WHEREAS, Congress instituted the Client Assistance Project as a part of the Rehabilitation Act because vocational rehabilitation agencies were not safeguarding the civil rights of
the handicapped client they were established to serve; and WHEREAS, the Rehabilitation Amendments of 1984 substantially
realize the Client Assistance Project to strengthen their effectiveness by separating them administratively from the rehabilitation agencies they were established to monitor; and
WHEREAS, the Maryland Client Assistance Program is administered by the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and is limited to serving clients in five counties of the state; and
WHEREAS, the Maryland Client Assistance Project is not credible as a protector of the civil rights of rehabilitation clients because of its administrative structure and limited scope; and
WHEREAS, the office of the Attorney General is experienced and knowledgeable in the area of civil rights and is independent of the vocational rehabilitation system;
NOW, THERFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland in Convention assembled this 13th day of October, 1984, in Hagerstown, Maryland that this organization urges that the Maryland Client Assistance Project be removed from the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and placed within the office of the Attorney General; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we support the statewide expansion of the restructured and reformed Client Assistance Project.