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Hi Cheryl, I found your job and information really interesting. As I was not aware of the assistance available to blind job seekers. Unfortunately, I have never really delved into state assistance for the blind.

I wish to attempt to respond to your question on "state...services..to just starting out verses ...switching jobs". I feel any and all guidance is important and would be helpful,at any stage of job seeking. I personally feel some state/federal assistance would be crucial depending upon the situation,job,age,ability to function levels,etc. The financial and emotional benefits of a successful job match between employee and employer would likely decrease expenses overall. Thus making the final outcome of state assistance economically beneficial.

Cheryl

Here in Washington State I am somewhat aware of what the State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation operates. I am not so sure how the State Department of Services for the Blind operates. DVR closes cases once a person has been employed in what is considered competitive employment for 6 months. I do not know if a person can get back into the caseload if they want to upgrade their skills. Some people who need a job coach may be receiving services for a longer period of time. There is almost no waiting list now in Washington State for DVR, so people who become unemployed are probably able to get back on the caseload and could possibly get training that would update their skills.

This week I am attending a workshop with some people familiar with the state Department of Services for the Blind and DVR. I will see if I can get some more specific information on upgrading skills for people already employed.

Within our Work Source system, people, disabled or not, may be eligible for worker retraining or dislocated worker assistance in order to get additional training. Generally to do that, one has to demonstrate they are getting training for a job that is in demand. Also there are other criteria which must be met.

Hi Freda, I am here in Washington State, Tacoma area, and have been working with DSB and I was told years ago that DVR and DSB are the same "provider" agencie, only DSB is federal and has a fewer caseload, thus, more funding is available to help its clientel more effectively. Now, true? Have no idea. I was also told by one DSB counselor that I can't utilize DSB & DVR, something about "double dipping", but then I was told that isn't true. So, the same old question remains... where can we ever trully know the "whole truth"? :)

So, off of that subject... Since you are essentially local for me, and aware of the stiff competition here in Washington and the amount of people with B.A.'s as well as quite a number of Masters degrees, I am feeling that my UW Interdisciplianry of Arts and Sciences B.A is not effective at all. I graduated last June, and I am still struggling to find that "great" job that will allow me to be monetarily independant. Comments would be great.

I understand that people need help in finding work. Right now I am in no mans land. I am legally blind in only one eye. My other eye has vision of 20/60 with a cataract lens. Right now I don't know if the state can help me at all. I may not qualify because I am not handicapped enough which is a very strange experience.

Most of my work life I have competed with sighted people. Now it is getting harder as I get older. I feel right now I have to step outside the box to do something different, where my skills will be appreciated. Right now I am looking at doing some volunteer work and also looking into non- profits.

What I would appreciate is that agency's look outside the box. It would seem that you have to fall into someones box to be helped. When people get the help that they need then they can work and be productive. Then maybe they will not have to get government help. Another thing that comes up is asking for accommodations, now it is harder.

To clarify my prior post. Washington Department of Services for the Blind is a Distinct State agency. The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation is part of the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, a very large state agency. As I understand it, with both agencies, once a person is considered "rehabilitated" they are not eligible for additional services just to improve a job. However, if they are not able to perform the job duties any longer, or the assistive technology is not available, or perhaps the job is no longer a viable profession, they may be eligible for new services. Also, one can receive assistance from the WorkSource system if they are a dislocated worker.

Some, or even most of the funding is pass through funding from Federal probrams.

Most states have Disability Program Navigators at their One Stop Employment offices. The Navigators are there to help connect job seekers with information they need. They do this most effectively by being a resource to the staff at the One Stop centers. Disability Navigators can act as facilitators of cross agency teams which help a job seeker with a disability to develop and execute a plan for employment.

Cheryl, I am still working to find a situation for myself where I can use my skills and talents to best advantage. I was there for a number of years, but am in a transition stage at this time.

I think a well placed internship or volunteer assignment can be very instrumental in helping to build credentials.

I would agree with Lori's comments that asking for and getting accommodations is a very difficult, and frequently fruitless exercise.

One thing that is coming through is that state agencies are structured differently and perhaps as a result services are provided differently. By this I mean that within Massachusetts, I think that although your case is closed after you are successfully employed, you can request that your case is reopened at any time. Yet, I know people who have worked for several years that are now job hunting who are reluctant to reopen their case. The reason being that they don’t feel that the agency can assist in anyway. Perhaps the thing to do is to try to use the unemployment services which are available to the general public. Maybe by doing this over time the needs of blind and visually impaired job seekers will be recognized and incorporated into the services of the general unemployment assistance agencies. With a disability Navigator available, we should be able to more easily access assistance from the general unemployment agency. We can then pursue Temp work, Internships and Volunteer opportunities as we seek to increase our professional development.

One thing of which I have first hand knowledge is not having adequate training and/or support. As a professional who lost vision after 25 years of work experiance. In most instances, I found the levels in which could be provided not fit the model to rehabilatate me.

Although I had to be trained non visual ways in which to do things, I already had many business mannerisms, skills, , and concepts that I needed for the working world.

At times, this created problems as I needed more specific skills then were provided. I offerred feedback and help to develop such and it is in my background but it was not welcomed.

Almost two years, I am still working to regain a proficient level of skills using non visual techniques to return to competitive work.Michelle

I am really glad that some of you have gotten the help that they need. What I would like to know, where do you go to get help when you are challenged, but not challenged enough. I am a circle, not a square?

Now that I am older My challenges are holding me back? Or I have to find a new way to overcome them. Cheryl contact me off line.

Lori

Hi Cheryl. I think I remember you from the Cooking in the Dark show on ACB Radio.

I think it's wonderful that you were able to change the direction of the agency for the blind in Massachusetts just by talking with the director of technology. Someone told me a long time ago that Illinois used to have a separate Commission for the Blind but that it was consolidated with the rest of the Department of Human Services. I wonder if we would've been better off keeping the agencies separate. I think at least in some cases there is definitely a disconnect between what the consumer wants/needs, and what the agency can/will provide. It seems that those of us VR consumers who don't happen to live within strict boundaries don't receive adequate services. What I think has also been happening is that our VR agency is run by people who (1) are total bureaucrats, and (2) who don't have a clue as to our needs. There were a few exceptions, but those counselors have all gone onto bigger and better things. Let me share with you a little of my experience. In about 1997 I enrolled in a vocational evaluation program at the Chicago Lighthouse. They tested me on various things, such as math skills and reading comprehension. They also had an assembly machine with puzzle-like pieces that one fit together within a limited amount of time. I have a slight coordination difficulty and a learning disability, which were worse back then than they are now. At the end of the evaluation I received virtually no direction in which I was to go. This was also true of a so-called job placement specialist who worked with me at the Lighthouse when I was placed in Office Skills training. I functioned at a higher level than most if not all other program participants at the time, and I really didn't feel like I accomplished what my parents and I had in mind prior to my enrollment. Several years later and with a different VR counselor, I attended a mock interview clinic. While the other participants received extensive feedback about their performance, I never did. The only things I was ever told were that my resumes "looked good," and that I seemed to be in a positive frame of mind. What I was not told was why my resumes looked good. What parts of them were good and what parts were not good? In summary we here in Illinois are headed down the wrong path, with absolutely no improvement in sight. It really doesn't look like anyone cares about how DHS is run. The Illinois Council of the Blind and the NFB of Illinois have clearly shown animosity toward each other for the most part. I sort of wish I never even knew about VR, but the past can't be undone.

There is definitely a wide gap between the ways in which Vocational Rehabilitation agencies and their contractors provide employment related services and the needs of their blind and visually impaired clients. In many cases, the focus seems to remain with a small number of employers in an even narrower set of job categories. While employers often need qualified candidates yesterday, most of our agencies still want to require a month or longer to put together all the technology and other accomodations the blind person needs in order to work. Jobs are usually lost for the clients in the meantime. The following items represent areas where our existing system of Vocational Rehabilitation and related agencies and organizations could focus in order to narrow the gap between their current fantasy world and the reality of the business world:

1. Focus on hiring staff with more business focused experience rather than strictly rehabilitation fields. 2. Encourage clients to utilize other mainstream assistance, including One Stop Employment offices. 3. Arrange technology and other job accomodations within no longer than one to two weeks, maximum! 4. Get assistive technology into the client's hands and encourage the client to find jobs all on their own. 5. If sufficiently skilled, encourage the client to make their own job accomodations as much as practical. 6. Ensure the relationship is clearly between the agency and the client with confidentiality and ethics intact! 7. Implement service and technology voucher programs so that the client has the ultimate choice!

While their stated goals are supposed to be helping us make ourselves employable, it is still quite sadly the case that the Vocational Rehabilitation system and their contracted companies and nonprofit organizations treat us like children who don't know our own desires and needs. Furthermore, many of these contracted organizations are taking the money from the government agencies, then placing the focus on the continued existence of their organization rather than on the needs of the clients they directly serve. In order to garner the greatest amount of direct success, these organizations ought to be focusing on their clients and the blind community in which they live, rather than on the desires of large assistive technology companies, government bureaucrats and others whose motives can be questionable from time to time.

Hello Darrell, I think the changes you suggest would greatly improve a blind person's ability to find a job. How do you believe, as consumers we can work with the agencies to change their processes?