Pilot support-service program helps Vermonters who are deafblind access community; funding runs out this year

A two-year pilot Support Service Program (SSP) that provides specially trained guides to help Vermonters who are deafblind run errands, attend appointments and access social activities is serving about 25 people regularly but faces a funding cliff at the end of 2025, Department staff told the House Human Services Committee.

Fred Jones, a program lead with the division handling the pilot, said the model pairs a trained SSP with a person who has both vision and hearing loss to provide environmental information and guided navigation that neither assistive technology nor a sign-language interpreter alone can provide. "This allows somebody to get out, interact with their community, get information they need," Jones said. He added, "this is changing my life. I now can access things that I never thought I'd be able to do before."

SSP providers use specially taught guidance techniques — for example, a person holds a guide's elbow and follows a half-step behind — and provide descriptive, non-interpretive information about an environment, such as the number and type of booths at a farmers market or the presence of dogs. Angela Smith Jang, another agency staff member, said the program addresses social isolation and the attendant health effects for people with dual sensory loss. "We're really grateful that we have the federal…