SEATTLE

            DEAF-BLIND

                     SERVICE CENTER

National Support Service Provider (SSP) Pilot Project

NEW! Click here for more SSP information on video!

Update:

May, 2008

Hello Fellow Community Members!

We want to update you about the National SSP Pilot Project. Last time you heard from us (December 2007), we told you that Senator Murray earmarked $335,000 for this project, which we must use in one year. The project we envision is a big one and will take longer than one year, so we have split it up into several phases. We hope to get more money next year.  Right now we are in phase one.  In this phase we will  write a curriculum for training SSPs, and offer some training to Deaf-Blind people who want to learn more about how to use SSPs.  A curriculum is like a lesson plan but bigger. 

This curriculum will be a model for us here  in Washington State, but later, after the curriculum is finished and tested,  we hope it will be used by other states to train SSPs  too.    That is our goal: better SSP services for DB people.

Maybe you are wondering, “Why don’t I have more SSP hours, if DBSC expects to receive $335,000?” The reason is that this money is limited.  We cannot use it to add more hours.  The purpose is to improve SSP services, to make them better, but not to add more hours.  Of course, we are still continuing to look for more money from the state and other sources to add more SSP hours.

This grant is our chance to prove to the Federal government, and other potential funders that SSP programs are good quality, important to DB people and worth funding. We need “SSP” to be recognized as an official category of employment, and therefore something that can be funded by the government. This project will help funders to understand what SSPs are, why their work is important and the skills and training that are needed .

Writing a formal curriculum is like writing a recipe to teach new SSPs.  This will bring us one step closer to nation-wide recognition of “SSP” as a regular job.  This will help people in other states apply for money to pay for SSP services. 

This is a huge project, and we need help from all Deaf-Blind community members who want to be share your experiences, and thoughts about SSPs to make them better. If you have ideas about   this, please write an email, call, or come see Terra Edwards.   Do you know Terra?  She lived in Seattle a few years ago and worked as an SSP with some DB people.  Also, last summer she asked some DB people about their experiences with SSPs.  You can meet her in person too.  You can contact her at terraedwards@gmail.com to set up an appointment.

Our planning team right now includes the entire DBSC staff plus Theresa Smith, Rob Roth, and Terra Edwards. We will also  have focus groups and meetings that you can participate in next Fall.  . We will keep you informed about dates and times as we schedule these events on DBSC’s website. Other news about the project will also be posted there.

First, we want to videotape examples of SSPs working to study the skills they need this month.  From May 5- May 31, Terra will be videotaping Deaf-Blind people working with SSPs. We will analyze these videos to find out how Deaf-Blind people and SSPs work together successfully. We will then document this or write about it in our curriculum.  Anyone who is interested in participating will be paid for their time. Please contact Terra soon if you want to join the videotaping part of the project or if you have questions about it.

This is an exciting time for the Seattle Deaf-Blind community, when we can support Deaf-Blind people across the nation in establishing SSP services and Deaf-Blind communities.

Warm Regards,

Jelica Nuccio and the NSSPPP Team

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Background Information

Many people in the United States who are deaf-blind experience both vision and hearing losses. Deaf-Blind people experience communication barriers, limited opportunities for employment and education. Transportation and information about their environment is difficult to access.

A service that can benefit Deaf-Blind individuals is a network of skilled, trained people called Support Service Providers (SSPs). They are specifically trained and hired to work with individuals who have both hearing and vision losses.

Support Service Providers do not fill the roles of personal care attendants, sign language interpreters, or caregivers. They do not make decisions for Deaf-Blind persons. SSPs provide visual and environmental information, sighted guide services and information accessibility to empower deaf-blind individuals so they can make informed decisions.

With the assistance of SSPs, Deaf-Blind people can get and keep a job, do job-related tasks such as reading job announcements, memos and traveling for business, participate in the political process by voting, run errands, read mail, make purchases, and do tasks anyone can do. Deaf-Blind people who have SSP services available, are no longer isolated by barriers to information and businesses, and they can participate more fully in society.

The Deaf-Blind Service Center, located in Seattle, WA, has a model SSP program. Deaf-Blind people living in Seattle have received the services of trained SSPs for the past 20 years. Other states want to duplicate this model, but they need training and money to set up SSP services. Research results show that only Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota and Utah provide statewide SSP services to their Deaf-Blind citizens. Only nine states, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin have some SSP services in local cities or counties.

The need for national SSP services became an important goal after the 2003 AADB Convention in San Diego, California. During this AADB Convention, members informed the AADB Board about their concerns and need for SSP services nationally. The Seattle Deaf-Blind Service Center staff and Board members also approached the AADB Board about the idea of becoming partners to work on establishing national SSP services.

In the spring of 2004, Seattle DBSC staff and Board members met with AADB staff and together educated members of Congress about the need for national SSP services. Advice from members of Congress was to first select 2 or 3 sites with a need for SSP services in the country and then set up pilot studies in those sites. If the pilot study results show positive changes for Deaf-Blind people who received SSP services in those sites, then Congress might be able to provide money to help other states set up SSP services.

After meeting with members of Congress, the Deaf-Blind Service Center in Washington State began setting up the National SSP Pilot Project, with the American Association of the Deaf-Blind in Silver Spring, MD and the Helen Keller National Center in Sands Point, NY, as supporting partners. The partners agreed that the Seattle Deaf-Blind Service Center would be the lead agency and be responsible for the administration of the money for the pilot project.

The partners agreed to select three areas for the pilot sites. The first site selected was Washington, for expanding SSP services outside of Seattle to include all of Washington State. Austin, Texas and Maryland/Virginia Washington DC Metro areas were selected next.

The criteria for selecting these two additional sites were: 1) both sites have Deaf-Blind leaders who have had formal leadership training during the past 2 years; 2) both sites have a need for SSP services and a large Deaf-Blind community; 3) both sites have Deaf-Blind leaders who are familiar with Seattle DBSC's SSP services and have received training from the Seattle DBSC staff; 4) both sites have Deaf-Blind community members ready to work on setting up SSP services and have already started volunteering their time for this work; and 5) both sites have Deaf-Blind leaders immediately ready to volunteer many hours for the project.

After selecting the pilot sites and Deaf-Blind leaders from Austin, Texas and the MD/VA DC Metro area, the National SSP Pilot Project Committee was formed.

Members of this committee are:

" Kris Cue', Deaf-Blind community leader from Austin, TX
" Randy Pope, Washington D.C. metropolitan area Deaf-Blind leader
" Dorothy Walt, Region X Helen Keller National Center Office and AADB Board member
" Jamie Pope, AADB Executive Director
" Elizabeth Spiers, AADB Director of Program/Services
" Caryn Tenin, President of DBSC Board of Directors
" Jackie Engler-Morris, DBSC Program Director

The National SSP Pilot Project committee held its first meeting in Seattle, during the summer of 2004. In November 2004, the committee met again in Austin, Texas, after a day of training on the political process with many AADB Board members.

The committee is now working on getting federal funds to support the 3 pilot projects in Washington State, Texas and the MD/VA/DC Metro area. Future sites in other states will be selected after the completion of the pilot project's successful outcome report. The goal is to establish a national network of professionally trained, skilled SSPs.

For more information about the project or if you want to know how you can help, please contact: