WELCOME to the

1
WELCOME to the

• NEW JERSEY STATE
• COMMISSION FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED
• (CBVI)
• NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES

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This Presentation Will

• Familiarize You With CBVI - Its Mission, Vision
  And Values
• Provide You With A Global Picture of The
  Services the Commission Offers to New Jersey
  Residents
• To Familiarize You With the Many Facets of Our
  Agency

3
You Will Learn

• What the Commission Does
• How the Mission, Vision and Values Drive Our Work
• Where Our Consumers Fit In
• How Important Our Mission Is to New Jersey
  Residents

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OUR MOTTO AT CBVI

• INDEPENDENCE
• BELIEVE AND ACHIEVE!

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Mission

• The mission of the New Jersey Commission for
  the Blind and Visually Impaired is to promote and
  provide services in the areas of education,
  employment, independence and eye health through
  informed choice and partnership with persons who
  are blind or visually impaired, their families
  and the community.

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New Jersey FactsStatistics based on 2000 Census

• 290,000 NJ Residents Are Blind and Or Visually
  Impaired
• 8,000 NJ Residents are Totally Blind
• 39,000 NJ Residents are Legally Blind
• 243,000 NJ Residents Have Severe Visual
  Impairments
• Currently 9,571 New Jersey Residents Are Actively
  Being Served By NJ CBVI

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Goals

• Provide timely, effective, high-quality services
• Increase competitive employment
• Work toward excellence in the education of
  students who are blind or visually impaired
• Work to decrease the incidence of blindness or
  significant vision loss through eye health
  programs
• Actively promote equality and full inclusion into
  society

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GOALS

• Work in partnership with consumers
• Encourage positive attitudes toward blindness and
  visually impairments by consumers and their
  families
• Expand service delivery to historically
  underserved populations
• Evaluate the effectiveness of assistive
  technology in the school and work environment

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Eligibility

• A New Jersey resident is eligible for services
  if he/she is visually impaired or legally blind
  with best correction, and is experiencing
  problems in his/her life as a result of vision
  loss.

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Visually Impaired

• Vision is 20/70 or less in the better eye (with
  best correction) (the person sees at 20 feet what
  a sighted person sees at 70 feet)
• Field restriction of 40 degrees

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Legally Blind

• Ones vision is 20/200 or less in the better eye
  (with best correction)
• If there is a restricted vision field limited to
  20 degrees or less

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ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE

• Vito DeSantis Executive Director
• Lori Ghio
• Executive Secretary
• 153 HALSEY STREET
• 6th FLOOR
• PO BOX 47017
• Newark, New Jersey 07101
• 973-648-3333

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Management Team 2007

• Vito DeSantis Executive Director
• Dr. Bernice Davis Executive Assistant
• Frank Scheick Manager Fiscal
• Marc Stabile Manager Human Resource
• Ines Matos Manager MIS
• David DeNotaris Manager Statewide
• Jose Morales Manager NRO
• Pat Davis Manager SRO
• John Reiff Manager CRO
• Donald Potenski Manager JKRC

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Management Team 2007

• COORDINATORS
• Amelia Ricciardi Education
• Lorraine Clark Allied Services
• Gregory Patty Vocational Rehabilitation
• Bruce Kastner,OD Blindness Prevention, Low
  Vision Services
• Pamela Gaston Executive Assistant
• Michael Kosec Quality Assurance
• Hugo Ruiz Employee Relations Officer
• Sandra Deitel Staff Development

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REGIONAL OFFICES

• Northern (Newark)
• Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex
  and Warren
• Central (Toms River)
• Union, Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, Mercer,
  Monmouth and Ocean
• Southern (Camden)
• Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May,
  Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem

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Regional Services
Vocational Rehabilitation
Client
Independent Living Services
Education
Eye Health
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EDUCATION

• CBVI provides education services
• from birth through age twenty-one to eligible
  children and their families. These services are
  designed to allow students who are visually
  impaired to participate equally with other
  students in regular classroom activities.

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Education Services

• Comprehensive itinerant services
• Inclusion, integration, mainstreaming
• Collaboration with school districts

• Partnership with the Office and Departments of
  Education
• Legislative Law, Funding, Reimbursement

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Vocational Rehabilitation Services
The goal of this program is to assist persons who
are blind and visually impaired develop, acquire,
or update skills that will help in securing and
maintaining suitable employment. This may
include working in the competitive labor force,
operating their own business, supportive
employment, or managing their own home.
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Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VR)

• Evaluation
• Counseling and Guidance
• Training
• Job Placement
• Post-Employment
• College Counseling/Support
• High School Transition

• Business Enterprise Program
• Entrepreneurial Programs
• Special Services for persons who are
  Multi-disabled
• Joseph Kohn Rehabilitation Center
• Programs
• Special services for persons who are
  Multi-disabled
• Joseph Kohn Rehabilitation Center

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Employer Services UnitProvides the following
services at no cost to employers

• Job retention services for staff with vision loss
• Technical Support on ADA issues
• Work-site analysis and modification
• Agency Resources Linkages to the information you
  need
• Achieve diversity and inclusion goals in
  strategic plans
• Financial incentives and tax credits
• Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)

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Employer Services Unit Provides

• Opportunities for partnering
• Website Accessibility
• Assistive Technology Consults
• Pre-Screened Labor Pool
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Long-term follow-up
• Internships
• Career Development Activities
• Employer Advisory Council

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Independent Living Services (Allied Services)

• Social Casework
• In home instruction in daily living skills
• Instruction for independent travel and
  orientation to the home, community, work or
  school environment

• Child care skills
• Instruction in communication methods
• Referral to community resources

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Independent Living Skills

• The goal of this program is to enable persons
  who are blind or visually impaired to lead a full
  and productive life and to assist them in
  adjusting to their vision loss

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Orientation and MobilityInstruction (OM)

• Safe Independent Travel Training
• (Home, School, Work, Community)
• Emphasizing Awareness of Surrounding Environments
  
• Use of Remaining Senses
• (Hearing and Vision)

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Eye Health Nurse

• Case-Management
• Diabetes Education
• Instruction on Adaptive Equipment/Devices
  (insulin syringes, talking glucose monitors)
• Monitoring Health Care

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Home Instruction

• Home Management Skills
• Kitchen Safety, Meal Preparation, Laundry
  Skills, Clothing Identification
• Adaptive Equipment
• Talking Watches, Timers, Calculators
• Communication Skills
• Braille, Keyboarding, Check writing, Telephone
  Dialing, Handwriting
• Adjustment to Vision Loss

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Statewide Operations

• Statewide Services
• Prevention
• Early Intervention
• Education
• Deaf-Blind
• Transition
• /College Services
• Camp Marcella
• Drew University

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Prevention Services/Eye Health

• The goal of this program is to save sight and
  restore vision whenever it is medically possible.
  Statistics show that 50 of all blindness and
  vision loss could be prevented with proper
  medical eye care. CBVI conducts and sponsors a
  variety of educational programs and eye health
  screening throughout the state to detect vision
  problems.

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Prevention Services

• Mobile Eye Exams
• Vision Screening for preschool and school age
  children
• Eye health nursing
• On site screening at institutions and in the
  community on invitation

• Special diabetic outreach program
• Other specialized eye screening programs which
  target minorities, the elderly and migrant farm
  workers

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Early Intervention

• Provides statewide itinerant education for
  infants and toddlers (birth to age 3), who are
  blind or visually impaired, multi-handicapped
  visually impaired, or deaf-blind and their
  families. Disability-specific services are
  provided in the childs natural environment.

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Early Intervention Services

• Eligibility Determination Education Services
• Assessment and Evaluation of Visual Impairment
• Collaboration With Families
• Technical Assistance to Families and Providers
• Specialized Instruction i.e. Transition to
  Pre-School Services
• Availability of Additional Commission Services

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Deaf-Blind Unit

• Assists Individuals who are Deaf-Blind, their
  parents, counselors, educators, employers and
  consumers through various services
• Determine Eligibility
• Counseling
• Participate in Educational Planning
• Provide Functional Vision Assessments

• In-Service Presentations
• Recommend and Provide Specialized Adaptive
  Equipment
• Locate training programs for employment needs
• Assist with job placement and maintaining current
  employment

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Transition Unit

• Serves high school students
• Career assessment, planning and training
• Coordinate two summer career exploration
  opportunities

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College Unit

• Assists college students with
• Funding
• Counseling
• Guidance
• Advocacy
• Job Placement

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Drew Program

• Simulated Residential College experience on the
  Campus of Drew University in Madison
• 10th through 12th graders are eligible
• 4 weeks duration
• Academic Classes
• Orientation/Mobility
• Daily Living Skills
• Leisure Activities on Weekends and Evenings

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The College of New JerseyWork Skills Prep

• Residential work experience program on the campus
  of TCNJ in Ewing, NJ
• 10th through 12th graders are eligible
• 3 weeks duration
• Career exploration
• Orientation/Mobility
• Daily Living Skills
• Leisure Activities on Weekends and Evenings

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JKRC Transition Summer Program

• Open to ninth graders who are blind and or
  visually impaired
• Two Week Residential Session at JKRC
• Career Exploration
• Visits to Businesses
• OM instruction
• Daily Living Skills
• Computer Skills
• Peer Sharing

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Camp Marcella Sleep-Away Camp in Rockaway NJIn
Partnership With the Lions Club

• 200 blind and visually impaired children between
  ages 5 and 16 attend camp each summer
• Camp offers a chance to participate in swimming,
  boating, hiking, music, arts/crafts, sports/games
• Computer Lab and Library
• Camp fosters a childs sense of independence and
  self confidence and helps develop social skills

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Other Statewide Services

• George F. Meyer Instructional Resource Center
  (Newark)
• Joseph Kohn Rehabilitation Center (New Brunswick)
• (Norma K. Krajczar Technology Resource and
  Development Center, Bridge Program)
• Business Enterprise Program (BEP)
• (Quakerbridge Plaza, Mercerville)

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George F. Meyer Instructional Resource Center

• This center provides materials to enable
  children to function on an equal footing with
  their sighted classmates.
• Provides Adaptive Aids
• Adaptive textbooks (large print or Braille),
  materials , and technical equipment
• Enriching toys and materials
• Assistive Technology

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Joseph Kohn Rehabilitation Center (JKRC)

• JKRC offers blind and visually impaired adults
  an opportunity to learn skills that enable
  independence. It is an intensive program to
  develop vocational skills.
• 16 week residential program
• Career Assessment
• Vocational Counseling
• Communication Skills
• Braille

• Orientation and Mobility
• Activities of Daily Living Skills
• Kitchen Skills
• Assistive Technology Skills
• Adjustment to Vision Loss
• Psychological Services
• Social Services

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Norma F. Krajczar Technology Resource and
Development Center

• Located Within JKRC
• Open to the public for hands on experience with
  the latest technology products
• Demonstrations of state of the art products for
  people who are blind and visually impaired
• DeWitt Contract

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BEP AND NEW JERSEYPERFECT TOGETHER!

• Since the passage of the 1937 Randolph-Sheppard
  Act, NJ CBVI BEP has worked to help NJ residents
  who are blind or visually impaired become
  independent business operators and entrepreneurs!

• Currently NJ has 60 active operators owning
• SNACK BARS
• VENDING MACHINES
• CAFES/CAFETERIAS
• The average operator income is 54,000
• 18,544,163 gross sales as of 6/30/06

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Types of Contracted Services

• Independent Living for elderly or deaf/blind
• Prevention of Blindness
• Volunteers
• Training and employment/supported employment
• Psychological Services
• Advocacy/Legal
• Recorded Books
• Recreation
• Assistive Technology

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To Contract or Not to Contract Services

• Can we provide service ourselves?
• Can we provide services efficiently ourselves?
• Can we provide services effectively ourselves?

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Contract Facts

• 15 Contracts
• 4.5 Million in Value
• Smallest Contract-Cumberland County at 20,868.00

• Largest contract DeWitt Associates at 1.3
  Million
• 12 different funding sources

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Assistive Technology

• Any piece of equipment that will give
  independence to someone who is blind or visually
  impaired
• These tools may assist consumers in gaining
  access to information both print and electronic
  and facilitates written communication

• Indispensable service provided by the Commission
• Maintaining current relevant resources to ensure
  our consumers and staff are literate and
  competent is critical in the fast changing world
  of assistive technology

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RTAC(REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT CENTER)

• Located in each regional office
• Provides training, demonstrations, and
  evaluations of assistive technology to our
  consumers, educators and or other interested
  parties

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Independence Believe and Achieve

• 11 of the Commissions Workforce is blind and or
  visually impaired
• Approximately 103 NJ Citizens go through
  programming at the Kohn Center Each Year
• We rank third in the United States for Assistive
  Technology Use
• In 2006, 303 NJ VR clients became gainfully
  employed through the Commissions Vocational
  Rehabilitation Program
• CBVI provides assistive technology devices to our
  consumers such as computers, notetakers, Braille
  displays, Braille embossers (printer), scanners,
  CCTV (Closed Circuit TV)

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Independence, Believe and Achieve

• We partner with 402 school districts
• We serve 2300 children ages birth to 21
• CBVI supplies school districts with Braille
  production systems to assist the child enabling
  children to compete with their sighted peers in a
  classroom environment
• CBVI staff have the ability to Braille documents
  and information for staff and consumers
• We facilitate an annual two day workshop for
  educators throughout the state to become more
  familiar with instruction to students who are
  blind or visually impaired

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INDEPENDENCE BELIEVE AND ACHIEVE

• We provide staff with the latest assistive
  technology training so they can better serve our
  consumers
• 45,862 eye screenings were done in Fiscal Year 06
• 25,539 of the above were pre-school screenings
• 870 Consumers were referred to the Commission in
  Fiscal year 06

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Regional Offices

• Northern Regional Office
• 153 Halsey Street 5th fl.
• Newark, NJ 07101
• 973-648-2111
• Fax [phone]
• Central Regional Office
• 1510 Hooper Avenue
• Toms River, NJ 08753
• 732-255-0723
• Fax [phone]

• Southern Regional Office
• 101 Haddon Avenue
• Camden, NJ. 08103
• 856-614-3000
• Fax [phone]
• Toll Free 1-877-685-8878
• WWW.CBVI.NJ.GOV