VIDBE-Q Volume 67 Issue 4
with state deaf-blind projects in every state, as well as Puerto Rico, the District of
Columbia, the Pacific Basin, and the Virgin Islands. Together, NCDB and the state
deaf-blind projects function as a network funded by the U.S. Department of
Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
This article describes initiatives, beginning with the development of
Recommendations for Improving Intervener Services (NCDB, 2012a), that NCDB
has engaged in over the past decade with state deaf-blind projects, families,
university faculty, and others committed to making high-quality intervener services
available for children who are deaf-blind. The authors recognize that NCDB's
activities are part of a much larger effort that includes many others, such as those
whose work is described elsewhere in this issue.
Development of the Intervener Recommendations
In 2011, OSEP asked NCDB to conduct an initiative to 1) gather information
about current intervener services across the country and 2) develop
recommendations for improving national, state, and local intervener services based
on an analysis of the information collected. This resulted in the publication of
Recommendations for Improving Intervener Services in 2012.
NCDB's efforts were based on many years of successful advocacy and work
by professionals and family members who pioneered the foundational
infrastructures for intervener services in place at the time the recommendations
