Updated

ANNUAL REPORT 2009

In 2009, NYVRA continues to be active in working on its organizational goals i.e. New York State issues regarding services for people of all ages with vision loss, VRT/OM licensure efforts, and efforts to increase government reimbursements for vision rehabilitation services.

NYVRA Board positions continue to include agency and consumer representation. Over the course of the year, meetings of the board were held in person and by conference call, as well as membership meetings:

January 27, 2009
April 14, 2009 (Board meeting)
May 7, 2009 (Board meeting)
August 19, 2009 (Board meeting)
November 23, 2009
Three Board Positions were up for election and reelection in November 2009 to take office on January 1, 2010. Nancy D Miller was re-elected as President, Grace Ambrose-Zaken for Vice President, Mark Ackermann for Secretary, Mike Godino for Treasurer, and A. Gidget Hopf as a Board Member. Robert Hanye, Richard Healey and Donald LoGuidice were elected to two year terms running from 2009 to 2011.

NYVRA continues to engage the services of a government relations firm, and, along with NYVRA members, has been actively educating members of the state legislature about New Yorkers who are blind and partially sighted, vision rehabilitation services, early intervention services, children’s services, rate increases, the Senior Vision Services program and the licensure bill.  These efforts have been ongoing, multi year efforts.

Licensure
With regard to Licensure, the membership of NYVRA along with NYS AER, the American Council of the Blind and over 100 supporters convened together in Albany on February 24, 2009 and met with over fifty legislators to advocate for licensure of vision rehabilitation professionals.  Many of the legislators were persuaded that day of the importance of licensure.  This was the second organized lobby day for NYVRA.   In May 2009 NYVRA representatives met with State Senators Craig Johnson and Toby Ann Stavisky in efforts to move the bill forward. NYVRA received approximately 75 signatures in support of Licensure at the New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) Senior Day on May 6, 2009.

Assemblyman Bing has been very active in providing important leadership in the Assembly this year, as chair of the Assembly Task Force on People With Disabilities. 

As a result of the tremendous strides made, NYVRA has begun planning its third legislative Lobby day for April 27, 2010.

In addition to the licensure effort, NYVRA has directed its attention to government reimbursement:

Government Reimbursement for Services

Senior Vision Services (A897/S522) is legislation passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor in 2008, but NYSOFA was not given any funding by the Governor or the state legislature this year.  NYVRA continues to advocate for funding.

-The NYS Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped received ARRA stimulus dollars that have been distributed to several NYVRA member agencies including AVRE in Binghamton and Aurora in Syracuse.

NYVRA members requested to meet with CBVH around contract and reimbursement issues. Four NYVRA members out of five total on the committee held a series of meetings that led to training for CBVH and agency staff on the contract; improvements in the CIS; and strategies to increase reimbursement.

NYVRA as Advocate and Collaborator

NYVRA has met with other consumer and government organizations in the state, including meetings with the NYS Office for the Aging (NYSOFA), the NYS Department of Health, as well as ongoing updates and discussions with the CBVH Associate Commissioner Brian Daniels and his staff.  NYVRA submitted its own recommendations to CBVH. NYVRA has also followed the activities of The Executive Board to the NYS Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped, and its positions including a press release on its support for professional certification. NYVRA will continue to monitor this body. 

NYVRA is keeping informed on various vision rehabilitation trends in the nation and in the state and seeks opportunities for collaborative efforts.  NYVRA is particularly attuned to the growth in the VA (Veteran’s Administraton) Blind Rehabilitation system, which has the potential to draw staff away from the nonprofit vision rehabilitation agencies in the state and across the nation who are already finding it difficult to fill vital positions for orientation and mobility and rehabilitation teaching.

NYVRA members assisted CBVH with outreach to aging network service providers to distribute free Closed Circuit TVs for magnification of print materials.

While NYVRA strongly supports opportunities for people with disabilities to choose how and where to receive services and seek employment, as advocated by the Independent Living Centers (ILC), their proposed legislation would potentially eliminate facilities based employment for employees who are blind along with other specialized programs.  These jobs provide minimum wage or higher, as well as health coverage and other generous fringe benefits.  Unlike the sheltered workshops of years ago, agencies for the blind provide great career opportunities in state of the art facilities. If passed, the proposed bill would have had a negative impact on all specialized services for people with vision loss. NYVRA will work with the legislature to prevent the elimination of jobs for people who are blind and maintain the choices for employment and services they have in New York State.

NYVRA and its members strongly support continuation of the specialized services and technology for people with vision loss.

Communications
This year, NYVRA developed a blog for its website to promote upcoming events and for user feedback

For the calendar year through December 2009 17,794 visits to the website have been tracked, an 86% increase over 2008 (9548).  The NYVRA Website has had informational updates and action items added to the site, and the interest in important issues in advocacy regarding the vision rehabilitation field in the state is notably growing.   It is an easily accessible portal for anyone interested in learning more about the work of NYVRA.  We encourage all to visit our website: www.nyvra.org

The Board of Directors of NYVRA and its members wish to thank all who have supported our efforts in 2009 and express our deep appreciation for you support in helping us to help those who are blind or visually impaired.

NYVRA, Nancy D. Miller, President, nmiller@visionsvcb.org
c/o CCSNYS, Legal Assistance Center, 272 Broadway, Albany, New York, 12204
Phone 917-859-9184, Fax: 212-219-4078,
web address: www.nyvra.org
NYVRA is a nonprofit coalition comprised of members, organizations and agencies located across New York State, addressing issues that impact services for people who are blind or partially sighted.

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