Press Room

The Inside Track
Fall 2002

NORP Conference “Searching for Resources”

The National Organization of Rehabilitation Partners (NORP) held their 2002 Fall Conference “Searching for Resources” in Washington, D.C. in October. MDRS Executive Director Butch McMillan, presided over the conference and is a charter member. He was instrumental in the planning and development of the first annual conference. The theme “Searching for Resources” was based on the Indiana Jones movie in which everyone was searching for gold (resources) and once found everyone wanted their fair share. An appropriate theme for the group of rehab professionals whose goal has been to address shortfalls in revenue to certain states due to the allocation formula presently used. NORP,officially incorporated in August 2001, is an association of vocational rehabilitation stakeholders working together to improve opportunities for people with disabilities.

In the past year, NORP members have been busy educating the public, employers and policy makers about rehabilitation successes and concerns. Members of NORP testified before the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, Human Services and Education in support of the public vocational rehabilitation program. Members also testified before the U.S. Department of Labor’s hearing on the Workforce Investment Act and the U.S. Department of Education’s hearing on Reauthorization of the Rehabilitation Act. NORP members were the only group invited to meet with the President’s Office of Management and Budget to request additional funding for rehabilitation programs.

Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind has Organizational Change

The Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services recently reversed a decades long policy, restoring a form of organization that had characterized Vocational Rehabilitation Services for the Blind since the 1920s. On October 1, 2002, at the direction of H.S. McMillan, MDRS Executive Director, all rehabilitation counselors serving the visually impaired began reporting to supervisors who have previously served as rehabilitation counselors for the blind.

The new organizational structure has ten counselors in south Mississippi, including the four Jackson-area counselors, reporting to South Regional Manager Susan Hudson. Susan has been a rehabilitation counselor for the blind in Natchez for over 22 years. Joella Burke is the South Regional Manager Assistant, who has served Natchez area blind persons as a counselor assistant for over 30 years. Eight counselors in North Mississippi and staff of the REACH Center of Tupelo, will be supervised by North Regional Manager Janice Schwebel, a former rehabilitation counselor in both Hattiesburg and Tupelo, and most recently interim director of the Addie McBryde Rehabilitation Center for the Blind.

The two Regional Managers are supervised by the Director of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind, Mike Gandy, who served as a rehabilitation counselor for the blind for Hinds and Simpson counties for four years. The two major consumer groups of persons who advocate for the blind, the Mississippi Council of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind of Mississippi, have indicated support for this move. The rehabilitation counselors and APAC staff join staff of the Addie McBryde Rehabilitation Center for the Blind, the Business Enterprise Program, and the Independent Living Services Programs for the Blind in OVRB, thus unifying all MDRS services for Mississippians who are blind in one organizational unit of the agency.

Around the Agency

TBI/SCI Trust Fund Provides Sub-grants for New and Innovative Programs

The Office of Special Disability Programs (OSDP) within MDRS administers the Traumatic Brain Injury/Spinal Cord Injury Trust Fund which was established to assist Mississippians with traumatic brain injury and traumatic spinal cord injury to achieve their maximum level of independence. Although providing individualized services to persons with TBI and SCI is the primary focus of the Trust Fund Program, sub-grants are awarded to organizations throughout the state that provide new andinnovative programs of education/prevention, recreation, and transitional living services to persons with TBI and SCI. Each year, the Trust Fund program issues Requests for Proposals (RFP) in the areas of Education/Prevention Projects, Recreational Projects, and Transitional Living Projects.

The RFP for Educational/Prevention Projects seeks to establish one-year innovative projects promoting prevention and/or educational services for individuals with TBI or SCI. Target areas of the project may include prevention campaigns that can be targeted toward a specific activity such as diving safety, wearing seat belts, or the hazards of drinking and driving.

Recreational projects should promote recreational services for individuals with TBI or SCI and can include components for family members or caregivers. Projects may provide, but are not limited to, the following areas of recreational services: increasing/accommodating physical functioning; socialization; recreational activities through camps and or specified programs; and adjustment to disability by the consumer and family members.

Transitional Living projects seek to assist individuals with TBI and SCI in achieving maximum levels of independence in activities of daily living and community reintegration. These projects can be home-based or facility -based. To be optimally effective, transitional living services must address each consumer’s reintegration into his/her personal residence and local community. If a project is housed in a facility away from the consumer’s local community, a component of the project must involve services based in the home and in the local community. All projects can include components for family members or other caregivers.

The TBI/SCI Trust Fund issues the Request for Proposals in March of each year. For further information regarding the TBI/SCI Trust Fund, please contact Kim Turbeville, TBI/SCI program coordinator at (601) 853-5322.

Senior Blind Program... Keeps an eye on Health

The MDRS Senior Blind Program and staff of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind teamed up with Preserve Sight and local Delta businesses to assist the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus to help Mid-Deltans safeguard their sight. The program travels throughout the nation screening for the disease whose prime candidates are African Americans and Native Americans. MDRS staff from across the state helped in screening more than 1,200 people in 4 days.

Agencies Join Together to Continue “Job Line” Access Service for Mississippians

According to the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), national surveys have estimated the unemployment rate for persons with disabilities to be as high as seventy percent. Access to job information by computer is now becoming commonplace in schools connected to the Internet, Job Service offices, professional and vocational preparation and training programs, and the growing number of one-stop employment and training service centers.

However, persons who have difficulty using computers for any reason could be left behind. Accordingly, persons who are blind, individuals with significant visual impairments or dyslexia, and those unable to travel to job-service centers will certainly benefit greatly from “America's Jobline®,” which can give them an effective means of obtaining 24-hour-a-day access to the same job listings that can be seen on computer screens.

Originally “America's Jobline®” was sponsored as a pilot effort by NFB and the U.S. Department of Labor. On October 1 of this year, Mississippi’s version was underwritten by the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services with financial assistance from the Mississippi Employment Security Commission, and Goodwill Industries. Promotional material on how to access “America's Jobline®” has been provided to rehabilitation counselors for distribution to their clients.

Additional materials including a streaming video are available on the Internet at www.nfb.org. Jobline can be reached nationwide at 1-800-414-5748 .

Project START Grant Helps New Sled Hockey Team

Project START donated $12,788 to Methodist Rehabilitation Center’s therapeutic recreation program to help fund its new sled hockey team for physically challenged athletes. The money will be used to acquire new equipment including helmets, pads and sleds. The new team held its first clinic weeks ago when members of the U.S. gold medal-winning paralympic team came to Jackson to teach prospective players the game. More than 20 physically challenged athletes from around Mississippi attended the three-day camp where they watched footage of the U.S. team’s gold medal victory in Salt Lake City, learned how to get into their sleds and pads and learned the rules of the ice. Disabled hockey players sit on lightweight metal sleds and use hockey sticks with picks attached to skate around the ice. The rules are the same as in any other ice hockey game.

“We’re proud to be able to make activities like hockey more accessible to the athletes in Mississippi,” said Steve Power, Project START director. “Anything that brings people with disabilities into contact with technology that helps them lead active and healthy lives is something that we’re happy to support.”

National Disability Employment Awareness Month Celebrated

During October many activities took place for Disability Employment Awareness Month to promote the importance and benefits of hiring individuals with disabilities. MDRS staff across the state asked their local mayors to proclaim October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Butch McMillan, Executive Director had a radio spot that ran on stations across the state, and the Office of Special Disability Programs sponsored “The Triumph Over Disability” t-shirt art contest.

Wynn’s Design Chosen for Campaign

MDRS held a statewide “Triumph Over Disability” design contest to promote National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Brandon Wynn of Flowood, an Interior Design major at the Mississippi College for Women in Columbus, had the winning design that was printed on t-shirts used to promote National Disability Awareness Month.

The agency invited artists with disabilities to depict what “Triumph Over Disability” means to them. Brandon’s personal interpretation was of someone in a wheelchair triumphantly crossing the finish line. Although Brandon is not in a wheelchair, he does have a neurological disease, a form of Ataxia that causes him to have a tremor in his hands. Brandon has difficulty writing but has developed a free flowing style that allows him to paint and draw with amazing accuracy.

A client of MDRS, Brandon has received counseling and financial assistance to help him in obtaining a career in Interior Design.

Shelton receives “The Homer Brewer Award”

Terry Shelton, BEP vendor for Magnolia Bingo Snack Bar in Tupelo, received the “Homer Brewer Award”. The Homer Brewer Award is presented every year to the most outstanding blind vendor who has been in the Business Enterprise Program (BEP) a minimum of five years. The recipient is chosen by the BEP staff. The Award is named for the late Homer Brewer, a blind vendor who, despite the numerous severe medical problems he suffered over a long period of time, continued to serve his customers until he was physically unable to continue.

MDRS Training Division Receives RSA Commissioner’s Award for Excellence

The MDRS Human Resources Development training division received the RSA Commissioner’s Award for Excellence in Rehabilitation Education and Training for their Program of Distance Education. The distance education program is a collaborative effort with Mississippi State University and Jackson State University which involves the training of MDRS counselors and evaluators to become qualified rehabilitation professionals.

RSA Commissioner JoAnne Wilson presented the plaque to MDRS Executive Director Butch McMillan during the National Council on Rehabilitation Education (NCRE) annual training conference in Washington D.C. Other MDRS employees attending the conference and presenting a breakout session on the MDRS Program of Distance Education were Rene’ Woodward, Judy Carr, Bobbie Roberts, and Rickey Anderson.

The Office of Disability Determination Services Receives Regional Recognition

The Mississippi Office of Disability Determination Services received the “Creative Achievement” Award from the Social Security Administration Atlanta Region. Other DDS PRIDE award winners are: Janice Newell - Support Person of the Year, Laquita Brown - Case Processing Supervisor, Retha Cain - Robert Hinrichs DDS Humanitarian Award.

NEW HIRES
April – October

VR/VRB
Dorothy Blansett - Greenwood
Hugh Brown - McComb
Linda Buckley - Philadelphia
Amy Burdine - Starkville
Susan Carson - Jackson
Donna Criswell - Tupelo
Cynthia Cucuzza - Lucedale
Frank Galloway - Aberdeen
Todd Gordon - Jackson
Greg Hall - Aberdeen
Kenneth Harmon - Philadelphia
Mary Hudgins - Jackson
Tammy Hudson - Greenwood
Ronn Killebrew - Jackson
Francis Lee - Gulfport
Lela McDonald - Jackson
Pamela McKee - Philadelphia
Shelia McNeil - Hattiesburg
Olivia Miller - Oxford
Pepper Miller - Jackson
Kavetta Mims - Jackson
Jessica Peacock - Greenwood
Carol Robbins - New Albany
Laura Ryan - Booneville
Frances Sine - Kosciusko
Shelia Jean Spring - McComb
Ashley Stinson - Jackson
Milissa Taylor - Corinth
Phillis Welch - Jackson

DDS
(Madison)
Sammuel Bell
Phedra Bennett
Wendy Cook
Jo Ann Delaney
Deidra Dungee
Scott Embry
Sonya Frazier
Sheldon Good
Vicki Huggins
Latanya Johnson
Patricia Jones
Pamela Lomax
Steven Lott
Martinez Lyles
Tineka Mack
Barbara McField
Carolyn Miller
Sherri Norwood
Michelle Parker
Peyton Pierce
Keith Powell
Erica Ransom
Diannia Reed
Bethany Sanders
Felicia Smith
Sheata Southern
Vickie Taylor
Keith Thomas

OSDP
Toni Borst - Jackson
Alice Davis - McComb
Janice Gunnoe - Gulfport
Virginia Leffingwell - Gulfport
Shunda Leflore - Jackson
Gloria Moore - Jackson
Rachel Tharp - Starkville

SUPPORT
(Madison)
Penni Harden HRD
Susan Smith MIS
Natalie Wagner EXEC.
Rose Weathersby MIS
Kent Young MIS

RETIRED
Vera Alexander - Holly Springs
Nadine Barkley - New Albany
Wanda Coleman - New Albany
Marilyn Comer - Jackson
Albert Herrington - Gulfport
William Hood - Aberdeen
Debbie Killen - Madison
Linda Langele - Madison
Emmagene McGaughy - Jackson
Bettye McKinney - Booneville
Ercill Odom - Gulfport
Don Phillips - Madison
Betty Schurr - Oxford

MDRS Training Calendar 2002

November

6 Quarterly Supervisor’s Training, “Overview of State Government” Madison

8 State VR Advisory Council Madison

12-13 Ticket to Work/Back to Basics Case Management Training Madison

14-15 Ticket to Work/Back to Basics Case Management Training Oxford Allied

18 Health Awareness Fair Madison

19-20 Ticket to Work/Back to Basics Case Management Training Hattiesburg

21-22 Ticket to Work/Back to Basics Case Management Training Meridian

25-26 Ticket to Work/Back to Basics Case Management Training Madison

December
4-6 New Employee Orientation Madison