RESOLUTION 3-04
WHEREAS, visual impairments
are the third most prevalent factor in limiting the activities
of individuals, AND
WHEREAS, the prevalence
of visual impairments of those aged 65 and over is eight times
the rate for those under 65, and 50% of all persons in the United
States are over the age of 65, AND
WHEREAS, 70-80% of individuals
over age 65 currently classified as legally blind can be helped
to perform daily living functions by low vision or vision rehabilitation
services, AND
WHEREAS, financial resources
are often a key factor in receiving such assistance, AND
WHEREAS, under current
law, vision rehabilitation services and aids for the blind are
not covered by Medicare or Medicaid, THEREFORE BE IT
RESOLVED, that the Blinded
Veterans Association supports coverage under Medicare and Medicaid
programs of vision aids for persons eligible for Medicare and
Medicaid.
RESOLUTION 4-04
WHEREAS, federal funding
for stipends and fellowships for students in personnel training
programs to be teachers of the visually handicapped, orientation
and mobility instructors, rehabilitation teachers, and counselors
for the blind have been reduced each year since 1976, AND
WHEREAS, the reduction
of funding has caused many professional preparation programs to
reduce faculty positions, has closed many programs, and has frustrated
development of high caliber personnel, AND
WHEREAS, these reductions
in funds have forced the programs to reduce the number of students
accepted, and the reduction in stipends has made it difficult
to recruit applicants for study in numbers equal to program capacity,
AND
WHEREAS, the incidence
of blindness and visual impairment is expected to dramatically
increase over the next fifteen years, while the number of qualified
graduates continues to decrease, AND
WHEREAS, the shortage of
qualified professionals in work with blind persons has in some
instances caused a shift to service provision by persons with
general education who have no knowledge of the unique needs of
blind persons, AND
WHEREAS, the only certain
means of assuring stipends and fellowships for students to alleviate
the shortage is through categorical funding, THEREFORE BE IT
RESOLVED, that the Blinded
Veterans Association, in convention assembled in Reno, Nevada
on this 14th day of August, 2004, urges the U.S. Congress
to enact legislation to fund categorical programs for professional
preparation of education and rehabilitation personnel serving
people who are severely visually impaired and blind.
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