10A ncac 63E .0202       SERVICES

(a)  The following services are provided by  the Division of Services for the Blind under this Section:

(1)           In‑Home Aide Services: Chore Services for the Blind.  In‑Home Aide Services are those services which assist the individual or family with essential home management tasks necessary to enable the individual and family to remain and function effectively at home for as long as possible.

(2)           Adjustment Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired. These are services provided in any combination as needed and appropriate to enable blind and visually impaired individuals to attain or maintain the highest level of functioning possible, to promote their well‑being, and to prevent or reduce dependency.  This is achieved through a focused regimen of counseling and casework assistance to individuals and their families to help individuals choose, obtain, and use needed resources, services, and mechanisms of support.  Within this context one or more of the following service components or resource items may be provided as part of the Adjustment Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired category.

(A)          Assistance with the demands of daily living may be provided through training in areas such as grooming skills; manipulative skills such as the use of household appliances; money identification and communication skills such as braille, typing, and use of the telephone;

(B)          The teaching of orientation and mobility skills;

(C)          Therapeutic experiences aimed at helping the individual to adjust to and accept his visual limitations through camping experiences, recreational programs, adjustment training at rehabilitation centers, and individual and group counseling sessions;

(D)          The following services/items may be provided:  reader services, interpreter services for the deaf/blind, braille, large print and taped material, low vision optical aids, travel aids and devices, community sponsored recreational activities, devices to support independence such as talking clocks, talking calculators, and braille watches.

(3)           Individual and Family Adjustment Services.  These services are designed to assist the consumer and his or her family in adjusting to the consumer's vision loss, making necessary accommodations and modifications to the environment after vision loss, and identifying community supports.  Activities may include counseling to assist the consumer to recognize, understand, and cope with problems in such areas as household management, consumer affairs, family life education, and other disabling conditions.

(4)           Health Support Services.  These services provide help to individuals and families to recognize health needs including those related to alcohol and drug abuse and to secure needed health services available under medicaid, medicare, or other agency health services programs and from other public or private agencies or providers of health services; counseling and planning with individuals, families, and health providers to help assure continuity of treatment and the carrying out of health recommendations; and helping individuals to secure admission to medical institutions and other health-related facilities as needed. 

(5)           Housing and Home Improvement Services.  These services provide assistance to individuals and families in obtaining and retaining housing and basic furnishings.  Services include helping to improve landlord‑tenant relations, to identify housing, to secure correction of housing code violations, to obtain or retain ownership of own home, and to find and relocate to more suitable housing.

(6)           Information and Referral.  This means giving information about services provided under the state's social services program and other service programs, both public and private; brief assessment to determine the most appropriate resource to meet the stated needs of the person requesting services; and referral to and follow-up with those community resources which provide or make available such services. 

(b)  The following services are mandated in all parts of the state; the responsibility for the provision of these services rests with the Division of Services for the Blind.

(1)           In-Home Aide Services;

(2)           adjustment services for the blind and visually impaired.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 111‑28; 143B‑10;

Eff. February 1, 1976;

Amended Eff. October 12, 1977; August 24, 1976;

Readopted Eff. November 16, 1977;

Amended Eff. August 1, 2002; January 1, 1992; April 1, 1990; February 1, 1986; August 1, 1980;

Pursuant to G.S. 150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without substantive public interest Eff. November 23, 2015.