Resources > Successful Programs > Massachusetts Commission for the Blind
Last Updated: January 29, 2004
Name of Organization/Institution: Massachusetts Commission for the Blind
Keywords: persons with disability
Description of best practice: MA Commission for the Blind provides referrals to cooperating agencies, tax benefits, rehabilitation teaching for every age group, vocational counseling and supportive technology. Mobility instruction (cane training), which can be as limited or extensive as the person needs. The Commission for the Blind has interpreters available in many languages.
The mission of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind is to work in partnership with legally blind individuals to reach their goals of independence and participation in their communities. This practice has been successful because the Commission provides service regardless of the person’s assets.
The Massachusetts Commission for the Blind was established July 13, 1906. It was originally comprised of 3 men and 2 women, including Ms. Helen Keller. This group functioned as a board of directors and was charged with establishing a state agency to provide services to blind persons. That original agency was organized primarily around two residential workshops for the blind, one for men, and the other for women. In 1919 the then Commission was incorporated into the State Department of Education and renamed the Division of the Blind. In 1966 the agency was reestablished as the separate commission that it remains today. Currently MCB is one of fifteen agencies in the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS).
The program is funded through both the federal and the state government.
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