AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND, INC.

1660 L STREET N W WASHINGTON DC 20036

TEL 202 293 1870

STATEMENT OF IRVIN P. SCHLOSS, COORDINATOR OF GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS,
AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND, TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE
HANDICAPPED, COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE, UNITED STATES
SENATE, ON H.R. 14225 AND RELATED BILLS

July 9, 1974

Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate this opportunity
to present the views of three national organizations on H.R. 14225 and related
bills to amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The three organizations I am representing are the American Association of
Workers for the Blind, the national professional membership organization in
our field; American Foundation for the Blind, the national voluntary research
and consultant agency in services to blind persons of all ages; and Blinded
Veterans Association, the Congressionally chartered membership organization
of the nation's war blinded. These three organizations support enactment
of H.R. 14225 as the quickest way of accomplishing two desirable goals:
extension of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 through June 30, 1976, to make
advance funding possible for this year, and restoration of the Rehabilitation
Services Administration to the position in the departmental hierarchy occupied
by its predecessor agencies, the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration and
the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.

As you know, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 authorizes advance funding, a desirable feature welcomed by all of the state vocational rehabilitation agencies.

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2.

Implementation of the advance funding authorization through the appropriation process will enable state agencies, especially those in states whose legislatures meet biennially, to plan and budget for program activity for a two-year period with certain knowledge of the amount of Federal funds they will be entitled to receive.

Since the authorization of appropriations in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 expire on June 30, 1975, implementation of the advance funding provision by the appropriations committees this year would be impossible without the one-year extension provided for in H.R. 14225.

The other major provision of H.R. 14225 would transfer the Rehabilitation Services Administration from the Social and Rehabilitation Service of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to the Office of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Since departmental witnesses have publicly indicated that the Rehabilitation Services Administration would be administratively housed in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of HEW for Human Development if H.R. 14225 became law, this would carry out the purpose of S. 3108, which is also pending before this Subcommittee. That purpose and the purpose of this transfer provision of H.R. 14225 is to assure restoration of the Rehabilitation Services Administration to the status enjoyed by its two predecessor agencies, the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration and the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. This restoration of former status has already been accomplished with regard to the Administration on Aging, and it is equally important for the Rehabilitation Services

Administration.

In view of the desirability of implementing the advance funding provision of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and of restoring the Rehabilitation Services

3.

Administration to the status its predecessor agencies occupied in HEW, we strongly urge approval of H.R. 14225 without amendment by the Subcommittee and full Committee as the best means of expediting its enactment into law and accomplishing these objectives.

We should like to call the attention of the Subcommittee to Section 401.8 of the proposed regulations to implement the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as published in the Federal Register of May 28, 1974. This section reads as follows:

Sec. 401.8 State administrator. The State plan shall provide that there shall be a State administrator who shall direct the State agency specified in Sec. 401.6(b) (1) or the organizational unit specified in Sec. 401.7(b), and who shall be required to devote his full time and efforts to the vocational rehabilitation program, or the vocational and other rehabilitation of handicapped individuals.

The various state agencies for the blind, which are clearly authorized by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to administer the vocational rehabilitation program for blind persons in their respective states, are are seriously concerned that the effect of Section 401.8 would be to prevent them from providing vocational rehabilitation services to blind persons. Many of these state agencies for the blind traditionally serve as resource agencies under state laws to blind and visually handicapped children educated in local school programs. As a result of state and Federal laws, several provide social services to blind persons under the Social Security Act. Several operate regional distributing libraries in connection with the Books for the Blind and Physically Handicapped program administered by the Library of Congress.

Although objections to Section 401.8 have been raised with the Rehabilitation Services Administration, there can be no assurance that these objections

4.

In order to prevent

will be heeded when final regulations are issued. serious harm to the delivery system for vocational rehabilitation services to blind and visually handicapped persons in 27 states, we strongly urge the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare to add language to the report accompanying H.R. 14225 or similar legislation clearly stating that no state agency serving blind and visually handicapped individuals under the Vocational Rehabilation Act may be prevented from continuing as the state agency serving blind persons under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as long as the state agency for the blind is designated for this purpose by state

law.