Funding Sources: Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing, City of Seattle, private donations, fundraising events and foundation grants
Eligibility: DeafBlind Washington residents, ages 18 and older receive up to 20 hours a month. New DeafBlind persons must be a Washington resident before receiving any SSP services and once s/he becomes a resident, the person will then go through intake screening to determine eligibility. Guidelines are reviewed with all new consumers. New DeafBlind participants with no experience of using a SSP are required to take “How to Use SSP Service” training.
Number of Individuals Served: 65
Preferred Terminology: SSP
Certification/Endorsement: We do not have training CEUs but have created a professional development team to look into options.
Types of Service Requests: grocery shopping, errands, material reading, basic banking, self-care activities such as exercise and attending social activities, and transportation to airport, train or bus station.
Training Requirements: SSPs - (10-15, depending on experience) 15 hours of training and must already be fluent in ASL (minimum ASL 3). Exemption from ASL skills depends on the need for hearing SSPs to work with non-ASL hard of hearing consumers preferring oral communication. DBSC provides training on guiding, how to convey visual and environmental information to DeafBlind participants, and includes some basic Protactile techniques. DBSC also provides workshops about DeafBlind culture and other workshops.
Program Coordination: 20 hours per month is ideal for the program of this size
Transportation: SSPs provide transportation.
SSP Pay Rate: The program pays SSPs $25/hour. The DeafBlind client is responsible to pay for mileage. If the assignment takes over one hour to get to and from home, then we add travel time but that only occurs occasionally.
Other: Some SSP services are paid and some are volunteered. SSPs are required to have driver’s license and auto insurance to be copied and filed. A background check is also required. SSP mentorships are also offered to SSPs to gain skills and confidence. During mentorship, the mentor is paid while the SSP volunteers their time.