FFY 2019, Quarter 3 Report

April 2019 – June 2019

Quarterly Report presented to the State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind

Contents

INDEPENDENT LIVING BLIND SKILLS SERVICES

Client Services

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

Trend Total YB OB
Total Cases 1,054 93
10% of all clients		 962
90% of all clients
Service Delivery to Hispanic or Latino Clients 29 7 22
Service Delivery to Asian Clients 22 6 16
Centenarians (age 100 or older) Served 13 NA 13
Youth (24 or younger) Served 6 93 NA
Homeless Clients
all clients 60 years old or younger		 9 2 7
Clients with Depression 187 26 161
Clients with Bone, Muscle, Skin, Joint, and Movement Disorders
(includes Parkinson's, arthritis, and osteoporosis)*		 385 18 368
Clients with Diabetes ** 207 28 180
Average Cost per Client $ 493 $ 445

* More OB Clients have some sort of bone, muscle, skin, joint, and movement issue than any other medical issue.
**More YB Clients have diabetes than any other additional medical issue.

Featured Success Story

Tim lives in a retirement home in Yakima and was visited by Shelia Turner. Tim has many heath issues including vision loss due to diabetic retinopathy and renal failure requiring dialysis three times per week. Tim reported having difficulty managing his diabetes since he cannot read his glucometer. He also had difficulty keeping track of the days and times his dialysis appointments were scheduled.

Sheila provided Tim with a talking glucose meter. She showed Tim’s case manager, Sue, how to operate it. Sue says this has greatly helped Tim and they continue to practice setting up the strips. Sheila also determined a 4X magnifier worked best for Tim to read appointments written on his large print calendar and provided him with a talking watch. Tim reports that the talking watch and calendar have greatly helped. Tim has reported that he greatly enjoys the magnifier and is finding more and more ways to use it to increase his independence.

Outreach

On March 14, Sheila Turner hosted a presentation for 12 people at Park Plaza Retirement Home in Walla Walla. She talked about the Independent Living program and the Edith Bishel Center. She demonstrated several low vision aids and talked about various eye conditions and how they affect vision. She talked about techniques for using the telephone, labeling clothing, identifying and sorting money, labeling medications and using signature guides. She explained how magnifiers work and talked about using a cane and walking with a guide. She answered questions from the audience as well and handed out brochures. This outreach resulted in at least one referral.

Recent IL Satisfaction Survey Comments

  • “Able to read much better with proper magnifiers, red dot marking on kitchen stove controls for cooking & baking as well as helpful suggestions. Very comfortable with staff member provided me.”
  • “Corey got me going on the computer, which I haven't been able to use in 20 years. He was so helpful! I feel really good about what he was able to teach me and he was so patient and nice.”
  • “They marked dials with bright orange dots to make it easier to work appliance. The magnifying projector has to be amazing, couldn't live without it. Cheryl has been very helpful and kind and has come to my house several times to help make things easier.”

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BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM (BEP)

Facilities Update

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. Roderick Roberts was awarded this facility and opened it on April 1. The plan is for a slow build and menu transition to better understand the clientele and surrounding community. As a program we will continue to monitor this facility and maintain positive relations with GSA and building management.

The retirement of Roy Gappert, our L&I vendor, is now official and it creates an exciting opportunity for our vendor community to bid on a highly desirable location. As a program we have begun the preparations for bidding and interview process to be conducted in partnership with L&I. Currently scheduled for mid-July.

Our two newest vendors have been very successful in their initial months of operation. They are at Clark County Court House and EL Goodrich building in Tumwater. These vendors have worked through their initial start-up challenges and have continued to grow. 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 in their day to day business.

Training and New Potential Vendor Update

With the lack of current vendors and the growing amount of new facilities, it is becoming progressively imperative that we increase the pipeline of new potential vendors. The good news here 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 two more clients, currently at the OTC, that have expressed interest in the program.

We believe that as the counselors continue to better understand the changes in the new training model and the accessibility it creates that this trend should continue or even increase. 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. She has posted this 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: [Q3 FFY19 vs Q3 FFY18]

  • New VR Applications [215 vs 300]
  • VR Customers Receiving Planned Services [1057 vs 1274]
  • VR Customers Added to Wait List [44 vs 0] (YTD Total: 108)
  • VR Customers Released from Wait List [42 vs 0] (YTD Total: 98)
  • Students with a Disability served [388 vs 270]
  • Competitive Employment Outcomes [35 vs 107]
  • Average Hourly Wage FFY19 Q3 [23.42 vs 23.45]

Employment Outcomes

A sample of successful placements:

Job Title Employer Region/County
Purchasing Manager Precision Castparts Corp. North / Snohomish
Logging Worker R&R Conner Helicopters East / Garfield
Medical & Clinical Lab Tech Chi Franciscan South / Kitsap
Marketing Manager PACCAR North / King
Loan Interviewer / Clerk Northwest Access Fund North / King
Business Operations Spec. Guide Dogs for the Blind South / Multnomah
Teachers & Instructors LA Association for the Blind East / NA
Mechanical Engineer Boeing North / Snohomish
Mental Health Counselor Grant Integrated Services East / Grant
Office / Admin Support Farmers' Insurance North / Snohomish
Teacher Assistant St. Anthony's North / King
Education / Training Worker Headstart East / Okanaogan
  • Average hourly wage all employment outcomes at Q3: $21.67
  • Percentage of participants age 55 and older who exited with employment outcome: 34%
  • Eldest with employment outcome: Age 73 (Marriage and Family Therapist)
  • Youngest with employment outcome: Age 19 (Electromechanical Equipment Assembler)

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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

FFY2016
(ended 09/30/17)

 $ 8,730,218 $ 1,309,532 $ 1,291,505 $ 18,027

FFY2017
(ended 09/30/18)

 $ 8,792,634 $ 1,318,895 $ 1,250,702 $ 68,193

FFY2018
(ends 09/30/19)

 $ 11,454,960 $ 1,718,244 $ 826,182 $ 892,062

Pre-Employment Transition Services and Youth Services Activities

Planning Activities for Summer

This quarter was devoted to pre-planning for our robust summer programs. We decided to add more Skills and LEAP experiences around the state given our growing number of youth participation. We continued with our staple programs of YES 1 and 2, Bridge and SWAG. In-between, we managed to still have some day workshops with beeping egg scavenger hunts, sightless self-defense, organic gardening, and cooking. The young men really do love to cook and ask for more cooking workshops! The monthly phone-in version of college prep sessions concluded this quarter. YSS attended WSSB’s track meet to touch base with youth and their parents, many of them participating in the summer programs. The parents always appreciate the opportunity to ask more questions face to face; and probably feel more comfortable knowing their child is in capable hands.

The Youth Services team, including our WSSB specialist, attended a youth conference “All Youth Working” to collaborate with other states and organizations working with disabled youth. Of great interest was the legislation California has created for employing undocumented youth. It is not a simple process and involves House and Senate Bills galore. But it was valuable to know that it can be done.

Stay tuned for next quarter’s report as it is amazing! Just a hint, DSB’s Youth programs and sponsorship of Camp Abilities served 150 youth from mid-June to mid-August!

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ORIENTATION AND TRAINING CENTER HIGHLIGHTS

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative 1 – DSB Story

For this quarter, the OTC success story features SD, a young woman who has learned the importance of having a positive and tenacious attitude when facing tough and uncertain times in order to triumph in life!

Five years ago, SD was living a full life that most young people enjoy. She had reached a point where she decided to quit her job to go to school and pursue a nursing degree. Then, a week after her twenty-first birthday, she began losing some of her vision. SD learned she had hydrocephalus (excessive spinal fluid which reached her brain and ruptured her optic nerve). Three months later, after her first brain surgery, she lost her remaining vision.

Becoming blind was quite a blow for SD and her family. She went through some depression along with wondering what she was going to do as a blind person. What about school? What about a future career? She didn’t know any other blind people and knew nothing of what blind people could do. Her neurologist had given her some pamphlets recommending resources, one of them being DSB. SD and her mom met and talked with the person who would become her Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, Kara Thompson. Kara recommended the OTC, and after a tour, SD thought it would be the right place to begin learning the skills she’d need to live as a blind person. She also knew that in order to move forward, she’d need to change her attitude and accept her new reality. That was much easier said than done.

SD admitted that during the first couple of terms at the OTC, she had a rather poor attitude. Although she was picking things up quickly and enjoying her classes, she still had a hard time accepting herself as a blind person. There were times when she wondered how some of what she was learning would actually benefit her in the future.

As time went on, she began meeting and interacting with many blind people, and SD began realizing that they were living full and enjoyable lives. She was invited to attend some meetings and functions sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind, and decided it would be worthwhile to attend and see what she could learn. She also became more involved as an OTC student, participating in and actually leading seminar discussions and asking different kinds of questions that had a more positive tone to them. She actually wanted to be challenged in her classes. Her overall attitude changed, and she was determined to do well and succeed.

SD didn’t quite realize how much she’d been learning until her mobility skills were put to the test. She had two experiences which boosted her confidence in a huge way! One Friday, after a full day of classes, several OTC students decided to attend an NFB function. They traveled as a group and thought they’d all be able to figure things out together. After a while, SD realized that she was in the lead and people were asking her questions thinking she knew exactly where she was going. A similar experience happened to her when she and a group of students went to the NFB State convention. She thought about it and figured that if she could travel confidently for those two events, she could do her final Mobility monster route. Sure enough, she successfully completed it and felt a new sense of pride and accomplishment.

SD was also a peer tutor during her final two terms at the OTC. She didn’t realize it then, but her skills were definitely being sharpened by helping others, especially with using computers.

When it was time to graduate, SD thought she was ready! She had done well in her classes and was itching to get out into the real world and live life. However, what she didn’t have was a plan for after graduation. Her enthusiasm and feelings of preparedness came to a halt. All she knew was that she wanted to go back to college, but there were several steps that needed to be taken for that to happen. While waiting to see what would happen next, time slipped away, and so did the sharpness of some of the skills and confidence she had obtained. Once it was time for her to take her first couple of college classes, she got nervous and apprehensive. Things needed to change. Again, she needed an attitude adjustment, along with the support of the people she’d befriended during her time at the OTC.

With a new outlook, and much tenacity, SD went to school and ended up doing better than she thought in her classes. It was challenging, but she asked many questions of her professors, other blind friends, and her OTC instructors. She learned to face problems she wasn’t sure had an easy solution.

SD is a sophomore at Seattle Central College. She’s a straight A student, on both the Dean’s list and the honor roll society. Her career goal is to work in the field of mental health.

Aside from her college classes, SD is an activist. She’s an active member of her school’s Accessibility Committee. The committee has been able to make some great changes at the school. Both faculty and students are being informed about the need to have things accessible to everyone.

SD is also a strong member of the NFB of Washington and helped reestablish the student division. She wants to give back to the people who have helped her see that her blindness doesn’t have to be a barrier. SD wants to live the life she wants to live, and she’s well on her way.

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative 2 – DSB Expertise

This past quarter was spent getting used to the AWARE system. OTC staff received much training, and it was time to put the knowledge gained to use. Kim Massey and Jim Portillo will be doing some additional training in September to implement client “Service Plans”, which will be useful to both OTC staff and VR counselors.

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative 3 – Employment at Every Layer

This quarter saw seven students doing internships. One student who is interested in being a teacher of the visually impaired worked at Lichton Springs Elementary. He worked with a TVI and with a braillist. Another student who is also looking into education had her internship at Lowell elementary and Rainier Beach High, working with a Para educator dealing with blind children.

A student who was a paralegal for many years and then came to the OTC after losing much of his vision had an internship at the NW Justice Center. He helped them by making phone calls to various companies and organizations so as to update the center’s records.

A student who would like a career as a writer had an internship with Heidi Thorson, a contractor who teaches a Life Reflections Writing class. She gave much feedback to the student about his stories, and now, after his internship, he feels ready to have his first story published.

Another student who would like to have a career as a graphic designer worked with the Rooted in Rights organization doing some art work for their website.

We had a student do an internship at the NW ADA Center, analyzing their website and giving feedback on some accessibility issues.

Finally, we had a student do a Customer Service internship at the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind.

It was a very successful quarter for OTC internship placements.

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REGIONAL VR HIGHLIGHTS

Participant Stories

DSB’s Pleasure to Assist

Gil Cupat recently closed a case with employment: The participant works 30 hrs/week, making $35/hr as a software accessibility tester for ISoftstone in Kirkland. We have provided him with ongoing adaptive skills training (with Maureen), AT equipment (Roberto), guidance/counseling, and job placement (Mary from WVS). He was a delightful young person to work with. We have stayed in communication the whole time he partnered with DSB.

Assistive Technology Shadow

Mario Eiland, Assistive Technology Specialist has a youth from the YES1 program job shadow him:

D. came to my office to learn more about assistive technology. I understood that D. enjoys photography. He uses his android smart phone to take pictures and enhance them with an app called Snapseed he downloaded from the Google Play Store. For this reason, I thought I would give him the opportunity to use a device with a bigger screen so he could see the image better. I let him use an iPad Pro with a 12.9 inch screen. We went outside and walked around taking pictures of the area. He mainly took pictures of flowers and other plants. After taking several pictures we went back inside and he sat down and enhanced them to his preference. He emailed the pictures to me and I printed them out for him. He seemed to enjoy the time with me, but unfortunately time ran out on us and he had to get back to his other activities.

Mario received a thank you note in braille from this youth:

Dear Mario, Thank you for letting me work on photography. I really enjoyed editing the photos I took. I thought it is cool that you edit audio as a job and for fun. Thank you, D.

Enthusiastic Thanks

Harry Whiting, VRC4, received an email from a participant, sharing their gratitude for the tools DSB provided her:

Oh Harry, you ROCK!!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!! Those pieces of technology help more than words can describe. –A.

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative 1 – DSB Story & Outreach

Kara Thompson recently met with the DeafBlind Employee Support Services coordinator at the Seattle Lighthouse. This was a mutual education meeting and it was great to learn more about how the Lighthouse supports their staff internally and how their culture is changing for the better in terms of providing increasing support to DeafBlind staff. Kara learned more about potential resources for individuals who are DeafBlind and was able to explain about DSB services and how things have changed some in light of Order of Selection.

Sandra Rodriguez, Abbie Reesor, Zach Abernathy, Yang-Su Cho, and Maureen Reggie did a low vision/AT informational demonstration to the second year Occupational Therapy students at UW.

Damiana Harper has been attending the WorkSource Spokane Disability Advisory Committee meetings. The intention of this committee membership is to help WorkSource understand the needs of DSB participants so DSB can refer participants to WorkSource and have confidence that they will receive meaningful service from the employees there.

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative 2 – DSB Expertise

Sandra & Maureen toured a lab with Dr. Ashley McCain at the new UW low vision clinic as a resource for DSB. They also discussed the services DSB provides, encouraging referrals.

Sharon Koch hosted a meeting of higher education assistive technology specialists at the Spokane DSB office. There were demonstrations and explanations of new devices as well as opportunities for attendees to problem-solve together.

John Sheahan, (Assistive Technology Specialist) and LaDell Lockwood, (Communications Consultant), represented DSB at the State Employee Recognition Event by hosting an informational vendor booth. John and LaDell were there to provide information about DSB and to answer any questions.

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative 3 – Employment at Every Layer

John Sheahan, Kelly Franklin (VRC 4), and Harry Whiting (VRC 4) visited the Tumwater WorkSource. They met with Jackie Velasco and William Meyenburg to discuss how to build their partnership. This discussion touched upon making sure DSB participants receive appropriate customer service when using WorkSource for their employment needs (job search, resume building, mock interviewing etc.). Also, focusing on getting the WorkSource accessible for the blind and low vision participant.

John Sheahan followed up the meeting with Tumwater WorkSource, with a show and tell of AT hardware and software for Jackie and William. John provided them with a detailed letter of what upgrades they could make, low cost items, and where they could purchase such items.

Laura Ozios-Townsend, (Assistive Technology Specialist), met with Michael Robinson of the Kitsap/Bremerton WorkSource. She provided an accessibility review of the current technologies being used by DSB participants. She made recommendations of what WorkSource could improve around their current technology. Laura also offered to provide any training to their staff on these technologies, so they better understand how DSB participants use these tools when assisting DSB participants.

The Spokane VR team has been working with Youth Services Specialist to brainstorm and flesh out ideas for internships for students across the state. The internship concepts have the potential to apply to some adult participants, as well.

Alexis Clough (South Regional Lead) and Juanessa Scott (VRC 4) met with J’nai Starks with United Way of Pierce County. United Way’s 2-1-1 developed a Common Referral System for Pierce County agencies to use to refer to one another. This is to help participants get connected to the right resource and provide a partnership with agencies in working together in assisting the participant with the resources they need. This group discussed how the system is working so far and how to make it better.

Kelly Franklin (VRC 4), made her rounds to build partnerships and talk service development with the following agencies: Tacoma Goodwill-SCSPC, Thurston WorkSource, South Puget Community College, Pac Mountain WorkSource, Morningside (Thurston & Lewis County), Center for Independent Living, Harley Davidson of Olympia and Freedom Consulting. Kelly made sure they knew who DSB was, but also discussed how we can utilize their services to support DSB participants in finding employment.

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AGENCY COMMUNICATIONS REPORT

Progress Towards Strategic Initiative #1 – DSB Story

  • Youth Services Event Promotions
    Sixteen (16) events promoted/updated since last report. Promotion included flyer/handout design, website updates, and posting to social media.
  • I&R Event Videos Posted to Website
    Videos of Information and Referral Seminar held on April 16, 2019 is now available online.
  • Seattle Times - June 20
    Quote from Lou Oma
    Financial miscues, loss of donations doom Seattle-based Sight Connections nonprofit for the blind
    Link to Seattle Times article about the closure of Sight Connection
  • KNDS 23/KNDU 25 (NBC-Kennewick, WA) - July 30
    DSB Funding Support of Camp Spark
    Northwest Association for Blind Athletes hosts camp for children with visual impairments in WA
    Link to article about NWABA's support of Camp Spark
  • Tacoma News Tribune - July 19
    DSB Skills Tacoma Camp article
    ‘I love it forever; it was so fun.’ Blind kids get boat ride as part of maritime program
    Link to Tacoma News Tribune article about DSB Skills Camp

Online Communications (05/01/19 – 07/31/19)

Website - Google Analytics
  • Users – Number of unique individuals who visited the site: 5,147
    15.9%     were first time visitors
  • Page Views – Number of pages looked at: 19,285
  • Channels Used – How did people find the website
    • Direct (people typed in the URL) – 1,941 (29.3%)
    • Organic Search (people used Google, Bing, or other search engine to find the site) – 4,306 (65.1%)
    • Social (people connected to the site via LinkedIn, Facebook, or other social media outlet) – 59 (0.9%)
    • Referral (people clicked a link on a different website) – 303 (4.5%).
Online Referral Forms
  • Self-referrals: 87
  • Physician referrals: 18
Social Media

Facebook

  • Total Likes: 181
  • Total Followers: 199
  • Total Reach: 7,030
  • Top Facebook Posts
    • Former DSB Client nears completion of America’s Great Loop. July 24, 2019. Reach = 132
    • The DSB Skills participants had a great day on the Puget Sound thanks to the crew of the Riviera and the staff at Foss Waterway Seaport. July 19, 2019. Reach = 113
    • WE’RE HIRING! DSB Youth Services is adding a full time Youth Services Specialist! Location is the Yakima DSB office with the East Region team. June 27, 2019. Reach 108

LinkedIn

  • Total Followers: 87
  • Unique Impressions: 271
  • Total Impressions: 1,303
  • Top LinkedIn Posts
    • Ready to recruit at the Microsoft Ability Summit Job Fair. #msabilitysummit. May 30, 2019. Impressions = 175
    • WASILC is hiring an Executive Lead. June 26, 2019. Impressions = 83
    • Governor Inslee is hosting a Twitter Q&A to take questions about the 2019 legislative session. June 18, 2019. Impressions = 78

Other Communication 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 State Agency Meeting, Olympia, June 17
    • Complete Count Committee Meeting, Seattle, July 10
  • Microsoft Modern Communications Webinar Series
    Insights and best practices about cross-company dialogue, storytelling, the role of corporate communications in culture change, embracing social media, empowering employees, effective internal campaigns, and the role technology plays in all of it.
    • May 22, 29; June 12, 19, 26
  • Microsoft Ability Summit Job Fair, Redmond, May 30
  • DES Training: Leading Others, Part 3, Seattle, June 13
  • WaTech Web Development Meeting, Conference call, July 24
  • Disability Inclusion Network Kickoff, Tumwater, August 9

Legislative Liaison

The 2019 Regular Legislative Session closed Sine Die on April 28, 2019.

Tracked Bills signed by Governor since last report created (May 21,2019)

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FINANCIAL REPORT

Federal Fiscal Year Q3 2019, through June 30, 2019

2019 State Fiscal Year – Review as Of June 30, 2019 (in thousands)

Source Allotment authority Expenditures Balance
General Fund - State $ 2,651 $ 2,651 0
General Fund - Federal $ 12,811 $ 10,673 $ 2,138
Information Tech. Investment Fund
(two year allotment)		 $ 3,206 $ 3,166 $ 40
Donations $ 30 $ 27 $ 3
Pension Funding Stablization Act $ 87 $ 87 0
Total $ 18,785 $ 16,604 $ 2,181

2019 State Fiscal Year – Federal Grant Funds Only as of June 30, 2019 (in thousands)

Grant Grant Amount SFY 18 Federal
Expenditures		 SFY 19 Federal
Expenditures		 Balance
2018 Voc. Rehab Basic Services
$1.7 million is for Pre-ETS set aside		 $ 11,455 $ 6,547 $ 4,016 $ 892
2019 Voc. Rehab. Basic Services
$1.4 million is for Pre-ETS set aside		 $ 9,466 0 $ 6,780 $ 2,686
2018 Supported Employment $ 46 $ 5 0 $ 41
2019 Supported Employment $ 45 0 0 $ 45
2019 Independent Living Part B $ 65 0 49 $ 16
2019 IL Older Blind-
Grant not received yet, this amount
assumes same funding level as 2018		 $ 673 0 $ 472 $ 201
Total $ 21,750 $ 6,552 $ 11,317 $ 3,881

2019 State Fiscal Year – Total Expenditures by Program as of June 30, 2019 (in thousands)

Program Grant Funds State Other Total
Voc. Rehab Servcies Adults $ 8,891 $ 2,424 0 $ 11,315
Voc. Rehab Pre-ETS $ 1,070 0 0 $ 1,070
Supported Employment $ 5 $ 2 0 $ 7
Independent Livign Part B $ 87 $ 7 0 $ 94
IL Older Blind $ 730 $ 2 0 $ 732
Birth through 8
(Not Grant Funded)		 0 0 $ 16 $ 16
Social Security Revenute 0 0 $ 113 $ 113
Business Enterprise Program 0 0 $ 1,073 $ 1,073
Business Management System 0 0 $ 1,608 $ 1,608
Total $ 10,783 $ 2,435 $ 2,810 $ 16,028

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

DSB is seeking ways to close the funding gap for Vocational Rehabilitation Services so that all applicants who are determined eligible can be removed from the wait list and begin developing an individual plan for employment. DSB submitted a request for $5.4 million in federal grant funds for the VR adult population and $900,000 in grant funds for Independent Living Older Blind. We expect to know if additional grant funds are approved the first week of September. If the Agency is not approved for additional grant funds, a supplemental budget request will be submitted to the Governor’s office no later than September 20, 2019.

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HUMAN RESOURCES UPDATE

New Hires/Promotions/Transfers

Personnel Job Title Team Duty Station Effective Date
Brandon Shotwell Management Analyst 3 VR Lacey 06/17/2019
Kelli Anderson Business System and Process
Improvement Manager		 VR Lacey 07/01/2019
Bryant Jackson ON-call YS Workshop
Coordinator		 Youth Services Kennewick 07/08/2019
Steffi Coleman Youth Services Specialist Youth Services Yakima 07/16/2019
Jim Hemmen BEP Manager BEP Lacey 07/16/2019
Joy Iverson Program Specialist 3 CS / OTC Seattle 08/01/2019
Linda McFall On-Call YS PS 2 Youth Services Yakima 08/01/2019
Donna Heaton Fiscal Analyst 2 Business Services Lacey 08/16/2019
Seaden Ouk Administrative Assistant 4 CS / Admin Seattle 08/16/2019
Taurus Richardson Vocational Rehabilitation
Counselor 3		 CS / East Region Spokane 08/16/2019

Departures/Resignations/Retirements

Personnel Job Title Team Duty Station Effective Date
Kim Daubl Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor 4 CS Spokane 06/30/2019
Julia Vidal Rehabilitation Technician 2 CS / Admin Seattle 07/31/2019

Current and Future Openings

Status Job Title Team Duty Station Effective Date
Recruiting OTC Administrator CS / OTC Seattle 04/01/2019
Recruiting Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor 4 (In Training) CS Tacoma 08/01/2019
Recruting Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor 4 (In Training) CS Spokane 08/01/2019
Recruiting Admin Team Manager CS / Admin Seattle 08/12/2019
Recruting Rehabilitation Technician 2 CS / Admin Seattle 08/12/2019
Recruting Program Specialist 3 / O&M CS Yakima 08/22/2019
Vacant Accounting Manager Business Services Lacey TBA

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