By Richard Strong, Director, 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 October 27, 2012.)

Thank you Ms. President. 

Once again, I want you to know how much I appreciate the opportunity to speak with the membership of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota, the largest organization of blind people in the state.

As I’ve noted in past meetings, your work — the help, input, suggestions, ideas and feedback you give State Services for the Blind (SSB) — is welcomed, recognized, appreciated, listened to and critical to the success of your State Services for the Blind and ultimately, to the increased independence of blind Minnesotans.

Your membership impacts the services SSB provides and the results customers achieve.

You are helping make a Better SSB for a Better Minnesota and a Better America.

I want particularly to thank those who serve on the State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind and its committees:

• Jan Bailey serving as Council Chair;
• Tom Scanlan, Ken Trebelhorn, and Kathy Hagen as full members and active committee members;
• Jennifer Dunnam, Joyce Scanlan, Steve Jacobson, Pat Barrett, Sharon Monthei, Amy Baron, Harry Kruger, Bob Raisbeck, and Judy Sanders.

 

I particularly appreciate the specific and detailed feedback provided SSB in the area of Access Technology Trainer Certification, and how we can improve those services.

Clearly, the Federation, individually and collectively, is at the table and helping to change what it means to be blind in Minnesota.

There are several major areas of SSB efforts and results I want to share with you: 

• Staffing changes at SSB and the State and faces you will be seeing in the near future;
• Preliminary outcomes for the year just ended on 9/30;
• Efforts underway and planned for improving services AND results;
• The fiscal status and fiscal future of SSB as best I can;
• And most importantly, my semiannual quote from a New Yorker — my home state.  

Staff update:

ASU — Stephen Larson will be assuming the SSB Counselor position here in Duluth effective November 7.  During his time in the administrative services unit, he has carried out numerous improvement efforts and projects and I can safely say we are much better off because of the work he has done.  More importantly, we all look forward to Stephen providing exemplary services to blind people in northern Minnesota.  They — and we — are fortunate to have such an outstanding professional returning to direct service to our citizens. 

The paperwork to fill Stephen’s current position is already underway.

Deb Fjetland has joined the Workforce Development Unit Team in Duluth earlier this month.  She’s come over from the dark side of the other VR agency in Minnesota.  We’ll have a very strong team up here to provide outstanding service in Northern Minnesota. 

Senior Services — And another person who has seen the light and joined SSB from the general agency is Lee Ann Bussee working with Seniors out of Marshall.

A&AT and WDU [Assistive & Adaptive Technology and WorkForce Development Unit] — Earlier this month we shifted the A&AT direct service staff to WDU, freeing David Andrews up to focus on system-level initiatives critical to Vocational success of blind Minnesotans.  They include:

• Active leadership roles in a variety of statewide access initiatives we have supported with VR ARRA funds over the last few years;
• Testing metrics for venders;
• Equipment sharing;
• Tech advisory committee at the state and  department levels;
• IAAIS committee;
• STAR Advisory Council;
• AT Community of Practice with Department of Education;
• IT Symposium;
• Deaf/Blind equipment lending advisory committee; and continue as 
• Chief Technology Officer at SSB continuing to increasing access statewide.

Finally, last week, Mark Phillips resigned as Commissioner of DEED and Governor Dayton appointed Katie Clark to that position.  I’ve worked with her to a limited extent over the last two years when she served as Director of DEED’s Trade Office.  She recognizes the importance of the direct and related services needed to facilitate vocational and personal independence by persons who are blind, DeafBlind and visually impaired.  She has general knowledge of the efforts we’ve undertaken and have underway to improve our services and outcomes. 

Just this week I touched base with her on the efforts SSB and others are working on to have the state be a model employer for persons with disabilities and the work we continue to do on access to state systems.  I’ll be meeting with her in the very near future to brief her on major initiatives, issues and opportunities at SSB.  I’m certain she will welcome the opportunity, as did Commissioner Phillips, to meet with and consider seriously input from the National Federation of the Blind.  

It was noted recently by a fairly cynical person out of New York that over the last dozen years or so we’ve lost Johnny Cash, Steve Jobs and Bob Hope — we have no cash, we have no jobs and we have no hope.

That’s not the case at SSB.  Because of the work you’ve all done over the years, and continue to do, we and many of our customers have jobs — jobs that really and truly make a difference in the lives of the people we serve.  We — and I mean SSB — have cash; I’ll talk about that shortly.  And I firmly believe we have hope for the future.

First the jobs.

  

Preliminary results thus far show there are JOBS.  WDU had 87 successful outcomes for FFY 2012; for the fourth consecutive year, an increase in competitive employment in integrated settings.  Over those four years, more than 325 Minnesotans have an answer to the often-asked question “what do you do?” 

The reason they have an answer is due primarily and most importantly to the guile, grit and hard work of the customer.  

Also important is the work done by SSB and the organizations we work with, be it in:

• The Communication Center, so:
  • a child has the braille needed to learn to read and write and access information;
  • a college student has accessible materials in a timely manner;
  • and the RTB providing a wide range of needed and desired broadcasts 24/7/365.
• Senior Services, whose staff may encourage customers — the chronologically gifted as some are — to return to the workforce.
• Workforce and Assistive Technology staff who work most closely with people seeking employment; and
• What we call Community Rehabilitation Programs (CRPs) such as BLIND, Inc.

From time to time, I hear of concerns customers have about our services.  However, more and more I get to hear a lot about the positive impact and the difference our services make in the lives of the people we touch.  A tribute to the work of the customer and to the job done by all of us here in Minnesota: SSB, the CRPs, and, ultimately, the blind persons we serve and their hard, hard, march towards independence.

That’s jobs — now on to hope.

There is HOPE.  While WDU touched hundreds in the last several years, Senior Services touched over 10,000 people in the same period.  Preliminary data indicates 2,956 persons served during the last year — past indication that over 90 % of those served have increased control and confidence in their personal lives.  We are concerned about the impending AGE WAVE and are exploring options to improve our services over the next several years.  More about that project later.

We have CASH.  At the Federal level, Congress passed a continuing resolution   late last month funding the federal government through March of 2013.  That provides for level funding for our VR and IL programs into FFY ‘13.

On a parallel federal track is the entire issue of sequestering — the Budget Control Act of 2011 — has enforcement mechanisms if the $2.1 trillion budget reduction target for 2012-2021 period is not met.  If not enacted by January 2, 2013, then mandatory reductions split equally between the Defense Department and domestic programs, go into play.  Estimates for reductions in education programs range upwards of 8-10%.  We are looking at various scenarios to handle any reduction in federal funding at SSB.

Right now, and realize it is a shifting situation, it appears because of a number of factors including prudent spending in the past and the ability to carry over federal dollars from one year to the next, that for at least FFY 2013 we will be able to manage any of the talked about reductions in federal funding from sequestering.

Very unclear what will happen at the end of the year with certain tax provisions due to expire and how they will be handled by the lame duck congress and the new congress after November‘s election.

At the state level, agencies have been instructed to submit budget proposals with a 5% reduction; not across the board, rather prudent reductions based on value of the programs that are efficient and have measurable outcomes.  Further information is embargoed until the Governor releases his budget in late January, 2013.

There continues to be full staffing at SSB and we are well positioned to fill any vacancies that may arise from any retirements that may come up in the near and mid-term.   

That’s what I know about cash.  I’m optimistic for SSB in this process because of work over the last several years to make us more viable and stronger.

Here are just a few of the efforts done to make us stronger and more viable and suggests HOPE.

Rules:  Workforce Development, SSU and very shortly now BEP will have updated decades-old administrative rules, all with community involvement and without controversy.

Kaisen/Continuous improvement:  WDU, SSU and Assistive and Adaptive Technology was one of five continuous improvement projects from throughout state government recognized by the Governor for their Kaisen-continuous improvement — projects that achieved huge efficiencies in assessing customers for Access Technology.  They’ll continue their improvement efforts with another Kaisen/Continuous Improvement effort later this month.

MBTBL and Audio:  Events took place in late August to reduce processing time and complexity between Faribault and Saint Paul in a way that’s seamless to the customer:

• Decreasing processing time and effort by over 7,000 person-hours; hours to be redirected to serving more customers in a better manner;
• Working to install common phone system; and
• Integrated data base eliminating duplicate entry and e-mails and wait time and

You get the picture.

Conversion of the RTB from analog to digital is nearly complete with Mankato and Rochester areas completed this fall.  Only Grand Marais remains to be converted.

The Braille Section now has an on-line ordering system for teachers ordering braille that has decreased confusion and increased efficiencies in the requesting process.  It’s because of their efforts, providing hundreds of thousands of pages of braille a year, that kids have the materials needed to compete.

 

Computer lending:  Six fully accessible computers are now available for homework and practice by students in full-time Adjustment–to-Blindness training at community rehabilitation programs. 

I look to the day when blind kids come out of school with the skills and positive attitudes needed to move seamlessly to post-secondary worlds and, in what was ALMOST the case with my two kids, return home only for a visit and not to live for any length of time.  

And the little girl receiving braille from us who invested her tooth fairy money with SSB won’t need Center-based services to move forward with her education, career and life.  But if she does need those services, we’ll work to ensure she gets quality services including the expectation to practice using technology.

SSU Redesign: We’ve secured outside funding for a redesign effort in SSU and have met several times on a preliminary basis with U of M personnel from The Public and Non-profit Leadership Center at the Humphrey Institute to see how we can double the number of senior customers served over the next several years with the same or fewer resources. 

Advanced strategies:  Review of options for an information system for our field services, including the case-management system, continues to take place with SSB and VRS as the viability of our current system (WF1) is threatened.

We completed Master Contracts with over 50 vendors, using a newly developed Fee Setting protocol.  These contracts will run for five years.  And we’re getting set to ensure we have proper monitoring in place for those contracts.

Finally, as one of several aspects of succession planning at SSB we have three of our staff embarking on intensive development activities:

• Angela Christle of Rochester and Chad Bowe in Metro were selected for the prestigious State of Minnesota Emerging Leadership Institute.  They are the fifth and sixth SSBers in this elite program in recent years.
• Jon Benson has applied for and been accepted for the upcoming National Rehabilitation Leadership Institute Executive Leadership Seminar Cohort conducted by San Diego State University and George Washington University.  It has an outstanding faculty and brings together emerging rehabilitationists from throughout the nation.

I could go on and on.  Suffice it to say that when the question comes up, be it from inside DEED or from interested others, “what is SSB doing to make things better?” there’s plenty to say.  YOU, each of you in what you do and how you do it, have helped and continue to help make a better SSB for a better Minnesota.

Thank you all.