By Carol Pankow, Director, Minnesota State Services for the Blind

(Editor’s Note:  This presentation was made at the Semiannual Convention on May 14, 2016.)

Good morning, and, as always, thank you for inviting me to come and talk about what’s happening at State Services for the Blind (SSB).  This morning, I’m going to give you the highlight reel from SSB, answer some of the specific questions that have been brought to me about employment, and then I hope to have plenty of time for questions and conversation.  Please know that I always welcome your input.  Stop by my office, send me an email, or give me a call.  I want to hear from you.

First, at SSB, we’ve been putting more time, money, and energy into supporting young adults.  In the vocational rehabilitation world, we refer to this population as transition-age students.  It just means kids who are ready to launch.  They’re making, or preparing to make, that big transition into adulthood.  Some are preparing for college, others for jobs, still others for another kind of training or job prep.  It’s an incredibly important time in any person’s life — a time when the skills you learn, the decisions you make, the connections you build and the friendships you form will have ripple effects throughout the rest of your life.  Through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), we’ve been able to build up the programming, resources, and support we offer to blind, DeafBlind, and visually impaired young adults.  A little more than a year ago, we started developing a transition team to work with students aged 14-21.  Our first hire was Sheila Koenig who is primary to working with the schools, students and families around opportunities and presenting training and information.  She has built the group of students served from 61 to 123.  More recently we moved an assistive-technology specialist, Jesse Anderson, to focus solely on transition-aged students and are working through the hiring process to bring on a coordinator to work with jobs, internships and work experiences.   Finally, we will be dedicating one metro-based counselor to working with the transition caseload in the metro area.

Just two weeks ago, we had about 100 people — young adults, parents, guardians and teachers — attend the Career Expo that SSB co-sponsored with the Metropolitan Community and Technical College.  A core part of that day was the conversations that took place between those young adults and the 25 blind, DeafBlind, and visually-impaired grownups who gave up a big chunk of their Saturday to talk about how they made it.  They were there to give practical advice about school and internships and technology and writing resumes.  More important, they were also there to communicate something intangible.

Those adults who came to share their experience offered something that sighted teachers, counselors or peers just can’t offer those young people in the same way.  They could talk about the importance of self-confidence, self-advocacy, resilience, persistence, flexibility, and determination.  They could talk about what it was like to face doubt and skepticism.  They could share how they had made the case to potential employers that in fact they were the best person for the job.  They could talk about facing rejection, and communicate what it takes to get up and start over again.

That kind of determination is a hallmark of the National Federation of the Blind, and plenty of NFB members turned out for our Career Expo day.  They were there to pass along to a new generation the knowledge of what it takes to dream the life you want, and then live it.

I hope I haven’t overlooked anyone, but I want to name those individuals associated with the NFB of Minnesota who volunteered their time that day:  Russell Anderson, David Bates, Robert Binns, Charlotte Czarnecki, Susan D’Mello, Zach Ellingson, Rob Hobson, Steve Jacobson, Deanna Langton, Alex Loch, Kathy McGillivray, Michele Denise Michaels, Randi Strunk, Ryan Strunk, Jennifer Wenzel and Dan Wenzel.  Thank you to each one of you for being there.  None of us can know what impact we’ll have in the life of a young person, but I hope, some seeds were planted that day that will make life a little easier and a little better for this next generation coming along.

A few days from now, two blind Minnesota students will be among the 25 specially selected from across the nation to attend STEM2U at the Science Center of Minnesota, as part of the NFB’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math — or STEM — program.  That will be the start of an active summer for our transition students, with work and education opportunities taking place all across the state.

Now, on to my SSB highlight reel. 

On Wednesday, our staff gathered for a half-day of training, altogether, our staff is just over 110 people.  As you know, we, like the rest of Minnesota has an aging workforce.  Several of our staff have retired or taken new positions in the last six months since I spoke with you, and, there will be more in the months ahead.  As we juggle various budget restrictions, we are being strategic about hiring, and at the same time working toward creating a workforce that more closely mirrors the diversity of our customers.  Right now, about 13% of our workforce is blind or visually impaired, the highest number it’s been for some time.  We are extremely excited about two of our latest hires, with counselor Marie Knapp just completing her staff training at BLIND Inc., coming to us from Michigan and the Bureau of Blind Services there.  Secondly, Catherine Goulding is joining us next week from Texas services for the blind where she is managing their Chris Cole Rehab Center.

On a side note, there is an interesting trend afoot to combine blind and general agencies in those states where services remain separate.  Texas is one state that is going through this as we speak.  Utah is also doing this.  I hear Kentucky will be next up.

Meanwhile, in our Workforce Development unit, we’re on track to have another record-setting year.  A little bit past the halfway mark, there are 82 successful employment closures and 140 working right now.  A successful closure means that a customer has found a job and has been working at that job for 90 days.  Given that most of our closures come toward the end of our year, which runs October 1 to Sept. 30, we are on track to meet our last year’s numbers.

Some of you have asked me to provide more detail about the jobs our customers are getting, and what they are earning.  Here’s how those 143 successful employment closures from 2015 are divided between customers who were blind,  were DeafBlind, and were categorized as other visual impairment, who we might think of as low vision.

• Of those 143 successful closures, 81 were blind.  Of those, 46% got a job working 30 hours or more, and 35% earned above $15.
• 47 of last year’s successful closures were designated as “other visual impairment.”  Of these, 55% worked 30 hours or more, and, roughly similar to their blind counterparts, 36% earned $15 or higher.
• The remaining 15 of last year’s successful closures were DeafBlind customers.  40% of those individuals got a job working 30 hours or more, and 53% earned $15 or above.

When we look at average hourly wage, DeafBlind customers earned $19.86, low vision was $19.88, and blind customers came out the highest at $20.56.  This includes part time and fulltime wages and salaries.

If that information went by too fast, I have those numbers with me in braille and large print formats, or I can send them to you electronically.

In order to paint a slightly more detailed picture for you, I’ve picked a random sample of jobs our customers found last year.

• A blind General Manager is working 40 hours a week and earning $58 an hour. 
• A mental-health counselor who is blind is working 15 hours and earning $15. 
• A blind equipment and small engine mechanic is working 10 hours and earning $16. 
• A DeafBlind administrator is earning $10 working 25 hours.
• Another DeafBlind individual is working 40 hours as a childcare worker and earning $12.50. 
• A low vision guidance counselor is earning $23 and working fulltime; another is earning $10.75 and working halftime as a healthcare support worker. 
• Finally, a former low vision customer is now working fulltime as a customer service rep and earning $13.55.

Of those 81 individuals listed as blind, I also looked at various grouping or categories of jobs.  Five got jobs as general managers or operations managers, five have jobs as dishwashers, another five as retail sales persons, and seven found work in a teaching profession.  Beyond this, the types of jobs our customers found range across a wide swath: computer systems analyst, accountant, stock clerk, executive secretary, carpenter and automotive service technician, to name just a few.  The types of positions for DeafBlind and low vision customers are equally diverse.

Moving on to this year, as you know, budget restrictions made it necessary to prioritize new customers through what is referred to as order of selection.  In March we were able to move 19 customers who were on the waiting list to active customers.  Although order of selection remains in effect, the number of eligible customers on that waiting list is currently at 8.  I am reviewing spending on a month-to-month basis and making decisions about opening the list each month. 
 

Finally, on the employment side, the Business Enterprises Program has been training new vendors, and two students in the program have started work managing routes as they finish up their course work.  We are also actively working on the VA situation and their lack of responsiveness to our priority under the Randolph-Sheppard Act to provide vending on their premises.  I have spoken to our congressional delegation while in Washington DC and we just this week received a letter from the Rehab Services Administration to a congressman from Florida outlining their understanding of the law, how it relates to the Veterans Canteen Service and reiterating that we do have a priority of service that VA needs to honor.  We are also making plans to combine forces with Florida’s BEP program, which is undergoing a similar situation, and meeting with Rehab Services Administration leadership at a conference next week.

On the Senior Services side, we are also as busy as ever.  We served just over 4,000 seniors with vision loss last year, another record for us.  As you may remember, over the last several years, we’ve been carefully thinking through how we can meet the growing demand for services as the number of Minnesota seniors increases.  About a year ago, we rolled out the Aging Eyes Initiative, a program which trains professionals who are already working with seniors to provide a first level of support to seniors in the early stages of vision loss.  This frees up our staff to give more in-depth support and training in using nonvisual techniques to seniors with more significant vision loss.  To date, we’ve trained about 150 partners.  Since October 1, the beginning of our federal fiscal year, they’ve provided aids and devices to about 175 seniors across the state, but that number is growing every day.  In fact, this past month we received an average of 20-25 referrals per week.

Even with the Aging Eyes Initiative, we know we don’t have the resources to provide high-quality services to the growing number of seniors losing vision.  Here again, I want to thank the NFB of Minnesota for drafting legislation to increase funding for seniors who are blind or losing vision, and for shepherding that bill through the legislative process and continuing to fight the fight.

In addition, Senior Services recently welcomed a new student intern.  Hailey Roering, who is in our Transition Program, has been helping with the Aging Eyes Initiative and gaining office and administrative skills.

Hailey is the first of three interns who will be working at SSB over the next few months.  Both Audio Services and Radio Talking Book (RTB) will be hiring an intern soon.

Another way in which we’ve been reaching out to a new generation is through podcasting.  Stuart and his team have been creating podcasts with content for blind and DeafBlind young adults, and another series that focuses on job searching and career building.  These RTB podcasts are just part of what’s available through the BlindAbilities app, created and maintained by Jeff Thompson.  The BlindAbilities App has a wealth of content for blind and DeafBlind young adults in the BA TEEN CAST who are looking for tips on living on their own, getting through college, or finding their first job.  The app also features interviews, tech tips, and some hidden treasures too.  In January, Jeff posted about how to clean using non-visual techniques and that received 4,000 hits.

As you may know, our Audio Services team has been working hard so that customers have a more seamless experience when they’re looking for material from our Communication Center or the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library in Faribault.  It used to be that you needed to call us if you wanted materials transcribed, or you needed a digital-book player repaired, and you called the library to order books from the library service.  Now, there’s just one number to call, staff in both locations are trained to answer any questions, and the call will go through to whichever line is free. 

As you may know, BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download), the National Library Service’s (NLS) download service, has been accepting titles produced by local reading services.  These titles have to meet NLS’s content and formatting criteria.  So far, 193 titles read by our volunteers, broadcast on the RTB, and formatted by our engineers have been posted to BARD.  As it happens the two thousandth book from a local reading service posted to BARD was a title we recorded.  So we are being featured in a future publication.

In the last year, Dave Andrews has moved over to work with our engineering staff, and we welcomed Jay Maruska, who has been shepherding braille through the transition to Unified English Braille (UEB).

I will stop here so that I can answer any questions you have, but, before I do, I want to thank you for both the work you do and people you are — you make all the difference.