VIDBE-Q Volume 67 Issue 4
Virginia
Julie Durando, Virginia Project for Children and Young Adults with Deaf-
Blindness
Efforts to recognize the intervener role in the regulations of Virginia began
with a collaboration of the state deaf-blind project director and the disability policy
specialist at the Partnership for People with Disabilities, a University Center for
Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) at Virginia Commonwealth
University. They provided information to the Virginia Disability Commission that
outlined the role, student benefits, and training of interveners as well as the current
systemic challenges. When asked to present this information to the commission,
they recommended, "Through a collaborative effort involving Virginia Department
of Education, parents, and local education agencies, explore solutions to resolve
the current issues preventing the recognition of an intervener as a related service
provider" (Durando, 2012, p. 12). This recommendation was considered by their
Education and Employment Work Group with input from stakeholders. In the 2013
session of the General Assembly of Virginia, Delegate Pogge, a member of the
Disability Commission, sponsored House Bill 1420 to define intervener in the
Board of Education Regulations. It passed unanimously in both the house and the
senate, but it has not yet completed the state's standard regulatory process. For
