Office of the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Community Review Washington State Department of Social and Health Services SUMMER 2008 Volume 5, Number 3 Message from the Director Hello! ODHH Strategic Plan for 2009-2013 has been finalized and posted on the website. Please take the time to download and read what we will do for you in the next several years! As you may know, the Washington economy is not doing too well. Lower revenue projections for the State of Washington government resulted in a hiring freeze and cutbacks in travel, certain contracts, equipment purchases and other expenses. What does this mean for ODHH? ODHH has a vacant position that cannot be filled, some planned contracts that will be on hold, and a reduction in some staff travel. Some goals in the strategic plan will be delayed. While this may be unfortunate, I am confident that ODHH can face these difficult times and continue to provide the essential services our clients need. While the strategic plan is completed, accomplishing the goals begin. I want to take a moment to recognize certain achievements, milestones and goals in the last three fiscal years (FY06-08) covering the period between July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2008. (See page 2) This could not have been achieved without the staff, advisory committee, contractors and many supporters in the communities. For this, I am grateful and appreciative of their work and involvement. Due to lack of public awareness, barriers to effective communication access exist for individuals who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind and speech disabled in Washington State. I am always looking to increase public awareness and recently worked to release a Governor’s Proclamation celebrating the International Deaf Awareness Week during the week of September 21-27, 2008! The last Governor’s Proclamation happened in 1997. I intend to seek similar Governor’s Proclamations in the future such as “Better Hearing and Speech Month” in May and the “National Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week” in June to reflect the diverse communities we serve. A simple proclamation is only the beginning. I predict someday working with regional and local organizations to host local celebrations in schools and malls and them working with their local mayors’ offices to release Mayor’s Proclamation(s). We need to work together to become more visible and to help the public understand that by removing barriers we can improve our quality of life and succeed in anything! 2009-2013 ODHH Strategic Plan Available Dear Friends of ODHH, The Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHH) Strategic Plan for 2009-2013 has been released and is now available! This document will help explain what we will do for you in the next several years. You can download the Strategic Plan for 2009-2013 at http://www.dshs.wa.gov/pdf/ms/strategic/2009-13/Adm/ODHH.pdf If you need alternative formats (large print, Braille or foreign language) please email to odhh@dshs.wa.gov or call Ryan Bondroff at (800) 422-7930 V/T. Please feel free to contact Eric Raff at rafferic@dshs.wa.gov if you have any questions about the ODHH Strategic Plan. ODHH Milestones FY06 Fiscal Year 06 (July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2006) 7/1/05 ODHH contracts for Sign Language Interpreter Services for first time 8/28/05 ODHH contracts with Sprint to provide relay services 2/3/06 “Do Not Hang Up on Relay” Public Service Announcement campaign in Eastern Washington FY07 Fiscal Year 07 (July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2007) 9/29/06 Sprint-ODHH hosts “Taste of Technology” conference 12/07/06 ODHH contracts with Humanware to develop a DeafBlind telecommunication device 12/08/06 ODHH reveals new WA Relay logo 1/10/07 ODHH funds Deaf-Blind Service Center (DBSC) ‘Communication Facilitator’ pilot project to allow deafblind access videophone technology 4/1/07 ODHH launches “Don’t Hang Up on Relay ” Public Service Announcement campaign in Western Washington 4/12/07 ODHH begin providing CapTel relay service and telephone equipment 5/19/07 ODHH Advisory Committee meeting – 1st Bylaws officially approved and ODHH “Advisory Committee on Deafness” renamed to “ODHH Advisory Committee on Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind and Speech-Disabled” 5/30/07 Revised DSHS Administrative Policy 7.20 approved and official 6/27–29/07 ODHH hosts 1st “Community Advocates Training” for in-service training benefiting Regional Service Center staff as a quality assurance initiative. 6/30/07 ODHH invites Hearing Loss Association of Washington (HLA of WA) to hear nationally renowned psychologist, educator, and author of the Living with Hearing Loss Program series, Sam Trychin, on coping with hearing loss. FY08 Fiscal Year 08 (July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008) 9/22/07 ODHH New Booth Shown @ DeafNation Expo in Portland, OR 11/28/07 ODHH honored as the Washington State Agency Outstanding “Employer of 2007” award by Morningside, a not-for-profit community rehabilitation organization for people with disabilities 1/24/08 ODHH is profiled in the “Inside DSHS” employee newsletter for the Morningside award 2/7/08 ODHH is profiled in the “Inside DSHS” employee newsletter for work on the deafblind telecommunication device 4/18/08 ODHH-Sprint hosts “Taste of Technology” conference 5/9-5/10/08 ODHH hosts “TED Trainers Conference” for in-service training 5/15-–17/08 ODHH hosts “Medical Interpreting” workshops for interpreters and “You, Your Health Care Provider, Your Interpreter: A Healthy Partnership” community town halls @ Spokane, Lacey, Seattle DSHS/ODHH Advisory Committee Meeting September 20, 2008 9:00 am – 4:00 pm Yakima Convention Center 10 North 8th St., Yakima, WA 98901 Toll-free: (800) 221.0751 Local: (509) 575-6062 Email: meetings@yakimacenter.com Web: www.yakimacenter.com Accommodations: This meeting location is accessible. Sign language interpreter services, assistive listening systems, computer assisted real-time (CART) captioning will be provided. Requests for deaf-blind interpreting and published materials in alternative format must be submitted to Rena Patch patchrr@dshs.wa.gov or (360) 902-7564 (Voice/TTY) by Friday, September 5, 2008. Please contact Rena Patch at patchrr@dshs.wa.gov or (360) 902-7564 if you have questions. The State of Washington Proclamation WHEREAS, September 21-27,2008 marks the celebration oflnternational Deaf Awareness Week; and WHEREAS, this annual celebration is dedicated to promoting the social, cultural and educational lives of deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind people, and recognizes their achievements and capabilities; and WHEREAS, the state of Washington offers its wholehearted welcome and best wishes to all observers and participants for a renewed spirit of togetherness with commitment to improve the quality of life for the deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind populations; and WHEREAS, Washington State's Office of the Deafand Hard of Hearing has served the deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind people for more than 25 years; and ~ _ WHEREAS, the Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing will participate in the celebration; NOW, THEREFORE, I, Christine O. Gregoire, Governor of the state of Washington, do hereby proclaim September 21-27, 2008, as DEAF A WARENESS WEEK in Washington State, and I invite all of our citizens to join me in the observance of this occasIOn. Signed, this 22nd day of September, 2008. Governor Christine O. Gregoire Office of the Governor Christine Gregoire DSHS Secretary Robin Arnold-Williams DSHS Deputy Secretary Blake Chard ODHH Eric Raff, Director Robert Lichtenberg, Assistant Director Ryan Bondroff, IRA Program Manager Jennifer Chowning, Program Support Brian Clark, IT Network Specialist William Crites, IT Manager Lucas Doelman, Office Assistant Claudia Foy, SHS Program Manager Emily Hill, SLIM Program Manager Jeannie Kay, Customer Service Representative Trevor Kosa, IT Database Specialist Lien Ngo-Tran, Fiscal Officer Rena Patch, Executive Assistant Steve Peck, TRS Program Manager Kelly Robison, TED Program Manager Colleen Rozmaryn, ACT Program Manager Advisory Committee Bryan Branson, Spokane Blbranson1@msn.com George Cooper, College Place Sargeo@bmi.net William C. Danielson Jr., Selah williamdanielson03@sprintpcs.com Mary Steinmeyer, Fife N22Mary@comcast.net Susan Tarbert, Spokane Sktsusan46@comcast.net Robert Roberts, Veradale 2bob61@gmail.com Gary Stafford, Spokane barbmanito@hotmail.com Jean Healy, Seattle jhirish@earthlink.net Ex-officio Lona Jennings, HLA of WA loneybaloney@msn.com Jeremy Sasser, WSDBC jlsasser@earthlink.net Kathleen Buckner Morris, WSRID kbuckmo@aol.com Char Parsely, WSAD cpar123100@aol.com Stephen Roldan, DVR roldasj@dshs.wa.gov Michael K. Rocke, WA Hands & Voices mkorocke@msn.com Office of the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Toll Free: 1 (800) 422-7930 V/TTY (360) 902-8000 V/TTY Web site: http://odhh.dshs.wa.gov Contact ODHH by Video Phone (VP) at: VP IP Address: 209.181.93.249 VP#: (360) 902-8000 Eric Raff, Director rafferic@dshs.wa.gov Robert Lichtenberg, Assistant Director lichtrw@dshs.wa.gov Ryan Bondroff, IRA Program Manager bondroffryan@dshs.wa.gov Emily Hill, SLIM Program Manager hillemily@dshs.wa.gov Steve Peck, TRS Program Manager pecksc@dshs.wa.gov Kelly Robison, TED Program Manager robiskd@dshs.wa.gov Colleen Rozmaryn, ACT Program Manager rozmaic@dshs.wa.gov Claudia Foy, SHS Program Manager foyclam@dshs.wa.gov