Petition Improve the rights of people who lose their sight

Rehabilitation Officers (Vision Impairment) are employed by Social Services to teach independence skills to children and adults who have lost their sight. This improves the quality of lives, reduces the burden of expensive care packages and enables disabled people to work and contribute to society. Each year, RO(VI)s save more money than they cost but ‘Cutbacks’ have reduced these services by as much as two thirds; fully trained professionals are in terminal decline; no full-time training course exists in the country; nearly all responsible managers have little or no understanding of the profession.
We call upon the government to ensure that these cost effective jobs are maintained in two ways - by mandatorily requiring Local Authorities to use a fully qualified professional for assessment and training; secondly, the Government to introduce a nationally recognised, full-time degree-level course, with equal professional progression, governance and pay to that of Social Workers.