Dear:
I write to you as Chair of the State Rehabilitation Council (SRC) which partners with the Department of Services for the Blind (DSB) working to insure that persons who are blind in the state of Washington receive the most effective and efficient services possible. The SRC serves at the charge of the Governor and with a clear expectation to advise her and make recommendations to the Legislature concerning DSB and the needs of blind Washingtonians.
Governor Gregoire's 2010 budget includes a proposal to relocate DSB to the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) under the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) with no explanation of how this will save state dollars and without a clear examination of how such a move would impact services to the blind. The SRC strongly opposes this and requests your intervention to ensure this relocation does not occur.
In a recent meeting with three of the Governor’s policy analysts, I raised the question of how funds could be saved were DSB to be relocated; they had no answer other than to say the Governor is interested in consolidation of as many agencies as possible and moving the Department to DSHS seemed like the best fit.
The Department of Services for the Blind provides a “one front door,” cradle-to-grave services to blind Washingtonians. Whether someone has just learned their baby is born blind, they themselves are going blind or their grandparent is losing vision, all the services they need to live a full and productive life living with blindness can be received within the walls of DSB.
DSB staff is uniquely qualified to address the cultural bias and personal misconceptions about blindness, which still very much exists today. They provide a full range of specialized expertise to address and overcome barriers related to blindness and vision loss.
To help you form an over-all picture of how the Department of Services for the Blind is currently functioning, I have attached an information sheet which twenty other entities statewide who serve blind Washingtonians have endorsed. This speaks strongly to the concern of people who serve the blind as well as the blind themselves.
Blind Washingtonians campaigned hard to remove Services for the Blind from under the Department of Social and Health Services in the 1970’s. At our most recent SRC meeting, we heard loud and clear from the blindness community that a move back to DSHS is absolutely unwanted and the SRC directed me to share with the Governor and Legislature this concern and why DSB retaining its separate agency status is in the best interest of blind Washingtonians.
With your help, DSB, which presently ranks third in the nation among agencies for the blind according to the Rehabilitation Services Administration, will maintain its current governance and continue its outstanding track record of providing excellent service to blind people in Washington.
Thank you for your kind attention. I stand prepared to answer any questions you may have.
Respectfully,
Cindy Van Winkle, Chair, State Rehabilitation Council
(360) 689-0827