Commission for the Blind & Visually Handicapped

RENSSELAER, NY (04/03/2008)(readMedia)-- New York State Office of Children & Family Services Commissioner Gladys Carrión, Esq., today announced a pilot program that will broadcast an agency meeting via the Internet for the first time.

On Wednesday, April 9, the public will be able to log on to a live “webcast” of the Executive Board meeting of the Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped (CBVH). The meeting will take place in the Blue Room on the second floor of the New York State Capitol starting at 8:30 a.m. and run approximately seven hours. It will remain accessible on the Internet for 30 days. The webcast was arranged after numerous consumers and other stakeholders from across the state expressed interest in attending electronically. Captions will be provided for the hearing impaired.

CBVH provides vocational rehabilitation and other services to legally blind New York State residents, including children, adults, and elderly persons. A primary objective is to assist consumers in achieving economic self-sufficiency and full integration into society.

The 15-member Executive Board was created by the state Legislature last year to examine services provided to legally blind New Yorkers by CBVH and other state agencies, and to make recommendations to enhance or improve services, where necessary. This will be the board’s second meeting.

The April 9 meeting will include reports from the following committees, formed at the board’s first meeting in January: Technology, Randolph Sheppard / Javits-Wagner-O’Day, Education, Vocational Rehabilitation, Social Services, Older Blind, and System Integration.

Other agenda items include discussion of: residential rehabilitation; licensure of orientation and mobility specialists, and vision rehabilitation therapists; establishment of a registry for Blindness and Low Vision; review of pending legislation; and a public comment period.

The webcast will be available through Windows Media Player or Real Media at the links below, which can be accessed 20 minutes prior to the meeting:

http://pointers.audiovideoweb.com/asxfiles-live/1c2winlive6814.asx

http://interface.audiovideoweb.com/lnk/avweb2reallive2109/live.rm/play

The Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped is located within the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). A link to the webcast will be accessible from its website at www.ocfs.state.ny.us . The webcast is made possible with assistance from the New York Network, part of the State University of New York.

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