Support for deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind requested
from Strickland
To the editor:
The biennial budget now under consideration in the Ohio Senate includes a change that could have a devasting impact on the deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind communities in Ohio.
Ohio House Bill 119, as passed by the House, has allocated an additional $2 million to our partner and fiscal agent, the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission (RSC), toward the necessary $8.5 million required to receive a fourfold federal match of $32 million. These federal funds are Ohio taxpayers’ dollars that are sitting in Washington, D.C., waiting to come back to Ohio for Ohioans with disabilities to maintain or obtain employment. With full funding, more than 17,000 Ohioans with severe disabilities will obtain or retain jobs for the next biennium.
The Ohio Alliance of Community Centers for the Deaf (OACCD), which oversees the 10 Community Centers for the Deaf throughout the state, have had a partnership with RSC for more than 30 years whereby we provide vocational rehabilitation and other services to Ohio deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind populations to help them maintain or gain employment. Ohio lawmakers have supported the efforts of RSC’s programs over the years and have seen evidence of this important investment of taxpayer dollars for the deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind individuals — achieving gainful employment.
Our request is very simple: Provide the additional $6.5 million dollars needed for RSC to draw down the $32 million in federal monies allocated to Ohio to assist those with disabilities to maintain or obtain employment. In 2006, 8,300 Ohioans with severe disabilities obtained or retained jobs, generating more than $30 million in taxes. The long-term benefit to the state clearly outweighs the total initial investment of $8.5 million.
These funds support our Community Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, a program of Greenleaf Family Center directed by Judy Joyce, chief executive officer, and myself.
We urge our state senators and Gov. Strickland to support the appropriate funding needed to continue the important programs for RSC. Gainful employment by Ohioans with severe disabilities should be a major component of Gov. Strickland’s efforts to “Turn Around Ohio.”
Joanna Paxos, director of Community Services for the Deaf, Greenleaf Family Center, Akron
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