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Deaf Awareness Month | Mark Your Calendar | DeafBlind Services

Community Intervener Program

September is Deaf Awareness Month!

We promote awareness of the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind communities every month! To celebrate Deaf Awareness Month in 2023 check out our calendar section below to see if any events interest you.



Mark Your Calendar

COEHDI Alliance Meetings 

Friday, August 18, 2023 from 10-11:30 a.m. 

COEHDI Screening Task Force

Contact info@coehdi.org for the link

The COEHDI Alliance meets the third Friday of each month from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Meetings are open to the public and members of the public are invited to submit a public comment.

Quarterly Commission Meeting

ASL interpretation and CART will be provided. Contact office.ccdhhdb@state.co.us for questions, or additional accommodation requests. 

In-Person

For those wishing to attend in person, RSVP by emailing office.ccdhhdb@state.co.us. Platt College will provide a buffet-type dinner for all attendees who RSVP. Please RSVP by Friday, September 2, 2023 to confirm dinner attendance. 

Virtual Attendance

For those who cannot attend in person, a virtual option is provided via Zoom. Online registration is required, below. 

Wednesday, September 6, 2023, 4-6:30 p.m. 

Where

Platt College

5660 Greenwood Plaza Blvd Suite 100

Greenwood Village, CO 80111

Directions and Transportation

Platt College is located at the Triad Buildings in the Denver Tech Center. The buildings are marked on the outside by different color stripes, red, yellow, and blue. The college is located in the blue striped building, which is 5660 North. The college is 700 steps from the Orchard station light rail, served by the E and R lines. You can park on either side of the building because the entrance is on the main floor level. There will be greeters outside our suite to assist folks where to go. 

Contact

Registration, questions, and other accommodation requests

Email office.ccdhhdb@state.co.us

Call 720-457-3679

Deaf Awareness Night at the Colorado Rapids 

First 100 attendees through our fundraiser link (below) will receive Rapids ASL Swag! Don't miss out!

Last year was a blast - and this year we will be squaring off against Austin FC. Come enjoy community time and watch some football/soccer! 

Proceeds from these ticket sales will go to Rocky Mountain Deaf School and DOVE: Deaf Overcoming Violence through Empowerment.



Save the Date!

Our Rural Auxiliary Services team is proudly to host a Southern Colorado Event for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind.  

October 14, 2023, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Rawlings Pueblo Public Library  

100 E. Abriendo Ave, Pueblo CO 81004  

There will be booths and exhibits related to wellness and accessibility for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind. More details to come.  

Commission News

Realigned Operations of the DeafBlind Services

After a series of staff retreats, including the management team, the Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind (CCDHHDB) felt it was time to shift away from a single-person program operation for any programs. The exponential growth of the staff triggered this need. Until recently, CCDHHDB has been known as a small unit within the Colorado Department of Human Services.

We do not have a definite timeline for this shift. The creation of an exclusive unit to support scheduling multiple providers (sign language interpreters, captioners, Support Service Providers) is an example of the program style we envision. Having a team of subject matter expert staff, e.g., scheduling, vendor paperwork, invoicing, programming, communications, and supporting specific programs/services, is essential to avoid putting any of our programs or services on hold.

In June 2023, CCDHHDB assembled a subject matter expert (SME) team to support the DeafBlind Services (DBS) consumers and vendors in all program aspects, e.g., resources, programming, scheduling of Support Service Providers (SSPs), contracts, finances/invoicing, and outreach. This team is monitoring how the services are operated.

The SME team consist of: 

• The auxiliary services team 
• Trish Leakey, Manager. 
• Mandy Turner, Auxiliary Services Coordinator.
• Ali Lombardi, Auxiliary Services Coordinator.
• The outreach team 
• Katie Cue, Outreach Services Manager.
• Ellie Carlson, Outreach Consultant – DeafBlind Specialty.
• The communications technology member 
• JoAnne Hirsch, Communications Technology Program Manager, and the National DeafBlind Equipment Distribution Program.   

This team provides support to all areas of DBS. It meets periodically to check in for needed support, identify gaps and needs of the program, determine priorities, and strategize how to address them. The preliminary results of this approach have been positive.

To contact DBS with an inquiry or make an SSP request, please contact the DBS team at dbs.ccdhhdb@state.co.us or 720-457-3679. Individuals on the DBS team will respond based on the nature and type of inquiry/request.

The SSP scheduling queries and confirmations come from las.ccdhhdb@state.us, which is Legal Auxiliary Services Program email address. A new email address to clearly reflect scheduling queries and confirmations of all types of providers (sign language interpreter, captioner, SSP, etc.) is being considered.

The team is committed to building DBS into a seamless and efficient program for deafblind stakeholders. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with your feedback, thoughts, or ideas. 

Coming Soon: Community Intervener Program

Effective October 2023, the Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf Blind (CCDHHDB) will operate a new program called the Community Intervener Program. It is a program that works with children who are deafblind and have a disability or more to facilitate critical connections between the child and the child’s family, community, and environment. 

This was made possible by the Family Voices Colorado who piloted the program with various funding sources, including CCDHHDB’s grants, in the past two years. They started the program with a part-time manager and interveners who work closely with deafblind children outside of school. The Colorado Department of Education has an intervener program available for deafblind children who are in school, however, this program is not available for activities outside of school. The Family Voices Colorado believed that constant exposure to the world outside of home and school is essential to their children’s whole-being development and learning.

In January 2023, this organization introduced legislation (House Bill 23-1067) to convert the pilot program to a permanent program and be housed within CCDHHDB. This bill was signed into law by Governor Polis on May 15, 2023. In the law, it anticipated CCDHHDB to launch with this program in October. A transition of the program from the Family Voices Colorado to CCDHHDB is underway. 



A manager to operate the program will be hired. It is anticipated that a posting regarding this position will be made available during the month of September. 

The interveners who are interested in signing up as vendors of the state can begin paperwork prior to launching of the program. Contact CCDHHDB at office.ccdhhdb@state.co.us or 720-457-3679 if you are interested. 

Families with deafblind children are welcome to reach out to CCDHHDB with the above contact information to add themselves to the list while CCDHHDB is in the process to fill the manager position as well.