quality programs for clients, parents, teachers, 
>paraprofessionals and other districts 
>personnel.Â  Programs include: parent, 
>vocational, technology, student skills of daily 
>living, sports programs, weekend programs, 
>summer programs, transition programs, teacher 
>in-services, OT, PT and PE teacher in-services, 
>paraprofessional in-services, CEU trainings, 
>deafblind and multiple disability training as 
>well as others.Â  BESB housed numerous training 
>programs within their facility-with the new 
>model they will not only lose expertise for 
>these events, they will lose the training 
>facilities as well. Â  Putting the teachers 
>under SDE is a short term plan.Â  This is an 
>agency that does not provide direct services or 
>have any knowledge of the education children who 
>are blind.Â  In fact it is in conflict with what 
>they do-that of evaluating and monitoring 
>educational programs.Â  They are not prepared to 
>implement the kind of programing BESB clients 
>need.Â  It is a conflict of interest.Â  The last 
>time this was proposed, the SDE came out and 
>said they would simply give the money to towns 
>and do away with state services- a likely 
>scenario again.Â  Currently there is only a 
>temporary commissioner of the SDE; no one even 
>knows who will be running the Department.Â  The 
>implications of this are frightening to the BESB 
>families and will cost the towns much more in 
>the long run.Â  Towns are not in a position to 
>hire their own teachers for 1 or 2 students 
>which will likely result in no 
>services.Â  Although the intent might not be to 
>impact services, the result will.Â  Â  One 
>concern that arises with this consolidation is 
>simply one of space.Â  Will the SDE have storage 
>for the Braille and large print library 
>currently housing 60,000 volumes?Â  How about 
>space for volunteer braillists?Â  We also need 
>to think about the 43 current Children's 
>Services staff, the facilities for student 
>programs (use of kitchen facility for teaching 
>ADL) and the facilities for in-service training 
>for district personnel.Â  In addition, 
>consideration of storage of specialized 
>materials for loan to students as well as space 
>for the professional library must be found. 
>Â  With this consolidation, Children Services 
>would lose their purchasing function as it would 
>go to DSS putting a strain on the SDEâ€™s staff. 
>In fact, the purchasing may be eliminated and 
>become the responsibility of the towns.Â  SDE 
>will be responsible for managing a group of 
>highly trained teachers without the managerial 
>knowledge or expertise in blindness-they have 
>little or no knowledge or understanding of the 
>Expanded Core Curriculum for the blind mandated 
>by IDEA.Â  Also lost will be the consolidated 
>client data.Â  There will also be a cost of 
>integrating Children Services database with SDE. 
>Â  BESB is a centralized center where 
>constituents can receive all services from birth 
>to death.Â  With such a low incidence 
>population, this is the most cost effective 
>model.Â  Asking towns to take this over when 
>they might have but one student this year and 4 
>the next is unmanageable and cost 
>ineffective.Â  Being a low-incidence disability, 
>blindness cannot be administered in the same way 
>that other disabilities are.Â  The costs to 
>educate a child with blindness are huge.Â  The 
>needs of BESBâ€™s clients are unique and by 
>having centralized services they are able to 
>provide for them in a cost effective/service 
>delivery model that works.Â  There is no cost 
>savings or program improvement resulting from 
>the proposed changes. Â  A constituent who has a 
>family member who is losing vision, a parent who 
>has a baby born blind, a school district with a 
>student who qualifies as VI or an individual who 
>has a visual problem can simply pick up the 
>phone and make one call to talk to many service 
>delivery persons.Â  Once divided and 
>incorporated into a larger agency the process 
>will become cumbersome.Â  Reaching the head of 
>the agency will no longer be a simple task, 
>layers of bureaucracy will stand in the way, and 
>once located, that person will know little about 
>the needs of a person with blindness. 
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