We did it! We received notice of our federal grant award for 2023-2028. The “State DeafBlind Project” grants are awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the start date is October 1, 2023. The four main goals in our state will be to:

  1. Increase identification of children/youth who meet the eligibility criteria for “deafblindness” and refer them for services.
  2. Provide service providers with the information and training needed to develop and implement individualized supports, to ensure children who are deafblind have equitable access to, and make progress in, the grade level general education curriculum.
  3. Collaborate with Parent Training and Information Centers (PTI) and other family organizations to ensure that a diverse group of family members and caregivers have the training and information to establish, maintain and improve productive partnerships with teachers, school administrators and service providers.
  4. Provide training and information re: individualized supports and equitable access to high-quality educational opportunities for DeafBlind youth that lead to successful transitions to post-secondary education or employment.

We also learned that we’ll have a new OSEP project officer, Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D., COMS, for this next five-year grant cycle. Thank you to all of you who worked on the grant application and to our home agency, WSSB, for your support. We will be reaching out to partner organizations with next steps, soon.

Katie Humes and the WA DeafBlind Program Team
Outreach Services/Washington State School for the Blind