MN COLLABORATIVE PLAN

Maximizing and Monitoring Learner Progress for Children who are Deaf, Deafblind, and Hard of Hearing and their Families

Mary Hartnett April 7, 2014

COMMISSION BACKGROUND

Since 1985 51% must be deaf, deafblind or hard of

hearing State Agency that advocates for and

with people who are deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing for equal opportunity.

Strategic Planning has always had improving outcomes for children as one of its goals.

COMMISSION BACKGROUND

MNCDHH -over 50 pieces of legislation in the past fifteen years that have shaped policies- 20 for birth through 21

added millions of $ to the state budget Used research to get legislation passed

and developed relationships with researchers including Marc Marshark, Oxford Journal of Deaf Education and Deaf Studies, Dr. Brenda Schick

CREATION OF ONLINE ADVOCACY RESOURCES

Making Your Case Tour of the Capitol Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing

Days at the Capitol Interviews with Deaf, DeafBlind and

Hard of Hearing Advocates

EDUCATION POLICIES PASSED IN THE 1990S - 2009

1990s Educational interpreters certification

requirement ASL competence for teachers of the D/HH Greater Minnesota Mental Health Assessment2003 Hearing aid mandate for kids2004 ANSI Acoustic Standards for New Schools required

POLICIES

2007 Hearing Aid Insurance Coverage for kids expansion Funds for transition aged youth

EHDI BACKGROUND

Commission and advocates attempted to get a mandate

Voluntary screening adopted in 1999 MDH, led by Penny Hatcher convened

stakeholders for 10 years Systems put in place Not all hospitals participate because

there wasn’t a mandate

MDE, DHS AND MDH

Developed Statewide EHDI Teams across the state

Provided training Commitment to the process on the part

of all stakeholders Governor wouldn’t support a mandate

Parent-to-Parent Guides

• Parents trained using a national curriculum provide unbiased information and support to families that lead to making informed choices that lead to successful outcomes.

EHDI Advisory Committee

• Has representatives from stakeholder groups.• Develop guidelines for screening, reporting,

and follow up, medical and educational intervention for uniform reporting, referral and implementation of evidence-based practices.

Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (1:3:6)

EHDI is based on evidence-based practices that lead to babies identified at birth for hearing loss and getting the intervention they need for typical language acquisition and development.

1 = Screen by one month3 = Diagnose by three months6 = Intervention by six months

EHDI Part C Coordinator

Liaison between MDH and MDE -develop seamless system between

identification and educational intervention.

• Coordinate resources and services and train providers.

• Works as part of Part C.• Promote use of evidence-based

practices and uniform assessment for data tracking and accountability, and improve outcomes.

• Responsible for collecting and providing individual and aggregate data.

Hearing AidLoaner Bank Program

• Provides immediate amplification for families.

• Financial commitment from the Lions Club has been exceeded.

• Provides interim hearing aids until funds come through from insurance or parents.

• Leverages hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment donations from hearing aid manufacturers and organizations.

Deaf Mentors

• Introduce successful adult role models so families make decisions out of confidence, not fear.

• Provide families with immediate exposure to sign language by providing in-home instruction.

• Increase self-esteem and positive social skills.

Newborn Hearing Screening Mandate

Mandate is in place now in Minnesota.Minnesota has consequently moved to the

top 5 of states from the bottom 5 (according to CDC ratings) for the identification of babies with hearing loss.

Identification with intervention leads to typical language development and social, emotional, and cognitive growth.

NEWBORN HEARING SCREENING AND EVIDENCE-BASED SUPPORTS BUILD A SYSTEM THAT PROMOTES TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT

AFTER THE PASSAGE OF EHDI, WE ASKED IF WE WERE MAKING A DIFFERENCE?

Median reading comprehension scores from the SAT for deaf and hard of hearing students has gone from just below third grade in 1974 (prior to P.L. 94-142) to fourth grade in 1999

2010 SAT Scores from SAT-10 do not show significant gains.

We had no access to state education data.

2009

Resource Center Report that disaggregates data on deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing.

DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING READING % MATHFROM THE RESOURCE CENTER ANNUAL REPORT

Year Proficiency Math Reading

2011-2012 Does Not MeetPartially MeetsMeets ProficiencyExceeds Proficiency

36%25.6%28.2%10.2%

26%24%28.3%21.3%

2010-2011 Does Not MeetPartially MeetsMeets ProficiencyExceeds Proficiency

35.1%25.2%28.9%10.9%

16.2%21.7%26.7%16.0%

2009-2010 Does Not MeetPartially MeetsMeets ProficiencyExceeds Proficiency

36%26%27%11%

35%21%27%17%

LEGISLATION

2010Metro Deaf School- exemption that prohibits the legislature from withholding more than 10% of payments for charter schools with 95% special ed students.2011 Increase in funds for interveners for deafblind children2012 Medicaid coverage for d/db/hh children who use ASL and need out-of-state mental health treatment

POLICIES THAT IMPACT KIDS

2013 Newborn Hearing Screening Data protected Permanent Funding tied to the blood spot

fee for Deaf Mentors and Parent Guides Teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing

required to continue to take deaf culture and sign language continuing education credits

Increase in funds to the Commission to support the Collaborative

WHICH LEADS TO HOW WE CAME UP WITH THE PLAN… Public Policy – the laws and rules that govern

us and how the government spends our money Advocates shaped these laws.

The laws are divided among various agencies and span the life of children and youth who are D/HH (Birth – 21) …we all must work together, rowing in the same

direction, to empower families of children who are deaf and hard of hearing to enable their children to reach their fullest potential (socially, emotionally, and academically) and achieve their personal life-long goals.

STATUTORY OBLIGATIONS…MCDHHCOMMISSION OF DEAF, DEAFBLIND AND HARD OF HEARING MINNESOTANS

The Commission must serve as the principal advocate for Minnesotans who are deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing by working to ensure that individuals have equal access to services, programs, and opportunities

MCDHH must coordinate its efforts with other state and local agencies serving persons who are deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing (MS 256C.28)

STATUTORY OBLIGATIONS…MDHMINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

MDE must provide technical and administrative support services needed by the Newborn Hearing Screening Advisory Committee (which advises and assists MDH and MDE with EHDI development and implementation)

Oversee EHDI - establish a performance data set and review data from each hospital

Contract to provide support services to families with a child that is identified with a hearing loss (MN Hands & Voices) (MS 144.966)

Contract to run Hearing Aid Loaner Bank (U of M)

STATUTORY OBLIGATIONS…MDEMINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

MN Resource Center for D/HH (part of MDE) Advisory Committee must submit an annual report that: Identifies and reports the aggregate,

data-based education outcomes for children who are deaf and hard of hearing (primary disability classification)

Describe how they will implement a data-based plan to improve the education outcomes of children who are D/HH based on evidence-based best practices (MS 125A.63)

MDE

Statewide hearing loss early education intervention coordinator (Kathy Anderson)

Serves as a liaison between interagency EHDI committees Identify, support, and promote evidence-based practices Provide training and use technology to increase statewide

service consistency Identify and promote instruments to assess and track

progress of children Ensure that stakeholders receive child progress data

resulting from specialized assessments MDE must provide aggregate data regarding outcomes of

D/HH children who receive early intervention services (MS 125A.63)

STATUTORY OBLIGATIONS- MDE

Part C Shared with MDH Shared with DHS

Part B Shared with VRS for Transition

STATUTORY OBLIGATIONS…DEEDDEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Support transition from school to work. VR must participate in transition planning under IDEA and develop a formal interagency agreement with the schools (Rehabilitation Act of 1973 – Reauthorized under Workforce Investment Act of 1998)

Both the Rehabilitation Act and IDEA 2004 require interagency collaboration and outline partner agency responsibility.

STATUTORY OBLIGATIONS…MDH & MDE

Regarding EHDI legislation, MDH & MDE (with advice and assistance from the Newborn Hearing Screening Advisory Committee) must:

Develop protocols and timelines for screening and intervention

Design tracking system for children that passed screening but are at risk for late onset or delayed permanent hearing loss

Design a technical assistance program to support facilities

Implement a follow-up and tracking system Evaluate program outcomes

FOUR STATE AGENCIES RESPONSIBLE TO SERVE

Department of Human Services, Department of Health, Department of Education, Department of Employment and Economic Development

Separate plans, separate goals Limited data sharing Lack of data that can help parents, teachers and

support staff provide timely, appropriate intervention to help children graduate on par with hearing peers.

Lack of central plan that tracks children from the time they are identified with a hearing loss through early childhood, grade school, high school, higher education and employment.

DEVELOPING A CROSS-SECTOR LENS

Support community partners efforts to improve youth services and outcomes

Improve interagency collaboration Community is an asset; lack of

community is a hindrance to getting things done.

We need to build community for this common purpose

WE WANT TO GO FROM THIS-

DHS

MDE

MDH

DEED

TO THIS:

K- 8Transition to Adulthood

DHS

Interveners , Family Mentors and Mental Health

MDE

RDHH Advisory RLF PACE

RTeachers

MDH

EHDI AdvisoryParent Guides

DEED

VECTOR MEC

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: GETTING THE CONVERSATION STARTED…

National Summit on Deaf Education, 2009 and 2010Goal: to promote and advance knowledge and leadership through professional and parent stakeholder partnerships that result in collaborative state education systems and improved outcomes for children and youth who are deaf or hard of hearing

MN COLLABORATIVE FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING

Alignment with National Agenda and State Performance Plan National Agenda Goals State Performance Plan

Indicators

NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE: GUIDELINES

National Agenda: Moving Forward on Achieving Educational Equality for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students (2005)

Eight Goal Areas with rationale statements

IN THE SPIRIT OF THE SUMMIT…

During 2010-2011, twenty-five participants, including parents and those representing 6 state agencies, community services, school districts, and private schools met to develop a plan to improve outcomes for children and youth who are deaf or hard of hearing in MN

HIRED COORDINATORS/CONSULTANTS

Julie Storck Joyce Daugaard Kathy Arnoldi Marian Hausladen Anna Paulson Cheryl Conde Johnson, Colorado

COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS MN Hands and

Voices DeafBlind Technical

Assistance Project MN Association of

Deaf Citizens PACER Commission of

Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans

MN State Academy of the Deaf

Northern Voices Metro Deaf School VECTOR- transition

program

U of M- Deaf Ed Department

DHS MN Dept of Ed

EDHI Coordinator Part C Coordinator Resource Center

D/HH Vocational Rehab

Services State Services for the

Blind MN Dept of Health NE Metro D/HH St. Paul Public

Schools

NEEDED TO SET BASELINES FOR GOALS Contracted with professional survey

developers and researchers Members of the collaborative developed

the questions- it was the most expensive part of the process

Trust was developed- team members learned the questions that were most important to them.

Set the scope of the work

PARENT SURVEY

30 Questions• Resources and services used• Child’s development• IFPS/IEP meetings• Mailed to all parents of children age 5

and under who are deaf/deafblind/hard of hearing

• 46% response rate• Supplemental phone survey for

parents who’s preferred language is not English

TEACHER SURVEY

45 Questions:• Children’s access to services• Resources used by teachers• Children’s development

Emailed to teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing

65% response rate (164 completed surveys)

TEACHER RESULTS

• Teacher resources that would be most helpful: Curricula and adaptations specific to D/HH children (40%) Access to support staff with expertise in D/HH-related

areas (30%) Training specific to D/HH children and their families (25%)

66% feel they have the training and resources they need to meet the needs of the children they serve.

CURRENT STATUS: FUNDING

In addition to support from MNCDHH, procured funding from:

MN Department of Education MN Department of Health MN Department of Employment and Economic

Development State Services for the Blind ASLIS CSD Minneapolis Foundation

Increased funds in 2015 from the legislature will make the Collaborative more sustainable

MN COLLABORATIVE IMPLEMENTATION

Plan Development July – Nov 2011

Agency Commitments

Nov 2011 – July 2012

Survey Development

Aug 2012 – Dec 2012

Dec 2012 – March 2013Survey Data Collection

Data Analysis

March 2013

TODAY!

Plan ReviewPlan RevisionPlan ImplementationPlan Expansion

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Met with SLEDS Statewide Longitudinal Data System to see if we can tap into their data base

Presented at 2012 EHDI Conference and to be the pre-conference for the session

Odyssey Magazine for May 2013 issue Invited to PEPnet Transition Summit Invited to present at Colorado Hands and

Voices Summit Will present data at 2014 EHDI Conference

COMMITTEES HAVE BEEN MEETING AND WILL SET GOALS FOR 2014-2015

Will make reports to the full group at 9:30

It will move more quickly with increased resources

We will continue to work cross sector to achieve the goals and issue the survey again next year to see if we made a difference.

Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”

Ryunosuke Satoro