FFY 2019, Quarter 2 Report

January 2019 – March 2019

Quarterly Report presented to the State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind.

Contents

INDEPENDENT LIVING BLIND SKILLS SERVICES

Service Snapshot –Younger Blind (YB) and Older Blind (OB) Clients
October 2018 – March 2019

Trend

Total

YB

OB
Total Cases 812 71
(10% of all clients)		 741
(90% of all clients)
Service Delivery to Hispanic or Latino Clients 21 6 15
Service Delivery to Asian Clients 22 6 16
Centenarians (age 100 or older) Served 10 - 10
Youth (24 or younger) Served 4 4 -
Homeless Clients (all clients 60 years old or younger) 6 1 5
Clients with Depression 140 15 125
Clients with Bone, Muscle, Skin, Joint, and Movement Disorders (includes Parkinson’s, arthritis, and osteoporosis)
*More OB Clients have some sort of bone, muscle, skin, joint, and movement issue than any other medical issue.		 289 15 274
Clients with Diabetes
*More YB Clients have diabetes than any other additional medical issue.		 164 25 139
Average Cost per Client - $443 $423

Featured Success Story

The following story is about a client served by Lilac Services for the Blind. Her name has been changed.

Janet is an 87-year-old woman who lives alone. Her vision has been declining due to macular degeneration. Janet came to the Independent Living program with two main desires: get back to making jewelry and get back to making cookies.

Janet is a prolific jewelry maker, but for several months she hadn’t been able to create anything because she couldn’t see to thread her needles. The Independent Living teacher taught Janet two new strategies. Janet received a craft magnifier and lamp combo. The Independent Living teacher showed Janet how to use the magnifier to thread a needle with jewelry wire and place beads onto the needle. Janet also received an Infila needle threader and found this to be very helpful. After practicing techniques with both devices, Janet was able to thread her needles independently. The Independent Living teacher also provided suggestions for making this task easier, such as using a shoe box lid to keep her spool from rolling away, using task specific lighting, and maximizing contrast.

Janet also loves to bake cookies for her many grandchildren. This enjoyable task had become frustrating for her as she had been burning her cookies and mixing up the recipes. While Janet had no problem setting timers, she wasn’t able to set the oven temperature accurately, resulting in batch after batch of ruined cookies. Her oven knobs were marked with orange bump-dots. This allowed Janet to be able to set the oven to the correct temperature independently. No more burned cookies! Next, the Independent Living teacher provided black measuring cups and spoons with large print orange labels. Janet practiced identifying them and was quickly able to do so.

Before services concluded, Janet and the Independent Living teacher identified one other need: writing checks, lists, and letters. She said that she rarely needs to write a check, but would like to be able to so her daughter doesn’t have to. Janet was given a check-writing guide and taught how to use it. Janet expressed difficulty writing for herself and for others. She was provided and instructed in the use of a letter-writing guide, a bold-writer pen, and a bold-lined note pad, all of which she was able to use effectively.

With the tools she was provided and the skills she learned, Janet is now able to resume the activities she enjoys. Her cookie-loving grandchildren are thrilled!

Outreach

On March 28th, Sheila Turner, of Edith Bishel, gave a presentation at 3 Rivers Retirement Inn in Richland. She discussed various eye conditions and how these conditions might affect vision. She shared techniques for using the telephone, labeling clothing, identifying and sorting money, labeling medications and using signature guides. She also demonstrated several low vision aids including magnifiers and talked about using a cane and walking with a guide. She answered questions from the audience as well and handed out brochures. Ten people attended her presentation and one referral for services is linked to this outreach so far.

Recent IL Satisfaction Survey Comments

“This is a wonderful program and Vivian was very helpful. I truly enjoyed my time with her.”

“I have been very pleased with the quick response that I have received from Margie and Timm who called on me. They also encourage me to stay active. Today they showed me how to use the talking books. That will be exciting! Thank you for the help and encouragement!

“All good- knowing there is support and a place to for the information. Other health issues prevent participation more freely, but thanks you for all you do!

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BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM

Facilities Update

The BEP successfully opened our first new facility in several years. The US Courthouse in downtown Seattle will be a great location for the program as it not only brings another opportunity for our vendors but also creates even more visibility to the program as this location is open to the public and is a high traffic, high profile federal location. During his time with the BEP Bobby McCalden did a great job establishing relationships with GSA which helped create this opportunity. As a program we are continuing to build upon the groundwork that has been laid with the hope that this will bring more offers of other viable facilities our way.

The addition of the US Courthouse and the retirement of an existing vendor created placement opportunities for both of our newly licensed vendors who recently graduated our pilot Hadley training program. Both of these vendors have been very successful in their initial months of operation. There are always challenges for any new business owner, however both of these vendors have utilized the support of BEP staff as well as the knowledge of current vendors to work through or find solutions to these challenges.

The BEP has officially accepted a new location in Everett. On October 1st, BEP will begin operating the deli at Snohomish County PUD. Initially this deli will be a satellite location for the café at Snohomish County Courthouse. The hope is that the facility proves profitable enough to stand-alone and create an additional opportunity for another vendor.

Training and New Potential Vendor Update

With the lack of current vendors and the growing number of new facilities, it is becoming progressively imperative that we increase the pipeline of new potential vendors. The good news is that appears to be happening. We just enrolled a trainee into the Hadley BEPLT courses. This trainee has already completed all prerequisite work and is well on his way to becoming a new licensee. Another potential trainee has begun working through his checklist with his counselor and there are 2 more clients, currently at the OTC, that have expressed interest in the program.

I believe that this trend should continue or even increase as the counselors continue to better understand the changes in the new training model and the accessibility it creates. Liz has taken the time to sort through all the files and documents that were created during the development and revision process to put together a new complete BEP training guide. The training guide has been posted on the DSB shared drive. This should provide clarity to many FAQs and aid the counselors in providing accurate information to clients inquiring about the program.

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CUSTOMER SERVICES

Snapshot of Performance Comparison: [Q2 FFY19 VS Q2 FFY18]

  • New VR Applications [110 vs 205]
  • VR Customers Receiving Planned Services [948 vs 1158]
  • VR Customers Added to Wait List [41 vs 0] (YTD Total: 109)
  • VR Customers Released from Wait List [28 vs 0] (YTD Total: 54)
  • Students with a Disability served [350 vs 317]
  • Competitive Employment Outcomes [45 vs 70]
  • Average Hourly Wage FFY19 Q2 [21.22 vs 20.95]

Employment Outcomes:

A sample of successful placements:

Job Title Employer Region/County
Medical/Clinical Lab Tech Mukilteo School District North / Snohomish
Mental Health Counselor Port Gamble K’kallam Tribe North / Kitsap
Social Worker Southeast Youth & Family Svcs North / King
Chief Executive Officer Gold Seal Mechanical, Inc East / Spokane
Receptionist Skookum Contract Svcs South / Kitsap
Special Ed Teacher Helen Keller National Center East / Walla Walla
Multimedia Artist/Animator Highwire Games North / King
Social Service Assistant Council for the Homeless South / Clark
Customer Service Rep Cloud One South / Clark
Teacher Selah School District East / Yakima
Lawyer Mason County DA’s Office South / Mason
Elementary Teacher Utsalady Elementary School North / Island
Age ranges
  • Average hourly wage all employment outcomes at Q2: $21.22
  • Percentage of participants age 55 and older who exited with employment outcome: 37%
  • Eldest with employment outcome: Age 90 (Self-employed Psychologist)
  • Youngest with employment outcome: Age 23 (Office/Administrative Worker)

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YOUTH SERVICES

Spending Targets for Pre-Employment Transition Services Set-Aside

Federal
Grant		 Grant
Amount		 Pre-ETS Set
Aside		 Pre-ETS
Spent Dollars		 Unspent
Balance
FFY 2016
(ended 09/30/17)		 $8,730,218 $1,309,352 $1,291,505 $18,027
FFY 2017
(emded 09/30/18)		 $8,792,634 $1,318,895 $1,250,702 $68,193
FFY 2018
(ends 09/30/19)		 $9,466,200 $1,419,930 $324,299 $1,095,631

Pre-Employment Transition Services and Youth Services Activities

Vancouver/WSSB Area Youth
  • Coordinating the WorkForce South West Washington’s Partners in Careers (PIC) program at WSSB. 6 WSSB juniors and 4 seniors, participate in weekly soft skills classes on campus. Three of the seniors are participating in internships. A DSB contract for payroll services was finalized this quarter, and 2 of the interns have completed the necessary payroll paperwork. They are now receiving wages for their hours at the Seattle minimum wage. YSS provided the students with training, and they are now successfully completing and emailing electronic timesheets and submitting verification of hours forms to YSS for processing.
  • YSS co-presented at the March 2019 PNWAER conference on the topic of DSB youth workshops and new programs.
  • YSS participated in the April 2019 Blind Youth Consortium meeting discussion about how collaboration between agencies could create additional apprenticeship opportunities for BVI youth.
  • YSS attended a Washington Initiative for Supported Employment’s (WISE) training in April 2019 centered on marketing and job development for individuals with disabilities.
  • YSS, 8 high school students, 4 LIFTT participants and other WSSB staff members were fortunate to have the opportunity to hear Washington State Lt. Governor Cyrus Habib speak during a Clark College Dept. of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Event on May 8th.
  • The YSS team is scheduled to participate in the Youth Technical Assistance Center sponsored conference “All Youth Working: A Forum on Engagement and Inclusion” at the end of May 2019.
  • YSS was part of a WSSB team who talked with Microsoft staff whose focus is making employment accessible for individuals with disabilities. The team discussed the possibility of creating job shadows for WSSB students during the school year. YSS will accompany a WSSB student to a pilot job shadow at Microsoft on June 6, 2019. YSS and Microsoft staff are also discussing the possibility of a tour at their campus for this summer’s YES 1 program.
  • Skills Vancouver planning – Skills Vancouver has been scheduled for June 24-28, 2019 with an application due date of May 10th. This year’s conservation themed activities will include a field trip to the Water Resource Center and a presentation by a Fort Vancouver archeologist.
  • Skills Longview planning – Skills Longview is new this summer. It has been a collaboration with WSSB & YSS to involve youth in smaller communities outside of Vancouver. Skills Longview has been scheduled for Aug 5-9, 2019. It will take place at Lake Sacajawea. Applications are due June 28, 2019.
  • YES 1 planning – YES 1 has been scheduled for July 7-18, 2019. Acceptance packets were mailed to 21 youth with a due date of June 7th.
Lacey/Olympia Area Youth
  • Continued efforts to engage youth in smaller, remote communities has paid off. Eight students in the Centralia area attended the Sightless Self-Defense workshop. Outreach on the Peninsula resulted in good attendance at a Bremerton Pups & Pizza workshop. All families that attended voiced interest in attending additional workshops and learning more about summer programs.
  • A series of cooking workshops in Tacoma and Olympia areas helped encourage nutritional and culinary interest with students, four of whom had perfect attendance at each workshop.
  • “Cool Tools” is a new workshop introducing occupations in the building trades. As a project, seven students used recycled materials to make artwork to take home. Cool Tools is also being offered in other areas of the state, in coming months.
Seattle/Northwest Area Youth
  • Along with workshops offered in several areas in Seattle and north of Seattle, Janet George has met the challenge of finding YES 2 housing since the Delta Delta Delta house is under renovation this summer. Janet worked tirelessly with U of W Housing to provide dorm rooms for all 30 YES students, and the YES staff.
  • Janet renegotiated the payroll company contract that pays YES 2 students, staff, and the year-round community jobs for youth in Vancouver.
  • Working with Washington Vocational Services, she has cultivated new employers. One of the employment sites will be a store outlet for Seahawks products. We imagine there may be some arm wrestling among the students for this job site.
  • Jen Scheel and Janet continued their “at-distance/phone in” college prep series this quarter. This began in January with state-wide participation from youth interested in learning about college, but not yet ready for Bridge. Some students become interested in attending Bridge after completing this course. The last session will be in June with a field trip to a college campus over a weekend. A few universities around the state have presented on topics of financial aid, DSS accommodations protocol, academic advising and career mapping.
Spokane/Eastern & Central WA Area Youth
  • Youth attendance has grown steadily with monthly workshops in Spokane County. A 19 year old youth, who was still searching for a career goal, attended a presentation by a music therapist who is self-employed. The message was heard by this student who writes and sings her own music and she has since researched and chosen this creative career.
  • This past quarter has been focused on planning Bridge and SWAG, with 7 youth attending Bridge this summer; and 6 attending SWAG. A MSW student at EWU has helped with SWAG job development.
  • With the help of DSB COMS staff, LEAP has been developed and planned; one week in Spokane and one week in the Tri-Cities. As a Title IV partner, the Spokane Workforce Development Council’s Next Generation Zone is offering space to us for LEAP headquarters.
  • Three contractors have been hired to produce two Skills sessions in the new locations of Yakima and the Tri Cities.

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ORIENTATION AND TRAINING CENTER HIGHLIGHTS

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative 1 - DSB Story

For this quarter, the OTC success story belongs to Stuart Weller, a young man with a bright future who has had to overcome several personal obstacles and learned to turn negative situations into positive ones.

Blind from birth, Stuart had high expectations put upon him by his family, which were both positive and negative. He wasn’t allowed to fit the stereotypes the world had about blindness. He needed to be better than the rest. No matter what it took, Stuart had to learn to fit into a totally sighted world and put his blindness aside, which was difficult to do because he still had to learn blindness skills to function both in school and in life.

During his elementary school years, Stuart thrived as a student. He was the best, being fully mainstreamed and making straight A’s. As he got into middle and High School, he found that not everything was working out as he’d hoped. It was hard living a life of not wanting to be blind but still being blind, and it was challenging fitting into his world when he found himself alone with no real friends. The harder he tried, the angrier he felt. He decided it was better to be cool and normal socially rather than academically. He cared less about school and more about a new group of friends. However, being an angry rebel and associating with a tough crowd still didn’t work for him or make him fit in the way he’d wanted.

Stuart always had a great love for music and words. He found that music could be an outlet to make his feelings known to the public, especially the people around him. Known as “Blind Rage”, he found a niche for himself with rap music, which seemed to turn things around for him. However, even with newly acquired popularity and success, Stuart admitted there was still something missing or not right about his life. He still hadn’t realized that things wouldn’t begin changing for him until he was comfortable with his blindness and with himself as a competent and confident blind person.

Several years later, Stuart came to the OTC for intensive training in the skills of blindness. It wasn’t easy or comfortable for him to be in a place where he had to face his blindness on a full-time basis. He was full of mixed feelings about how much training he actually needed. He was challenged and quickly learned that even though he had decent skills, he could always improve them and learn new ways of doing things.

While at the OTC, Stuart met other students and staff who were also blind. Those blind people seemed “normal” to him. They encouraged and accepted him just as he was, and if they pushed him, it was only to do well and fulfill his OTC training goals. Stuart began seeing that people dealt with their blindness in different ways. He enjoyed the seminar discussions, because for the first time, he could have conversations with others about issues only blind people would understand. Slowly and cautiously, he began to let his guard down and realize that it was OK to be blind. He began dealing with many issues that had been pushed aside. He began tasting a new freedom he’d not known. It didn’t take him long to discover that his road to freedom wouldn’t be easy and would have some hard challenges. He knew he’d need to deal with them before going any further with training and a career. Things had to change for the better, and with Stuart’s fighting spirit, he would make sure they did.

Once Stuart got his life back on track, he returned to the OTC to take Carrie Lampel’s Braille class, which would prepare him to take the UEB state certification exam. He came back with a new energy and work ethic. He used that new energy to look for work, and in late March, he announced to OTC staff that he’d gotten a job as a Braillist for a school district. He said he’d never felt happier or more excited about something in his life. He often said he couldn’t have made it this far without the OTC, especially Carrie who pushed him hard, in a positive way.

A month into his job, Stuart faces new obstacles and challenges. At times, he is uncertain about how to overcome them. However, he also knows what it means to put his best effort into something and will use it in a positive way to show his employer and himself that he’s the best man for the job.

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative 2 – DSB Expertise

During this past quarter, all DSB employees focused on AWARE training, and the OTC was no exception. Kim Massey and Jim Portillo helped the rest of the OTC staff prepare for the All-Staff training, which took place in Olympia from February 26th through March 1st. OTC staff is feeling much better about using the system now that they’ve had more training.

A very special thanks goes out to Kim Massey for all of his work with developing the training curriculum and time spent training his coworkers.

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative 3 – Employment at Every Layer

There were no OTC internships this past quarter. However, several have been worked on for the next quarter.

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REGIONAL VR HIGHLIGHTS

Participant Stories

JS has Gratitude for Seattle DSB and VRC Monirul Hawke

When I first began losing my vision, I thought my life was over. I was 32 years old and feeling on top of the world, but one day I noticed a problem with one eye. I quickly found out I had LHON and was legally blind in both eyes within a handful of months. I heard from friends and doctors about the DSB in Seattle, but I was not physically or emotionally ready to seek help yet. Nearly one year after onset, my vision had deteriorated to a point where I knew I needed to reach out to the DSB. Before my enrollment with them, I was clearly floundering and lost. With the assistance of the DSB in Seattle, I’ve gained a new sense of independence and feel more confident in all aspects of my life. One example, I’m currently typing this on a laptop provided for me by the DSB and I’ve received extensive Jaws software training. The orientation and mobility coaching I have benefited from has been nothing short of incredible and liberating. I can now navigate my house, neighborhood and work place confidently without fear of falling over curbs and stairs. I also have had sessions with a therapist who deals exclusively with patients who have vision loss—this has proven to do wonders for my stress and anxiety. All in all, I cannot say enough great things about the Seattle DSB and I do not know where I would be without them. They were there for me when I needed it most and for that I will be forever grateful.

RN Launches Radio Show

My radio show will first air on May 22, 3:00 Pacific. Attached is beneficial information for viewing or listening. Please go to the Pyramid One site https://pyramidone.wixsite.com/pyramidoneradio and exchange your email so future recordings can be sent to you. Please tell all at the DSB for though I do not know most of them, my OTC experience has allowed much good to come to me. This show is one of the benefits of my training at the OTC. Please tell all especially Juanessa Scott, Jim Portillo, Julie Brannon, and Lou Oma. In the radio and TV business, the more viewers and more who get recordings sent to them, more will want to hire them for business coaching which is my business. So the more people at the DSB who get my recordings or better yet call in will certainly help me in earnings. Thanks and thank you for keeping in touch.

Spokane Business Owner Keeps Independence

The Spokane office recently successfully closed a case for the President of a local plumbing and mechanical company. He was effusive in his praise of DSB and the team approach we have for vocational rehabilitation. Although this gentleman just turned 80, he was able to utilize technology to effectively transition from having sighted staff helping him to being independent in his leadership of the company.

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative 1 – DSB Story and Outreach

  • Harry Whiting, VRC Lacey office, met with the Director at Hull Park Foundation (HPF) in Portland, Oregon. Their discussion was around developing a partnership to seek out qualified blind and low vision participants for employment opportunities at HPF.
  • The Tribal meeting at WorkSource in Tumwater, hosted by Cindy and Jackie (Regional Manager) brought DSB staff Jonathan Utrera (VRC), Harry Whiting (VRC) and Regional Area Manager of the South Region, Meredith Hardin, together with other DVR and Tribal VR staff. Discussions were on how to collaborate and utilize resources to ensure participants in either program succeed in finding employment.
  • In March, Brooke and Steffi met with the TVIs and O&M teachers who serve students with vision loss in Benton, Franklin, Grant, Adams and Walla Walla Counties. More than half of these teachers were hired within the last school year. The purpose of the meeting was to tell them about the VR services that DSB can offer to their students, and to encourage them to refer students to us for Youth Programs and VR services when appropriate. The teachers seemed very interested in the information we shared, and we felt that we made a good connection with them.
  • VRC Gil Cupat participated in the following events to get the word out about DSB:
    • March 6th – Workforce Snohomish Quarterly Training Provider Forum
    • March 26th – Snohomish County Transition Fair
    • April 13th (Saturday) – presented at the monthly meeting of the Snohomish chapter of WCB in Everett
    • April 16th – WFS Strategic Plan & Board Meeting

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative 2 – DSB Expertise

  • Laura Ozios-Townsend, AT Specialist – Tacoma office, met with Cheryl Keating of the Tacoma WorkSource. Laura was provided a tour of the new WorkSource office and she looked over available AT devices and/or software and discussed using some of WorkSource’s space for a DSB Open House.
  • Laura Ozios-Townsend and Juanessa Scott (VRC), met with Mike Robinson of the Bremerton WorkSource to do a presentation of DSB services; eligibility, OOS and accessibility. Discussed etiquette guidelines, FAQ, and brief tour of facility.
  • Laura and Juanessa took their show to Kitsap Community Resources, Trish Tierney. The duo provide information about DSB and discussed accessibility.
  • The Senior Citizens Center Community Coordinator, Crystal Barstow, invited Harry Whiting (VRC) to share information with them on low vision services offered by DSB in the Port Angeles area.
  • Maureen provided an in-service training to help fellow employees of a blind customer (sensitivity, cane training under simulators)..

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative 3 – Employment at Every Layer

  • Jen Scheel, Youth Services Specialist (YSS) and Juanessa Scott (VRC), managed a booth at the Tools for Success at Tacoma Community College. This event allows DSB to showcase what services are provided in assisting low vision/blind youth and adults looking to become part of the workforce

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AGENCY COMMUNICATIONS REPORT

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative1 – DSB Story

  • Youth Services Event Promotions
    Promotion included flyer/handout design, website updates, and posting to social media.
    • Twenty-nine (29) events promoted/updated since last report.
  • Information & Referral Event Promotions Press Releases
    Distributed press releases to more than 100 media outlets across the state to promote the Information and Referral Seminar held on April 16, 2019.
    • Follow-up information request from journalist received.

Online Communications (02/01/2019 - 04/30/2019)

WEBSITE
  • Google Analytics
    • Users – Number of unique individuals who visited the site: 4,858
      16% were first time visitors
    • Page Views – Number of pages looked at: 17,250
    • Channels Used – How did people find the website
      Direct (people typed in the URL) – 1,468 (29.7%)
      Organic Search (people used Google, Bing, or other search engine to find the site) – 3,156 (63.8%)
      Social (people connected to the site via LinkedIn, Facebook, or other social media outlet) – 125 (2.5%)
      Referral (people clicked a link on a different website) – 200 (4.0%)
  • Online Referral Forms:
    • Self-referrals: 108
    • Physician referrals: 18
SOCIAL MEDIA
  • Facebook
    • Total Likes: 165
    • Total Followers: 177
    • Total Reach: 2,743
    • Top Facebook Posts
      • WE’RE HIRING! DSB is currently hiring for a new Rehabilitation Technician 2 (RT2). February 12, 2019; Reach = 503
      • National Assistive Technology Day. March 27, 2019; Reach = 263
      • Google Doodle honors inventor Seiichi Miyake. March 18, 2019; Reach = 151
  • LinkedIn
  • Total Followers: 80
  • Unique Impressions: 235
  • Total Impressions: 653
  • Top LinkedIn Posts
    • Office closure – weather. February 14, 2019; Impressions = 41
    • Office closure – AWARE. February 26, 2019; Impressions = 36
    • SILC Board recruitment announcement. March 6; 2019; Impressions = 34
OTHER COMMUNICATON EVENTS / MEETINGS / TRAININGS SINCE LAST SRCB MEETING

  • Washington Counts 2020
    This is an effort by the state of Washington to get a full and accurate count of all people living in the state of Washington in the upcoming 2020 Census. The Complete Count is a priority project for Governor Inslee and has bi-partisan support in the legislature. Former Governor Locke is the chair of the committee. The project is funded through FY 2019 and FY 2020 funding is expected by OFM. Meetings will be held regularly throughout 2019 and early 2020.

    • Complete Count Communications Subcommittee, Olympia, March 5
    • Complete Count Committee Meeting, Seattle, April 9
    • Complete Count Communications Subcommittee, conference call, April 17
  • Pacific Northwest AER Conference, Ellensburg, WA – April 23, 2019
    DSB exhibited at the annual regional conference of educators and service providers for youth who have visual impairments.
  • Public Service Recognition Week, Olympia – May 8, 2019
    Hosted tent to share agency information with state employees gathered at the event that celebrates of work that state employees. Event hosted by the Office of Financial Management on the capital campus and is attended by more than 1,000 people
  • CPR Training, Seattle Office – May 13, 2019
    Refresher training in proper CPR techniques
  • DES Training: Leading Others, Seattle – May 14-15, 2019
    Leading Others is a collection of learning strategies and tools that help developing leaders expand their mindset and build necessary knowledge and skills needed for leadership in the public sector today and into the future. Parts 1 and 2 of a three-part training. This three-day course fulfills Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 357-34-055
  • Social Media Workgroup Monthly Meeting, Olympia (via phone) – May 20, 2019
    Meeting to discuss issues related to managing social media for a state agency. Discussions of techniques and best practices for managing accounts on a daily basis.
LEGISLATIVE LIAISON

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FINANCIAL REPORT

Federal Fiscal Year Q2 2019, through March 31, 2019

2019 State Fiscal Year - Review as of March 31, 2019 (in thousands)

Source Allotment Expenditures Balance
General Fund – State 2,651 1,520 1,131
General Fund – Federal 12,811 7,677 5,134
Information Tech. Investment Fund
(two year allotment)		 3,206 2,667 539
Local 30 12 18
Pension Funding Stabilization Act 87 0 87
Total 18,785 11,876 6,909

2019 State Fiscal Year - Federal Grant Funds Only as of March 31, 2019 (in thousands)

Grant Grant
Amount		 SFY 17 Federal
Expenditures		 SFY18 Federal
Expenditures		 SFY 19 Federal
Expenditures		 Balance
2018 Voc. Rehab Basic Services - $1.7 million is for Pre-ETS set aside $11,455 0 $6,547 $2,651 $2,257
2019 Voc. Rehab. Basic Services - $1.5 million is for Pre-ETS set aside $9,466 0 0 $5,103 $4,363
2018 Supported Employment $46 0 $7 0 $39
2019 Supported Employment $45 0 $7 0 $39
2017 Independent Living Part B $58 0 $48 $10 0
2018 Independent Living Part B $62 0 $34 $28 0
2017 IL Older Blind $668 $518 $150 0 0
2018 IL Older Blind $681 0 $497 $184 0
2019 IL Older Blind
Grant not recieved yet; this ammount assumes same funding level as 2018		 $681 0 0 $241 $440
Total $23,227 $518 $7,283 $8,242 $7,184

2019 State Fiscal Year - Total Expenditures by Program as of December 31, 2018 (in thousands)

Program Grant Funds State Other Total
Voc Rehab Services Adults $7,328,270 $1,836 0 $9,164
Voc Rehab Pre-ETS $674 0 0 $674
Supported Employment 0 0 0 0
Independent Living Part B $39 $7 0 $46
IL Older Blind $603 $2 0 $605
Birth Through 8
(Not Grant Funded)		 0 0 $14 $14
Social Security Revenue 0 0 $113 $113
Business Enterprise Program 0 0 $950 $950
Business Management System 0 0 $1,491 $1,491
Total $8,644 $1,845 $2,568 $13,057

What's Happening in the World of DSB Business and Finance?

  • The Agency’s 19-21 biennial budget is approved and will go into effect July 1, 2019.
    • Highlights of the approved budget are as follows:
      • $2,200,000 in General Fund State (GFS) dollars was requested to maintain VR employment services. $550,000 is approved.
      • $460,000 in GFS dollars was requested for I.L. services. $230,000 is approved.
      • $330,000 in GFS dollars was requested for the data center migration. $330,000 is approved.
      • GFS dollars is approved in the amount of $284,000 to cover increased costs in state central services.
      • GFS dollars is approved in the amount of $1,353,000 to cover compensation changes.
  • DSB currently has 109 individuals on the wait list of which 84 individuals are in priority category 1, 24 individuals are in priority category 2 and 1 individuals is in priority category 3. DSB is continuing to refine projections to ensure sufficient funds are available to fund existing employment plans and to determining eligibility for everyone who applies for VR services.

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HUMAN RESOURCES UPDATE

New Hires / Promotions

Personnel Job Title Team Duty Station Effective Date
Kelly Franklin Vocational Rehab Counsleor 4 CS/South Region Lacey 04/01/2019
Abbie Reesor Program Specialist 3 CS/North Region Seattle 04/01/2019
Brandon Shotwell Non-Permanent Information
Technology Specialist 3		 Business Services Lacey 04/01/2019
Traci Woodman Rehab Technician 2 CS/South Region Lacey 04/01/2019
Jaime Portillo Program Specialist 4 CS/OTC Seattle 04/16/2019
Kellil Anderson Acting Special Programs Manager VR/Special Lacey 04/19/2019
Loren Dong Information Technology Specialist 3 IT/CS North Region Seattle 05/01/2019
Heidi Estes Fiscal Analyst 2 Business Services Lacey 05/01/2019
Gloria Wright Fiscal Analyst 2 Business Services Lacey 05/01/2019

Departures/Resignations/Retirements

Personnel Job Title Team Duty Station Effective Date
Patrick Dymond Special Programs Manager VR/Special Lacey 04/18/2019
Jennifer Kenworthy Purchasing and Procurement Coordinator CS/Admin Seattle

04/18/2019
Erin Chaves Vocational Rehabiliation Counselor 3 CS/North Region Seattle 05/17/2019

Current and Future Openings

Personnel Job Title Team Duty Station Effective Date
Recruiting BEP Manager BEP Lacey 04/01/2019
Recruiting OTC Administrator CS/OTC Seattle 04/01/2019
Recruiting Vocatonal Rehabilitation Counselor 3 CS/East Region Spokane 04/08/2019
Recruiting Fiscal Analyst 2 Business Services Lacey 05/08/2019
Vacant Chief Financial Officer Business Services Lacey TBA
Vacant Accounting Manager Business Services Lacey TBA

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