Growing the Vision Rehabilitation Workforce: �A discussion of strategies �from the field

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12/7/24

2023 CAABVI Discussion

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• Lunch N Learn:
• Allison Burdett, Vice President, Wayfinder Family Services
• Angie Rowe, President and CEO, Beyond Blindness,
• Nicholas Casias, California State University-LA,
• Sandra Rosen and Erin Foley, San Francisco State University
• The discussion centered around two questions that may inform CAABVI on how to utilize our statewide resources to work on solutions collaboratively across agencies through state and national outreach, legislative advocacy, creative hiring practices, and other methods proposed through these conversations.
• The current barriers; why do TVI and O&M program cohort spaces go unfilled? And what are the root causes of programs closing in other states?
• Suggestions for possible solutions; what can CAABVI, community-based organizations, the universities, and other groups do to increase the numbers of professionals entering our field?

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Our Discussion

• What challenges are we currently facing?
• What changes are on the horizon?
• Opportunities for addressing the shortage of professionals
• What can be done, how, and with which partners?

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Current state

• 22+ roles posted on AERBVI since September
• Organizations having difficulty finding enough professionals
• University programs need more applicants
• Universities cite lack of support for funding of a small program
• Closure of other programs around the country
• Programs out of state offering incentives
• 2023 increase to DOR reimbursement rates for O&M services

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Changes on the horizon

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• Medical billing and OT/OM
• Aging population growth
• Grant funding for programs
• Funding to schools and other state departments
• What else?

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Barriers

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• Work as an Intern TVI is more available compared to Intern O&M.
• Cost, commitment, and format of earning an M.A.
• People are unaware of career pathways in vision rehabilitation.
• Some federally-funded loan/scholarship programs require a graduate to work with youth and not adults to refund the program.
• Reimbursement rates are historically low.

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Challenges in the field

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• The apparent lack of O&M services needed by schools is largely due to funding. Schools limit the amount of time O&M specialists can work with students by giving teachers extremely large caseloads and therefore making time with students very limited.
• No CDE requirements for how much O&M progress or instruction is given. Schools limit the amount of time O&M specialists can work with students. If sufficient services were provided to students, there would be a larger and increased need for O&M specialists in schools.
• Districts are not all following SPED mandates and may outsource to non-profits or staffing companies which can impact available district roles.

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Challenges in University Programs

• Universities are reluctant to fund small-enrollment programs (1:6 ratio in order to keep AER accreditation). Some universities usually consider 1:25 to be a healthy enrollment for most graduate courses.
• Most O&M programs depend on grant funding to support many program activities and grant funding is limited.
• California is also not part of the WICHE system (Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education). This is a system where all of the other Western states give in-state tuition to each other’s students. CA has made a conscious decision to not be part of WICHE. Many students who would come to SFSU or CSULA are now going to universities in other states and then taking positions in other states.

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Opportunities

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• More educational and advocacy resources available to parents and families create potential for gaining O&M services for students who need them.
• There are increased in-state and national partnerships working to improve and expand public knowledge.
• O&M program is comparable length or shorter than other Master’s degrees in human services, such as OT

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What can be done?

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• Agencies advocating for reimbursement to cover full costs of providing services to include travel time, documentation, lesson planning, and cancellations.
• What would it take to make CA interested in joining WICHE? Is there any possibility for a specific exception to be made for programs of critical need such as O&M?
• Outreach to Paraeducators, COTAs, what other relates services?
• Continue to explore the question of licensure, increase awareness and enable insurance billing

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What can be done?

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• Stipends to reduce the cost of the master's/credential or make it as close to free as possible.
• Provide books, money for flights & hotels so we can have more distance ed. Students.
• Thinking outside the box about how a O&M Master’s program could be combined with BA credits thereby reducing total college time toward a master’s credential program.
• Is there a way to make it easier for people to get their TVI & O&M & become dually certified?
• Surveys of O&M graduates over the past 15 years have always come back indicating that there were no courses they feel could be dropped.

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What can be done?

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• Continue to make this a nationwide issue (NFB, AFB, AER, etc.)
• Support and expand successful outreach efforts
• BLV is a high-needs/low-incidence program that requires highly trained teachers. What state and/or federal funding could there be to train teachers that is not just based on grants that professors need to write every few years.
• Develop funding sources for rehabilitation services organizations to fund internships and to sponsor staff to enter these programs.

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Thank you for joining the discussion!

Allison Burdett, aburdett@brailleinstitute.org

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