Empowering Delawareans with Visual Impairments

1. Division for the Visually Impaired (DVI)"Working in partnership with Delawareans who are blind or visually impaired in empowering them to be self-sufficient” Joint Finance Committee Hearing Fiscal Year 2015 Daniel M. Madrid Division Director February 25, 2014

2. Independent Living Services Vocational Rehabilitation Consumer and Business Services Business Enterprise Program Delaware Industries for the Blind Materials Center Orientation and Mobility Training Centers Educational Services DVI as an Organization

3. Visual Impairments and Blindness in Delaware Leading Causes of Blindness in Delaware Macular Degeneration (33%) Glaucoma (8%) Diabetes Related Vision Loss (8%) Visual Categories of Qualified Consumers Legally Blind (69%) Severely Visually Impaired (26%) Totally Blind (4%)

4. Independent Living Services FY 13 - 423 Persons Served • Adaptive skills training and techniques • Low Vision Services • Sensitivity/Vision Simulation training • Staffed by Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapists • Implemented group training sessions and assistive technology labs to augment one on one training

5. Education Services FY 13 – 291 Students Served • 8 DVI itinerant teachers • 3 DOE District Resource Rooms • Coordinate with University of Delaware’s Center for Disability Studies’ Accessible Instructional Materials Program • Provides braille instruction, assistive technology, functional vision assessments, learning media assessments to ensure all students are able to access their needed curriculum

6. Vocational Rehabilitation Business Services FY 13 – 276 Persons Served • Staffed by qualified vocational rehabilitation counselors and business service specialists. • Serving our dual customers of persons with visual impairments and the business community. • Services to young persons with visual impairments begin at least four years prior to graduation through coordinated efforts with the Delaware Department of Education.

7. Orientation and Mobility Services FY 13- 258 Persons Served Ongoing collaboration with DART and DELDOT to ensure Delaware’s roadways, crosswalks, and transportation systems are fully accessible. .

8. Delaware Industries for the Blind www.promoplace.com/dib • DIB provides a wide array of custom promotional products to our customers • FY 13 – Gross Sales – $1,399,615.00 • Employment opportunities for the blind and visually impaired • Over 80% of the staff in this department are legally blind. • Average wage for a DIB employee is currently $10.50 per hour Partner with other agencies that support the employment of persons with disabilities under the State Use Law.

9. Business Enterprise Program Provides entrepreneurial opportunities for the blind and visually impaired: • Doubled the number of licensed business owners • FY 13 – Gross Sales – $1,778,973 • Average Operator Income -$31,692

10. Challenges The growth of vision related disabilities is expected to grow by 70% in the next decade. The primary drivers behind this trend are the aging population/ workforce and the obesity epidemic in America.

11. Opportunities There is a growing interest and awareness in hiring persons with disabilities on the heels of Governor Markell’s National Governor’s Association Platform – A Better Bottom Line: Employment of People with Disabilities. Restructuring for K-12 services as national programs shift toward itinerant models with an increased emphasis on inclusion for students with disabilities.

12. . Thank You!