2016 Resolutions

National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma 2016 Resolutions

The following resolutions were passed by the membership of the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma at State Convention held in Tulsa, Oklahoma from March 31 to April 3, 2016.

Resolution 2016-01

Accessibility of Oklahoma Works Web Site

WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma is the largest and most diverse advocacy organization of the blind in the State of Oklahoma, and

WHEREAS, The Federation recognizes the absolute necessity of full and equal employment opportunities for the blind to lead normal and productive lives alongside their sighted peers in society, and

WHEREAS, One of the key resources for employment search and career development for Oklahomans is the state-run web site known as Oklahoma Works, and

WHEREAS, Governor Mary Fallin has a longstanding and well-publicized position of supporting inclusion of disabled persons as equal citizens in the State of Oklahoma, and

WHEREAS, the “Oklahoma Works” web site is not fully accessible to blind persons, which leaves them at a substantial disadvantage in terms of job seeking and career advancement;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma, in Convention assembled in the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, this Third of April, 2016, that we call upon the Governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin, to do all in her power to bring about swift and appropriate correction to the “Oklahoma Works” web site, bringing it in compliance with state and Federal law, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma calls upon the Governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin, to proactively consult with the National Federation of the Blind for technical assistance with bringing the “Oklahoma Works” web site into compliance.

Resolution 2016-02

Understaffing of critical positions within the Division of Visual Services

WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma has fought for more than thirty years to bring about full integration and inclusion of the blind of Oklahoma into the mainstream of civic, political and economic life in our state, and

WHEREAS, full, competitive and equal employment opportunities for the blind hinge not only upon an aware, open, understanding and receptive public, including employers, but also upon appropriate and thorough rehabilitation services and support, especially but not limited to skills of blindness training, key among which are those of Braille communications, white cane and other Orientation and Mobility skills, Adaptive Technology for information accessibility, and career development and job placement guidance and support, and

WHEREAS, the Division of Visual Services (VS) is the chief resource in the State of Oklahoma for providing such rehabilitation services and on which the blind of our state heavily rely in order to become independent self-supporting citizens, and

WHEREAS, the Department of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) is the parent or umbrella department under which VS operates, and

WHEREAS, decision making for filling critical staff openings within VS is determined at the executive level within DRS, and

WHEREAS, several critical and/or direct service staff positions within VS are being left open or otherwise unavailable for filling, including Project Coordinator for the Division Administrator, the Business Enterprise Program Manager, an Adaptive Technology Specialist for the Tulsa Technology Lab, a VR Counselor for the Tulsa office, and a Job Placement Specialist for VS, and

WHEREAS, these negative decisions by DRS will have a detrimental impact on service delivery to their blind VS consumers, impeding their ability to gain competitive employment and achieve self-sustainability, and

WHEREAS, these negative staffing decisions made by DRS have the appearance of being arbitrary, insensitive and unfair, in light of more appropriate plans and options which exist, and

WHEREAS, DRS has historically provided VS with only one Placement Specialist position for all the blind consumers it serves across the whole State of Oklahoma, and which position of Placement Specialist is clearly and obviously critical to the mission of putting blind people to work and helping them to advance their careers, and which position of Placement Specialist is currently vacant, and which position DRS is refusing to fill, and

WHEREAS, despite the fact that DRS just approved the creation and construction for the Technology Lab in Tulsa, one such plan rejected by DRS was to move a VS Counselor slot from the Muskogee office to the Technology Lab in Tulsa, turning the slot into an Adaptive Technology Specialist position, and

WHEREAS, a Counselor position in the Tulsa office has been open, needed for direct service delivery and now taken away by DRS, causing an extreme strain to provide coverage to an office which has the highest demand in the State of Oklahoma, thus forcing a senior management staff person to take over an entire Counselor caseload, further reducing and diminishing the effectiveness of service delivery to VS consumers;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma, in Convention assembled in the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, this Third of April, 2016, that we call upon the Acting Director, Noel Tyler, of DRS to work directly with the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma to promptly address and correct this disruption and undermining of service delivery to the blind citizens of the State of Oklahoma, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED The National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma calls upon the Acting Director, Noel Tyler, of DRS to open and maintain direct channels of communication with the leadership of this organization for the purpose of ongoing engagement and understanding, for the benefit of the blind citizen-consumers for which DRS is mandated to serve.

Resolution 2016-03

Support of Visual Services Administrator Douglas C. Boone

WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma is the largest and most diverse advocacy organization of the blind in the State of Oklahoma, and

WHEREAS, the Federation highly values meaningful and effective rehabilitation services in the effort to achieve equal participation for the blind in society, and

WHEREAS, Visual Services Division Administrator Douglas C. Boone since January 6, 2014 has served with dedication, distinction, integrity, fairness, impartiality, grace and true leadership, and

WHEREAS, Mr. Boone has consistently demonstrated his commitment to both the letter and the spirit of the Rehabilitation Act, steadily guiding his Division into full compliance, which previously had not been the case, and

WHEREAS, Mr. Boone’s particular attention to the Informed Choice provisions of the Rehabilitation Act have resulted in greater and more varied options for rehabilitation service opportunities provided by the Division, as well as a dramatic expansion of the process of informing the Division’s blind participants, in other words, because of Mr. Boone’s diligence, blind participants have more choices and better information, and

WHEREAS, Mr. Boone implemented a practice of more meaningful staff training, actively promoting “Informed Choice” versus easy case closures, which was previously typical in the agency, and

WHEREAS, Mr. Boone created an informational cartridge for agency staff to leave with brand new Division participants which explains all of the things discussed in the first interview with their VR Counselor, as well as information self-provided by the six training center options offered to Oklahoma’s blind vocational rehabilitation participants, and

WHEREAS, Mr. Boone established the practice whereby Division participants are signed up for services from the National Library Service for the Blind (NLS) at their first visit with a Division counselor, receiving their digital cartridge player at the same time, and

WHEREAS, Mr. Boone stopped the wasteful practice of Division staff providing services to sighted applicants with diabetes, which was never allowable by the Rehabilitation Act, and

WHEREAS, Mr. Boone and his staff designed and ran the first ever Transition to Independence program (TIP), a skills-training program for Oklahoma’s transition-age youth, in which the majority of the trainers were blind staff persons and

WHEREAS, Mr. Boone eliminated the previous practice of exclusively sending Division participants in need of long-term blindness training to the Carroll Center or World Services Center, implementing instead a practice of choice and empowerment employing a contest to reward teachers and counselors for sending the largest number of Division participants to any of the six long-term training centers under contract with the Division, Mr. Boone funding five $100.00 prizes from his own pocket, resulting in 26 Division participants attending out-of-state centers in Fiscal Year 2015, and

WHEREAS,, Mr. Boone hires and supports competent blind staff members for the Division including Rehabilitation Counselors, Rehabilitation Teachers, NOMC Certified Orientation and Mobility Instructors, and Technicians, and is only the second Division Administrator in the history of DRS who has hired qualified applicants, regardless of their consumer organization affiliation, and

WHEREAS, Mr. Boone, discovering that DRS transition programs never included blind participants, established a position for a Transition Facilitator within the Division of Visual Services to attend to the needs of blind participants, and

WHEREAS, Mr. Boone initiated a move to change the misleading Division name of “Visual Services,” to “Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind and Visually Impaired”;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma, in Convention assembled in the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, this Third of April, 2016, that we recognize, applaud and commend Mr. Douglas C. Boone for his dedication and commitment to quality, appropriate and compliant service delivery by the Oklahoma Division of Visual Services to its blind vocational rehabilitation participants, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma stands behind and declares its full and unequivocal support of Mr. Douglas C. Boone and his ongoing efforts to improve rehabilitation services for the blind of Oklahoma.

Resolution 2016-04

Inclusion of the Elected Committee of Managers (ECM) in decision making for the Business Enterprise Program administered by Visual Services

WHEREAS, the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services has been designated at the State Licensing Agency under the Randolph-Sheppard Act and is responsible for administering the Oklahoma Business Enterprises Program which provides entrepreneurial opportunities for blind persons; and,

WHEREAS, the Business Enterprises Program enables the Department to showcase the abilities of blind people in high-profile locations such as Fort Sill, the Tulsa County Jail, and other government buildings; and,

WHEREAS, Mike Hamrick, the Business Enterprises Program manager, announced his retirement and the Department subsequently announced the position would not be filled; and,

WHEREAS, this decision was made without active participation of the Elected Committee of Managers (ECM) as required by 34 C.F.R. 395. 14(b)(1) which mandates the Committee actively participate in all major administrative decisions affecting the overall administration of the program; and,

WHEREAS, the decision to not replace Mr. Hamrick is a major administrative decision which will adversely affect the overall operation of the Business Enterprises Program; and,

WHEREAS, the failure to allow the active participation of the ECM may result in expensive federal arbitration as provided for by 34 C.F.R. 395.13; and,

WHEREAS, the Business Enterprise Program is a high-profile program that will be rendered ineffective without a full-time program manager and put the State at risk of losing potential opportunities for blind entrepreneurs and force blind vendors to file grievances and seek federal arbitration; and,

WHEREAS, the Business Enterprise Program is already short-handed with several vacant positions; and,

WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma supports the Business Enterprise Program and applauds it for the opportunities it affords blind people to own and operate their own businesses:

Now, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma in convention assembled on this the third day of April, 2016, in the city of Tulsa that the President of the Affiliate advise the Department of the Affiliate’s objection to this decision and ask for reconsideration; and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Affiliate encourage the Elected Committee of Managers to file a grievance and pursue Federal arbitration for failure to be allowed to participate in the decision; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the President of the Affiliate be authorized to take whatever actions necessary in support of this position.

Resolution 2016-05

Activities of the Commission of Rehabilitation Services

WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma is the largest and most diverse independent consumer organization of blind persons in the state of Oklahoma, and;

WHEREAS, the Department of Rehabilitation Services of the State of Oklahoma is directed by the Department of Education of the United States under the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to provide services, including all skills necessary to achieve competitive employment and:

WHEREAS, the Commission for Rehabilitation Services was formed and authorized to adopt bylaws and promulgate rules and regulations of its affairs and the conduct of its business and:

WHEREAS, the Oklahoma Commission for Rehabilitation Services formulates policies and adopts rules for the effective administration of the duties of the State Department of Rehabilitation Services as authorized by the Oklahoma State Legislature and:

WHEREAS, recent actions by members of the Commission have given the appearance of bias and hostility against the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma and its members:

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma in convention assembled this third day of April, 2016 we expect the Commission to execute the performance of its duties in compliance with Oklahoma Statutes and Regulations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the members of the National Federation of the blind of Oklahoma that we call for the immediate implementation of non-biased practice by the members of the Commission and a return to focus on quality education, rehabilitation and employment for the blind of Oklahoma in accordance with the mandate of informed choice and all other policies set forth by the Rehabilitation Services Administration.