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    What is the Collaborative Plan?

    The Collaborative Plan is a network of agencies, schools, and organizations that work together to create positive, systemic changes to achieve better education and career outcomes for students who are deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing. 

    Access the Collaborative Plan for Minnesota's System Serving Children who are Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing: 2019-2024 (PDF) now. Find the Plan on pages 29-33. 

    How do collaborative groups work together, even if they sometimes have a different point of view?

    The Collaborative Plan is a safe place to come together as a community and work together. Whatever our belief, we share the same goal, which is to improve outcomes for children who are deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing. Each child is unique and they all need access to language, access to education, and the opportunity to pursue goals after graduation.

    Tawny Holmes, Esq. and Zainab Alkebsi, Esq. provided a terrific explanation of how collaboration works at the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) 2017 Leadership Training Conference. They have given us special permission to post a copy of their PowerPoint presentation, Wow, Everyone's Working Together! Collaboration (PDF). 

    Our commitment to respectful communication and civility of relationships

    All meeting participants are expected to treat other attendees with the utmost respect, including respecting all of the attendees' time, space, ideas, and thoughts. They are also expected to treat everyone fairly and equally, regardless of race, sexual orientation, place of origin, political beliefs, sex, or age. MNCDHH will not tolerate harassment or discrimination of any kind. 

    As a Deaf parent raising a Deaf daughter, I understand the child and parent perspectives. My work in the Collaborative is how I support my daughter on her journey through the education system. The way a parent has to learn how to advocate for their Deaf child is like building a car to go 0-100 mph in 6 seconds. The stakeholders work together to help parents to be at ease and take advantage of guidelines to navigate through the big education system.

    - Adan Burke, Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens (MADC)

    Participating in the school-age collaborative has been empowering and encouraging as different members of various groups come together for the purpose of improving and enhancing the educational experience of students who are deaf and hard of hearing.

    - Ann Mayes, Intermediate District 917

    The work of the Collaborative Plan is critical to ensuring students... our children... who are deaf and hard of hearing have every opportunity to reach their full potential. Parents, like me, trust that our Minnesota education system has all the supports necessary, and educators have the up to date training needed to identify and respond to the unique needs of our children. The Collaborative ensures that.

    - Candace Lindow-Davies, Minnesota Hands & Voices

    All of the agencies, organizations, and individuals represented on the Transition Group within the Collaborative Plan are working hard to achieve positive educational outcomes for transition-aged students in Minnesota who are deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind. While we each have our own interests and objectives in mind given our roles and the requirements of WIOA, IDEA, and Olmstead, we are able to come together and respectfully share critical perspectives; the bottom line for all of us is the same. Having that mission there guides our group.

    - Elise Knopf, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development

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