2017 Resolutions

The official policy statements of the National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey are established every year with annual resolutions adopted at the state convention.

The resolutions committee meets early during the convention. Each proposed resolution is read, spoken for by the authoring member, considered, and then ultimately withdrawn or recommended for passage or disapproval by the Convention.

Resolution 2017-01: Regarding Protecting the Civil Rights of Blind Parents

WHEREAS, protecting the rights of parents with disabilities is a notion that, incredibly, was rejected by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Buck v. Bell 274 U.S. 200 (1927), in which Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, “It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind”; and

WHEREAS, this insulting and unjustified view that people with disabilities, including blind people, are somehow “manifestly unfit” to be parents (or otherwise to live the lives they want and to participate as members of society with all rights and privileges associated therewith) has too often continued to prevail in the courts even as we move further into the twenty-first century; and

WHEREAS, this bias is reflected in matters involving adoption and guardianship and in contested child custody proceedings, because blind parents have been perceived by the courts, child protection agencies, guardians ad litem, hospital staff, and others as incapable of caring adequately for their children’s needs, which has resulted in blind people routinely being denied the right to be parents without unfair bias or unnecessary overreach by government entities; and

WHEREAS, for most people a fundamental aspect of living life to the fullest includes the joy of being a parent and sharing in the nurturing, growth, and development of a child; and

WHEREAS, being a parent and raising children is a fundamental right which is protected under the Constitution of the United States of America by the First and Ninth Amendments and under the Fourteenth Amendment as applied to the states; and

WHEREAS, in the case of blind parents, there is a need to protect this fundamental constitutional right; yet New Jersey has no laws at all to protect the right of blind citizens to be parents and raise their children without the fear of discriminatory treatment or unnecessary inquiries of fitness solely based on blindness; and

WHEREAS, seven states across the country have enacted legislation that specifically protects the rights of blind parents, and momentum toward the goal of equal rights for blind parents is growing: now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey in Convention assembled this twelfth day of November, 2017, in the Township of Stafford, New Jersey, that this organization call upon the New Jersey Legislature to enact laws that establish procedural safeguards to protect the right of blind people to be parents and prohibit discriminatory presumptions of manifest unfitness solely because a parent (or prospective parent) happens to be blind; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge the New Jersey Attorney General, in protecting the best interest of children in court proceedings, to use his or her good office affirmatively to protect blind parents in the state against discrimination and bias based solely upon blindness and to urge the courts, guardians ad litem, and officials of child protection agencies to base decisions about what is in the best interest of the child on the same criteria used for sighted parents.

Resolution 2017-02: Regarding Changes and Innovations in Blindness Education at the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired

WHEREAS, the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CBVI or the Commission) is and has been the main provider of specialized education and independent living services and materials for blind and visually impaired children in New Jersey since its founding in 1910; and

WHEREAS, the policies, programs, and decisions of the Commission affect almost every blind and visually impaired child in the state in terms of education, literacy, independent living, independent travel, and vocational readiness; and

WHEREAS, CBVI Executive Director Daniel Frye and Commission staff have instituted new policies, programs, and operations that have resulted in great benefit to the blind and visually impaired students of New Jersey, such as the reestablishment of specialized services to infants and toddlers; the more than doubling of the number of students receiving Braille instruction and materials, including the provision of full Braille services to preschoolers; the participation of Commission teachers in the Individual Education Program (IEP) process, including the writing of educational goals for blindness skills; expanding the availability of and removing barriers to services and materials; enhancing the production and provision of books and materials in alternative formats; modernizing the provision of technology devices to provide more choice and better preparation for higher education; the initiation of programs such as SHARP (Student Hands-on Alternatives Reinforcement Program) for elementary and middle school students and EDGE (Employment, Development, Guidance and Engagement) for high school students, which emphasize and teach positive attitudes toward blindness and the abilities of blind people and enhance literacy and independent living skills; and a rededication to supporting and responding to families as partners in the education of our blind and visually impaired youth; and;

WHEREAS, these new policies, programs, and operations were developed with the input of stakeholders including parents; and

WHEREAS, they support and encourage families and empower blind and visually impaired children with the skills and tools that will enable them to gain full literacy, pursue higher education, have success in the workplace, and lead independent lives; and

WHEREAS, in addition to what has been accomplished, much remains to be done to continue providing a high-quality education to blind and visually impaired children in New Jersey, such as reinstituting regular CBVI-sponsored programs and retreats for the families of blind and visually impaired babies and children; developing additional transition services such as the Federally-required Pre-Employment Transition Services outlined in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014; development of programs for instruction in professional “soft skills,” and self-advocacy skills; and evaluation and implementation of improved models for delivering such programs: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey in Convention assembled this eleventh day of November, 2017, in the township of Stafford, New Jersey, that this organization commend, congratulate, and express appreciation to Daniel Frye and the Commission staff for leadership and innovation in blindness education which will have a positive impact on blind and visually impaired students for decades to come; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we strongly urge CBVI leadership to continue to create needed innovative programs for babies, children, teens, and their families, and to continue to collaborate with the National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey, and in particular its Parents of Blind Children Group, in the development of such programs to achieve ongoing innovations and improvements in the agency’s services to children; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that through the circulation of this resolution to the current Governor of New Jersey, the Governor-Elect of New Jersey, the current Acting Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services, the Executive Director of CBVI, and other interested parties, we increase awareness of the progress already made in delivering improved blindness education to blind and visually impaired children in the State, of the Commission’s efforts to inaugurate other new and innovative programs related to blindness education, and of the strong consumer support of these efforts.

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