SIGN OF THE TIMES E-NEWS Deaf Services Commission of Iowa February 2010 SUBMITTING ARTICLES, NEWS, RECENT EVENTS, OR INFORMATION The deadline for submission for the March issue is February 25th. Send e-mail submissions to the editor dhr.dsci@iowa.gov CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2/1: 9 am—2 pm Deaf Capitol Day hosted by East High School Students located at the Capitol. 2/1: 2—5 pm DSCI Commission Meeting located at Lucas Building, Room 424. 2/5: 6:00 p.m. American Sign Language Social hosted by Deaf Awareness and DMACC located at ALL-Play 615 - 3rd Street, Des Moines. Games, eat and drink. First Friday of every month. 2/20: Iowa Association of the Deaf Board Meeting hosted by North Central Club of the Deaf located at Citizen’s Central in Fort Dodge starting at 8:30 am. ANNOUNCEMENT Video Relay Services Consumer Association VRSCA—http://www.vrsca.org/ The Video Relay Services Consumer Association (VRSCA) is a communication forum for Deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing persons who use Video Relay Services (VRS). The VRSCA pro- vides an objective environment for individuals to discuss and resolve issues that relate to VRS. INFORMATION Short on Money? How tax time might help. Low-Income taxpayers running behind on bills like utilities or rent or just wanting to save up a little money should know about the Earned Income Credit. . How Much Can I Get from the Earned Income Credit or other credits? . What Children Quality for the EIC? . How Do I Get Help Filing my Tax Return in 2010? . Where Can I Get Help if I have a Tax Problem or a Question? For details, go to: iowalegalaid.org/link.cfm?2855 Visit DSCI website: www.deafservices.iowa.gov Questions or Comments? Email us: dhr.dsci@iowa.gov INFORMATION IRS Videos in ASL Available on YouTube With tax season in full swing, did you know that deaf and hard of hearing consumers can find answers to their tax questions directly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in American Sign Language (ASL)? The IRS has built a YouTube channel complete with a series of ASL videos—that are also voiced and captioned—on a myriad of tax topics, including: . e-File and Direct Deposit, . Free File and Fillable Forms, . Education Tax Credits, . Unemployment Compensation and Home Energy Credits. . ASL videos on many more important subjects for taxpayers will be added as they become available. Just go to the IRS YouTube channel here http://www.youtube.com/user/IRSvideosASL to see ASL videos that will help you complete your taxes this year. You can post and share these videos through your websites, vlogs or other social network venues. Click on the subscriptions button at the top of the YouTube page and you can find out right away when future videos become available. ANNOUNCEMENT RDPC and CEPINMARK YOUR CALENDARS...The Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium announces: this FREE one day Emergency Preparedness Training for April 16, 2009 from 8 am—5 pm in Ames. WHO: Emergency Responders and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community: Taking the First Steps to Disaster Preparedness (AWR-186) Location: Quality Inn & Suites Starlite Conference Center, 2601 East 13th Street, Ames, IA PURPOSE: This course is designed to promote emergency preparedness, community response, and recovery from emergencies ranging from weather-related emergencies to a terrorist attack involving individuals with hearing loss. All key members of emergency response agencies involved in the planning of and response to a disaster would benefit from this course including: . Law Enforcement, Fire, EMS . Public Health Safety Officers . Community Advocates . Homeland Security Officials . Others who may be indirectly or directly affected Maximum seating: 40 participants 20 deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind, late deafened; 20 emergency responders. DEADLINE: APRIL 2, 2010—Submit Registration To: DSCI, Suzy Mannella at suzy.mannella@iowa.gov or fax 515-242-6119 Interpreters and real-time captioning are provided. This course is designed to promote emergency preparedness, community response, and recovery from emer- gencies involving individuals with hearing loss. The one-day course contains lectures, interactive activities and group discussions in most modules to ensure that participants have a better understanding of the needs of individuals with hearing losses, especially in times of emergencies. Help spread the word, contact your local EMT’s, Law Enforcement, etc. encourage them to sign up for this course: Delivered by Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI) This course will provide participants with an understanding of the tools and knowledge needed to prepare a commu- nity response, as well as respond to and recover from emergencies ranging from weather-related emergencies to a terrorist attack, for deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, and deaf-blind individuals. COURSE DETAILS: This is an 8-hour course, beginning at 8:00 am and ending at 5:00 pm. The maximum number of students is 40. All registrants must be a U.S. Citizen. Photo identification is required upon registration. There is no registration fee for this class. Audience: This course is designed to provide deaf and hard of hearing (including deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing, late-deafened and other individuals with hearing loss) and emergency responders with the basic skills they need to communicate with each other in the event of emergencies such as terrorist attacks and natural and biological disasters. The course will also instruct participants how to respond to a variety of emergency situations. Scope: At the conclusion of this course, participants will gain the skills they need to prepare for and respond to an emergency situation involving individuals who are deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing or late-deafened. The course materials will train participants to identify and recruit those in their neighborhood whose daily activities place them in a unique position to identify potential barriers to effec- tive communication as well as proven solutions to work around such obstacles. This project is supported by Cooperative Agreement Number 2004-GT-T4-K008 administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Grants & Training. Points of views or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Visit DSCI website: www.deafservices.iowa.gov Questions or Comments? Email us: dhr.dsci@iowa.gov