MN Collaborative Plan

1. Maximizing and Monitoring Learner Progress for Children who are Deaf, Deafblind, and Hard of Hearing and their Families MN Collaborative Plan Mary Hartnett April 7, 2014

2. Since 1985 • 51% must be deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing • State Agency that advocates for and with people who are deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing for equal opportunity. • Strategic Planning has always had improving outcomes for children as one of its goals. Commission background

3. MNCDHH -over 50 pieces of legislation in the past fifteen years that have shaped policies- 20 for birth through 21 added millions of $ to the state budget Used research to get legislation passed and developed relationships with researchers including Marc Marshark, Oxford Journal of Deaf Education and Deaf Studies, Dr. Brenda Schick Commission background

4. Making Your Case • Tour of the Capitol • Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Days at the Capitol • Interviews with Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Advocates Creation of online advocacy resources

5. 1990s • Educational interpreters certification requirement • ASL competence for teachers of the D/HH • Greater Minnesota Mental Health Assessment 2003 Hearing aid mandate for kids 2004 ANSI Acoustic Standards for New Schools required Education policies passed in the 1990s - 2009

6. 2007 • Hearing Aid Insurance Coverage for kids expansion • Funds for transition aged youth Policies

7. Commission and advocates attempted to get a mandate • Voluntary screening adopted in 1999 • MDH, led by Penny Hatcher convened stakeholders for 10 years • Systems put in place • Not all hospitals participate because there wasn’t a mandate EHDI bACKGROUND

8. Developed Statewide EHDI Teams across the state • Provided training • Commitment to the process on the part of all stakeholders • Governor wouldn’t support a mandate Mde, dHS and MDH

10. Median reading comprehension scores from the SAT for deaf and hard of hearing students has gone from just below third grade in 1974 (prior to P.L. 94-142) to fourth grade in 1999 • 2010 SAT Scores from SAT-10 do not show significant gains. • We had no access to state education data. After the passage of EHDI, We asked if we were making a difference?

11. Resource Center Report that disaggregates data on deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing. 2009

12. Deaf and hard of hearing Reading % MathFrom the resource center annual report

13. 2010 Metro Deaf School- exemption that prohibits the legislature from withholding more than 10% of payments for charter schools with 95% special ed students. 2011 Increase in funds for interveners for deafblind children 2012 Medicaid coverage for d/db/hh children who use ASL and need out-of-state mental health treatment Legislation

14. 2013 • Newborn Hearing Screening Data protected • Permanent Funding tied to the blood spot fee for Deaf Mentors and Parent Guides • Teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing required to continue to take deaf culture and sign language continuing education credits • Increase in funds to the Commission to support the Collaborative Policies that impact kids

15. Public Policy – the laws and rules that govern us and how the government spends our money • Advocates shaped these laws. • The laws are divided among various agencies and span the life of children and youth who are D/HH (Birth – 21) • …we all must work together, rowing in the same direction, to empower families of children who are deaf and hard of hearing to enable their children to reach their fullest potential (socially, emotionally, and academically) and achieve their personal life-long goals. Which leads to how we came up with the Plan…

16. The Commission must serve as the principal advocate for Minnesotans who are deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing by working to ensure that individuals have equal access to services, programs, and opportunities • MCDHH must coordinate its efforts with other state and local agencies serving persons who are deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing (MS 256C.28) Statutory Obligations…MCDHHCommission of Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans

17. MDE must provide technical and administrative support services needed by the Newborn Hearing Screening Advisory Committee (which advises and assists MDH and MDE with EHDI development and implementation) • Oversee EHDI - establish a performance data set and review data from each hospital • Contract to provide support services to families with a child that is identified with a hearing loss (MN Hands & Voices) (MS 144.966) • Contract to run Hearing Aid Loaner Bank (U of M) Statutory Obligations…MDHMinnesota Department of Health

18. MN Resource Center for D/HH (part of MDE) Advisory Committee must submit an annual report that: • Identifies and reports the aggregate, data-based education outcomes for children who are deaf and hard of hearing (primary disability classification) • Describe how they will implement a data-based plan to improve the education outcomes of children who are D/HH based on evidence-based best practices (MS 125A.63) Statutory Obligations…MDEMinnesota Department of Education

19. Statewide hearing loss early education intervention coordinator (Kathy Anderson) • Serves as a liaison between interagency EHDI committees • Identify, support, and promote evidence-based practices • Provide training and use technology to increase statewide service consistency • Identify and promote instruments to assess and track progress of children • Ensure that stakeholders receive child progress data resulting from specialized assessments • MDE must provide aggregate data regarding outcomes of D/HH children who receive early intervention services (MS 125A.63) MDE

20. Part C • Shared with MDH • Shared with DHS • Part B • Shared with VRS for Transition Statutory Obligations- mde

21. Support transition from school to work. VR must participate in transition planning under IDEA and develop a formal interagency agreement with the schools (Rehabilitation Act of 1973 – Reauthorized under Workforce Investment Act of 1998) • Both the Rehabilitation Act and IDEA 2004 require interagency collaboration and outline partner agency responsibility. Statutory Obligations…DEEDDepartment of Employment and Economic Development

22. Regarding EHDI legislation, MDH & MDE (with advice and assistance from the Newborn Hearing Screening Advisory Committee) must: • Develop protocols and timelines for screening and intervention • Design tracking system for children that passed screening but are at risk for late onset or delayed permanent hearing loss • Design a technical assistance program to support facilities • Implement a follow-up and tracking system • Evaluate program outcomes Statutory Obligations…MDH & MDE

23. Department of Human Services, Department of Health, Department of Education, Department of Employment and Economic Development • Separate plans, separate goals • Limited data sharing • Lack of data that can help parents, teachers and support staff provide timely, appropriate intervention to help children graduate on par with hearing peers. • Lack of central plan that tracks children from the time they are identified with a hearing loss through early childhood, grade school, high school, higher education and employment. Four state agencies Responsible to SERVE

24. Support community partners efforts to improve youth services and outcomes • Improve interagency collaboration • Community is an asset; lack of community is a hindrance to getting things done. • We need to build community for this common purpose Developing a cross-sector lens

25. We want to go from this- DHS MDE MDH DEED

26. To this: K- 8 Transition to Adulthood DHS Interveners , Family Mentors and Mental Health MDE RDHH Advisory RLF Teachers PACER MDH Parent Guides EHDI Advisory DEED VECTOR MEC

27. National Summit on Deaf Education, 2009 and 2010 Goal: to promote and advance knowledge and leadership through professional and parent stakeholder partnershipsthat result in collaborative state education systems and improved outcomes for children and youth who are deaf or hard of hearing Historical Perspective: Getting the Conversation Started…

28. Alignment with National Agenda and State Performance Plan • National Agenda Goals • State Performance Plan Indicators MN Collaborative for Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

29. National Agenda: Moving Forward on Achieving Educational Equality for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students (2005) • Eight Goal Areas with rationale statements National Perspective: Guidelines

30. During 2010-2011, twenty-five participants, including parents and those representing 6 state agencies, community services, school districts, and private schools met to develop a plan to improve outcomes for children and youth who are deaf or hard of hearing in MN In the spirit of the Summit…

31. Julie Storck • Joyce Daugaard • Kathy Arnoldi • Marian Hausladen • Anna Paulson • Cheryl Conde Johnson, Colorado Hired coordinators /Consultants

32. MN Hands and Voices • DeafBlind Technical Assistance Project • MN Association of Deaf Citizens • PACER • Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans • MN State Academy of the Deaf • Northern Voices • Metro Deaf School • VECTOR- transition program Collaborative Partners • U of M- Deaf Ed Department • DHS • MN Dept of Ed • EDHI Coordinator • Part C Coordinator • Resource Center D/HH • Vocational Rehab Services • State Services for the Blind • MN Dept of Health • NE Metro D/HH • St. Paul Public Schools

33. Contracted with professional survey developers and researchers • Members of the collaborative developed the questions- it was the most expensive part of the process • Trust was developed- team members learned the questions that were most important to them. • Set the scope of the work Needed to set baselines for goals

34. 30 Questions • Resources and services used • Child’s development • IFPS/IEP meetings • Mailed to all parents of children age 5 and under who are deaf/deafblind/hard of hearing • 46% response rate • Supplemental phone survey for parents who’s preferred language is not English Parent Survey

35. 45 Questions: • Children’s access to services • Resources used by teachers • Children’s development Emailed to teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing • 65% response rate (164 completed surveys) Teacher Survey

36. Teacher resources that would be most helpful: • Curricula and adaptations specific to D/HH children (40%) • Access to support staff with expertise in D/HH-related areas (30%) • Training specific to D/HH children and their families (25%) • 66% feel they have the training and resources they need to meet the needs of the children they serve. Teacher results

37. In addition to support from MNCDHH, procured funding from: • MN Department of Education • MN Department of Health • MN Department of Employment and Economic Development • State Services for the Blind • ASLIS • CSD • Minneapolis Foundation Increased funds in 2015 from the legislature will make the Collaborative more sustainable Current Status: Funding

38. MN Collaborative Implementation TODAY! Dec 2012 – March 2013 Survey Data Collection Plan Review Plan Revision Plan Implementation Plan Expansion Data Analysis March 2013 Agency Commitments Nov 2011 – July 2012 Survey Development Aug 2012 – Dec 2012

39. Met with SLEDS Statewide Longitudinal Data System to see if we can tap into their data base • Presented at 2012 EHDI Conference and to be the pre-conference for the session • Odyssey Magazine for May 2013 issue • Invited to PEPnet Transition Summit • Invited to present at Colorado Hands and Voices Summit • Will present data at 2014 EHDI Conference Other activities

40. Will make reports to the full group at 9:30 • It will move more quickly with increased resources • We will continue to work cross sector to achieve the goals and issue the survey again next year to see if we made a difference. Committees have been meeting and will set goals for 2014-2015

41. Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” RyunosukeSatoro