Here’s many of the most frequently asked questions we receive.

About the program:

1. What problem does WDBTAP solve?
   • DeafBlind children have combined vision and hearing loss that creates unique learning, communication, and mobility challenges that cannot be addressed by single-disability programs.
2. Why can’t existing deaf or blind programs meet these needs?
   • Programs designed for one sensory loss are not trained to address the compounded effects of both losses occurring together.
3. How many children in Wisconsin are affected?
   • The Project had 170 families enrolled at last count. DeafBlindness is a low-incidence disability, typically affecting a few hundred children statewide, but with very high service needs. It is estimated that 300-500 children state wide could qualify based on eligibility criteria.
4. Who does WDBTAP serve?
   • Children and youth from birth through age 21, along with their families and educators.
5. Why is early intervention so important?
   • Without early, specialized support, DeafBlind children face lifelong delays in communication, independence, and education.
6. What services does WDBTAP actually provide?
   • WDBTAP provides technical assistance, training, and consultation to families, schools, and service providers. See About WDBTAP
7. Does WDBTAP work directly with children?
   • No. It supports the adults, educators, and systems serving the children. The goal is technical assistance, or said another way: to give the parents, educators, and medical professionals the tools they need to serve DeafBlind children.
8. What outcomes does the program produce?
   • Improved communication access, stronger educational plans, parents with the necessary resources for their kids, and a shared community.
9. Is there evidence this approach works?
   • Yes. DeafBlind technical assistance programs exist in every state and are recognized nationally as best practice.
10. What happens if WDBTAP is not available?
    • Families and schools are left without expertise, training, and appropriate tools. This leads to children not being identified for their disability needs, schools that cannot provide equal access to education, increased global delays for these children, and higher long-term costs.
11. Is this duplicating other programs?
    • No. WDBTAP fills a specialized gap not covered by existing deaf or blind services. WESP-DHH provides in-kind support to the WDBTAP staff, but if WDBTAP is not funded or operational, then WESP-DHH does not have a program to coordinate support for DeafBlind kids.
12. Is the state required to serve DeafBlind children?
    • Yes. Federal special education law requires appropriate services for all disabilities, including DeafBlindness.

About the Funding:

1. Where did the funding come from originally?
   • The funding was one of approximately 48 programs across the United States and it’s territories. This funding was administrated by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), in the Federal Department of Education (DoED). This was a 5-year grant with an annual renewal. The program had submitted the paperwork needed for the 3rd year when the notice of non-renewal was sent.
2. Why was the project not renewed?
   • When the last 5-year cycle was awarded (2022-2023), the project was required to submit information regarding a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion plan.
     • The plan that Wisconsin included in their grant application expired in 2024.
   • When the renewal period came in 2025, this expired DEI plan was flagged under the January 20th Executive Order regarding DEI policies.
   • While Wisconsin was allowed to appeal for reconsideration, they were not permitted to amend the application, or remove the DEI plan. Therefore funding lapsed on October 1, 2025.
3. Where did this year’s funding come from?
   • The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) secured a sub-award from the National Center on Deafblindness (NCDB) to fund the program until September 30th of 2026. This was a 1-time grant without a renewable clause.
4. Should the DPI expect another grant from the NCDB?
   • NCDB can only help Wisconsin if the funding they provided becomes available again. This possibility is outside of the NCDB’s control.
5. What happens if federal funding ends?
   • Without state action or funding, the specialized expertise disappears, even though the legal obligation remains.
6. How much does WDBTAP cost?
   • WDBTAP has operated on a budget of approximately $184,000 per year. This pays for 1.5 Full-time Equivalent positions, and all of the extra tools, and programming that they provide.

About future funding and options:

1. Is $184,000 / year enough to fully serve all DeafBlind Kids in Wisconsin?
   • No. This grant amount from the Department of Education was never intended to fully fund a DeafBlind project in every state. Instead it was intended to provide financial aid to the states to augment their own services for DeafBlind students.
   • Based on neighboring states and other existing deafblind programs, Wisconsin likely needs to have approximately $500,000 to $700,000 of funding per year to properly serve all DeafBlind students in the state.
     • This is based on Deafblind Programs from neighboring states of similar population.
2. If the state of Wisconsin provides funding from it’s own General Revenue, will this affect Federal Funding or funding from the NCDB?
   • No. Federal Funding and NCDB funds are not affected by the additional state funding in other states.
   • Approximately 10-20 states use both state and federal dollars to fund their DeafBlind programs.
3. Can DPI simply use discretionary funds to pay for this program?
   • It’s not that simple. Funding to the Department of Public Instruction is tightly allocated in the budget process, and also strictly limited. Moving funds around within the department would likely cause another vital program to loses it’s necessary resources.
4. Can we just use funds for the School for the Deaf (WSD), or the Center for Blind and Visually Impaired (WCBVI)?
   • No. While this may seem like a reasonable option, the funding for these programs is specifically allocated in the state budget. It would likely take an intervention of the Wisconsin Legislature to allow for these funds to be used elsewhere.
   • Combining DeafBlind Services with either of these programs would defeat the purpose of the disability category for DeafBlind. This Category is separate because DeafBlindness disability requires an entirely unique set of skills and services to overcome the combined sensory loss. Best practice is to have a separate program to address the needs of these kids.
   • WSD and WCBVI are two very unique programs in the state of Wisconsin that meet the very real needs of their enrolled kids. Taking funds from these programs to pay for WDBTAP would undermine these programs and cause more problems than it would solve.
5. Should non-profits be used to fund or run this program?
   • No. Non-profit organizations can do many great things, but WDBTAP is administrated within the Department of Public Instruction. Most Non-profits would not be able to operate within the schools and community in the same ways that WDBTAP currently can. The same level of access just wouldn’t happen.
   • The goal of a DeafBlind program is to provide DeafBlind kids access to education and their community. This is the responsibility of the State of Wisconsin, through the Department of Health Services, and the Department of Public Instruction. There are non-profit organizations that could likely easily fund this program, but the responsibility rests with the state to provide access to public schools and programs.