[NFBF-L] FW: [fcb-l] Updae on Conklin center

[Marilyn Baldwin]

Thank you Pat for this update. Praying for the students and the Conklin Center program. It seems like our Affiliate should have some statement from the Board of Directors on this matter. We should show the public that we are concerned about blind people with multiple disabilities in our state. There must be something that we can do to help these people  our friends, to remain as independent as possible. This is an opportunity for us to stand up for the needs of our fellow blind brothers and sisters in Florida 

Marilyn Baldwin 
President 
Central Florida Chapter 
NFBF 

Marilyn Baldwin 

Sent from my iPad

> On Mar 7, 2020, at 11:41 AM, PLipovsky via NFBF-L <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Although not completely out of the woods yet, Some good news
> 
> 
> 
> Daytona News-Journal <http://daytonanewsjournal.fl.newsmemory.com/>  | Page
> A01
> <http://daytonanewsjournal.fl.newsmemory.com/?selDate=20200307&editionStart=
> News+Journal&goTo=A01>  Saturday, 7 March 2020
> 
> <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4bfbf95e715dcaab>
> 
> Center for blind gets lifeline
> 
> Conklin board finds funding to continue services temporarily
> 
> By Mark Harper
> 
> mark.harper at news-jrnl.com <mailto:mark.harper at news-jrnl.com>
> 
> DAYTONA BEACH - The Conklin Center for the Blind, which had announced it
> would close its doors for good on Friday following a series of scathing
> allegations by state officials, will instead remain open.
> 
> At least for the time being.
> 
> Nancy Epps, a Conklin Center board member, said a portion of the 41-year-old
> nonprofit's clients will continue to receive services for at least another
> week or two. In fulfilling its unique mission to work with people with
> blindness and at least one other disability, Conklin provided training to
> residential clients and then, upon graduation, offered continued coaching to
> individuals living independently in the Daytona Beach area.
> 
> The residential clients have all been moved; either back home or to the
> Division of Blind Services across White Street from Conklin's facility. The
> division had been the source of funding for the Conklin Center, but cut
> funding after determining the center had breached See CONKLIN, A3
> 
> From Page A1
> 
> its contract in ways “that present potential to endanger the health, safety
> and welfare of the clients.”
> 
> But a state payment for services rendered in January and February was enough
> to avoid closing on Friday, Epps said.
> 
> “We have found funding to continue the services to our clients in the
> community for a short time until we can get the longer term plan in place,”
> Epps wrote in a text message.
> 
> The closure was to have cut off services to more than 50 clients and left
> some 40 employees jobless. Seven members of the Conklin staff have agreed to
> stay, working to continue coaching the graduates in the short term.
> 
> “This is excellent news,” Epps said.
> 
> Graduates of the Conklin Center had been given a promise: Lifetime coaching.
> That weighed on board members and staff as the closure loomed.
> 
> “We had a moral obligation,” Epps said. “Staff were so dedicated they
> were volunteering to do it on their own.”
> 
> But that creates liability concerns the Conklin board would rather not
> assume.
> 
> Epps said the board has dwindled in size, and funding will remain a
> week-to-week challenge.
> 
> CEO Kelly Harris, who was terminated Wednesday, has not been replaced and a
> board chair has not been named. Epps said the board and staff were
> collaborating as a team.
> 
> The Conklin Center building sits on state land with a long-term, lowcost
> lease. The building is owned by the Florida Lions Club, which was
> instrumental in opening the center in 1979.
> 
> The Division of Blind Services oversaw a contract covering the residential
> training of Florida residents on campus. That funding provided $1.6 million
> last year, and more in previous years, but was cut off from the Conklin
> Center following a series of evaluations that determined, among other
> issues:
> 
> ● Failure to notify the state of a basement that had flooded and presented
> “health and safety concerns” related to mold;
> 
> ● Discrepancies and conflicting documentation in clients' medical records;
> 
> ● Altering client records in the Division of Blind Services database;
> 
> ● Failing to keep the required number of residential clients, 14. Conklin
> had just nine residents at the time of state monitoring;
> 
> ● Operating without required credentialed professionals, including a
> certified vision rehabilitation therapist and an orientation and mobility
> specialist.
> 
> Prior to her dismissal, Harris and her staff produced a 30-page response to
> the Division of Blind Services, refuting many of the allegations. She
> “absolutely, emphatically” denied clients' health and safety were ever at
> risk.
> 
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