As of March 21st, the Department of Education will officially lay off nearly half its employees, including those who are responsible for overseeing the funding of several Deaf/Blind institutes. These include:

• National Technical Institute for the Deaf(NTID)
• Gallaudet University (GU)
• Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind (HKNC)

Federal funding for NTID is responsible for:

• Providing postsecondary educational opportunities for the Deaf community through the Education of the Deaf Act (EDA, 1986)
• Providing access, career preparation, and facilities
• Offering a wide variety of degree options at different paces as needed
• Access at NTID includes important support services such as:
  • Tutoring
  • Counseling
  • Note-taking
  • Interpreting
  • Specialized education media
  • Cooperative work experience
  • Specialized job placement

Federal funding for GU provides:

• Education to elementary, secondary, undergraduate, and continuing education opportunities to Deaf people
  • The University offers liberal arts, graduate programs, and applied Deafness research.
• Support services to students

Gallaudet University also operates the Kendall Demonstration Elementary School (KDES) and the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD). It is crucial that these schools continue to receive federal grants, as they provide immense support and educational development for the Deaf students of the nation.

HKNC is responsible for providing vocational rehabilitation to DeafBlind individuals. Spanning 10 offices, the HKNC is able to offer technical assistance, information, referral, advocacy, and training (both privately and at the state level) to meet the needs of the DeafBlind community.

Those who work with the DeafBlind are able to access crucial professional development/workshops through the HKNC, such as:

• Mental health
• Working with seniors with age related vision and hearing loss
• Administration of Support Service Provider (SPP) Programs
• State-wide needs assessments regarding services for the DeafBlind community

As of 2016, the HKNC serves 1,528 consumers, 447 families, and 985 organizations and agencies.

It cannot be stressed enough how important it is for these institutions to remain federally funded. The Deaf(Blind) communities are at risk of losing valuable resources through these cuts.

*Source: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)