Hi everyone,
I want to use this list to bounce an idea off my many kindred spirits here.
There are some states whose VR agencies appear to have policies (or perhaps routine practices that exist without being written anywhere) which basically push blind college students in VR programs to choose colleges that are close to home so that they can live with family in order to cut costs. I may get a detail wrong while articulating each policy, but I think the idea is important. I intend to get all the details right in time, so please do not allow an error in a policy detail to prevent you from considering the idea.
Example 1: Michigan
#>From what I hear from the Michigan students, there is a policy of VR paying only for community college (or the community college rate) for the first two years, then the four-year college rate for years 3 and 4 to get a bachelor's degree. There seems to be a spoken justification that attending community college and staying at home with family is an equal service to going to a four-year college and that living away from home is not part of preparing for employment.
Example 2: Louisiana
#>From what I hear from Louisiana students, there is a policy of VR only paying for housing at a university if that university is located at least 100 miles away from home. This means that a student from Baton Rouge, for example, would need to attend a school as far away as Louisiana Tech if they want to be supported by VR to live on campus, even when LSU, also a great university, is right there in town.
My opinion-which I think many of you will share-is that being able to live away from your parents creates a lot of opportunities for academic and developmental experiences that will help a blind student prepare for employment. I am certain that the experiences I had because I lived away from my parents during all of my college years helped me advance in social skills, learn about myself, learn how to function independently, and adjust more fully to a sense that I am worthy of equal treatment in society. I understand that there are other lists related to rehab, but I chose this list because I can safely expect a common understanding of the importance of the adjustment to blindness and developmental experiences in the process of preparing for employment.
I don't know if there is any formal guidance from RSA that advises VR agencies that these experiences and their enhancement of the VR process should be considered when crafting policies and making individual case decisions about paying for housing while attending higher education programs. Is there?
If not, I am contemplating drafting a resolution for the NFB convention that would basically request that RSA issue formal guidance to VR agencies serving the blind, acknowledging that living away from family is an important part of preparing for employment and advising them that it is best not to implement policies that restrict a consumer's ability to seek VR financial support for housing while attending higher education. I am certainly open to suggestions on how this ask should be tweaked.
What do you all think?
Thanks so much,
Justin
Justin Mark Hideaki Salisbury
he/him/his
Phone: 808.797.8606
Email: President at Alumni.ECU.edu