By Jon Benson, Director, Administrative Services Unit, Minnesota State Services for the Blind

(Editor’s Note: This presentation was given at the Annual Convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota on November 6, 2010.)

Good afternoon!

Thank you for this opportunity to update you on developments at State Services for the Blind (SSB).

I am Jon Benson and I am the Director of Administrative Services. I have been with SSB since 1993, starting as a Rehabilitation Counselor before becoming a supervisor in the WorkForce Development Unit, where I served for 9 years before taking my current post.

Since your convention in May, there have been a few changes at SSB.

Before I start talking about all that is happening at SSB, I would like to say a sincere thank you to the NFB of Minnesota for all of your support. Thanks especially to Judy Sanders, Jan Bailey, Joyce Scanlan, Kathy Hagen, Tom Scanlan, Steve Jacobson, Jennifer Dunnam, and anyone else I may have missed for their committee and Council work on behalf of SSB.

Also, I would like to recognize Andy Virden for his service on the Communication Center Committee of the Council and for his many years of work helping to ensure the Radio Talking Book is up and running and available to listeners in Central Minnesota.

We as a state are facing upwards of a $6 billion shortfall for the coming biennium. SSB, like many state agencies, is in a difficult fiscal situation and it is likely we will be taking on our share of the shortfall.

As we look to the future, we are somewhat secure knowing we have taken steps necessary to operate within our current funding without a noticeable impact on services to blind Minnesotans.

Let me give you some highlights from this past year for each SSB work unit:

WorkForce Development Unit (WDU)

Pam Brown, who many of you know is the Director of the WDU, will be retiring in March. Efforts are underway for a smooth transition. It is our intent to have a candidate selected for this position prior to her departure.

Funding from The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) has greatly benefited the WDU. One specific benefit was to add a number of staff positions focused exclusively on job placement. A new placement team was developed and a number of activities put in motion to assist our customers.

For example, the team has developed an approach that includes a focus on internships and career-specific experiences. Also, several of the new hires come directly from private industry. This does two things for us:

One, it helps us approach employers with a greater perspective on the way industry professionals communicate. This includes resume preparation and letter writing; and

Two, it gives our customers the opportunity to do mock interviews with business- savvy professionals.

We are already starting to see positive results from this approach. Figures for last year indicate 80 successful placements, which is 111% of our goal. We also had 1,023 applicants during the year, with an average of 513 active clients per month.

An effort that began last year to increase outreach to transition-age youth via SSB 101 is still underway. Several more SSB 101 events are being planned and will be held in different locations around the state.

There is a new effort underway to assess the methods by which we can successfully reach out to minority populations. This assessment will shape our plans to communicate the benefits of our services to various minority populations.

Assistive and Adaptive Technology Unit

Rich Gieschen, a long-time SSB employee has retired. Rich was a very well-respected member of the community and he will be missed.

Our techs have had a record year providing services to students. The technology needs of students are becoming more complex with, for example, the increased use of computers, the Internet, and DAISY digital books. We are aware that during this recession there is an increase in general of people who are unemployed returning to school. We believe this is the same for the WDU customer base, resulting in increased business from our student customers this year. Our technicians worked hard and were able to meet the needs of our many students.

September 1 was a great day for all Minnesotans! On that date the state launched its implementation of electronic accessibility standards. These standards stipulate that Minnesota will now officially comply with Section 508, Website Content Accessibility Guidelines of the Federal Rehabilitation Act. These guidelines insure that all Minnesota agencies and those that “do business” with the State will be accessible!

Audio Services

We are working to finish the process of determining whether we can feasibly provide text-to-speech services. Several considerations still need to be worked out.

Efforts are under way to increase outreach to the K-12 population regarding our ability to provide audio materials for students with learning disabilities.

Radio Talking Book (RTB)

Deployment of the new digital radio receivers continues. So far they have been distributed in Warroad, Thief River Falls, Saint Cloud, Moorhead and Bemidji. The hope is to have the rest of the markets up and running within the next year.

Braille

The Braille Unit is fully staffed and as busy as always with its very important work.

Senior Services Unit (SSU)

The Senior Services Unit continues to see its customer numbers increase. Last year over 3,500 seniors were served. The trend has been in this direction for a number of years and is likely to continue due to the ongoing growth of the senior population as a whole.

ARRA funds in the SSU allowed us to hire two new counselors this year prior to two retirements — one in Moorhead and one in Marshall. In both cases the long-time counselors have retired and those positions are now held by the AARA new hires. We do not know at this point whether we are able to maintain these positions, as is, once the ARRA funds expire.

Each of our units does important work and we are fully aware that our work will be harder to do with fewer resources. Our total cut of State funding this year is $209,000. Minnesota is facing a shortfall of 5-6 billion dollars, which will likely mean we will again be asked to do the same with less next year.

We are up to the challenge. The State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind is fully appointed. We look forward to working with experienced and new Council members who will bring their ideas to the table. In addition, SSB has some new and younger staff that will bring new energy and new commitment to our work. The Communication Center is looking for ways to deliver our products more efficiently with the same quality our customers have come to expect.

Also, our Development Director is having good success in developing a donor base and building our capacity to make up for some of our shortfalls in state dollars.

As always, we welcome the input we receive from the NFB of Minnesota. With your partnership and advocacy I believe we will continue to find ways to provide and improve SSB services.

Thank you and have a great convention!