In January 2020 a new version of the 7-OB report was officially released by the Rehabilitation Services Administration for use by Older Individuals who are Blind programs for use beginning in the federal fiscal year 2021, which begins October 1, 2020. Understanding Data Collection and the 7-OB Report for OIB Programs reviews the new form in its entirety and helps participants consider ways to organize and collect data for reporting. Definitions are provided for the services, racial and ethnicity categories, and the new other health conditions, and discusses terms like unduplicated count, self-identification, and full-time equivalent.

Please note that this course is only available for ACVREP credit.

Course Objectives:

1. Identify parts of the 7-OB report.
2. Understand definitions of terms used in the report and instructions including administrative, direct service, FTE, and unduplicated count, and
3. Identify where to go for answers related to completing the 7-OB report.

The following are recommended screen reader and browser combinations.

Mac: Voiceover with the latest version of Safari,

PC: JAWS or NVDA with Firefox.

Note that currently, course quizzes are not functioning properly for Microsoft screen reader users with Chrome or Edge.

The course shows a start date, but this is simply the date the course was made available to the public. They are self-paced. So, there is not an end date. You can enroll at any time.

This course was developed by the National Research & Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision (NRTC) at Mississippi State University. We are the only national center funded to conduct research related to employment for people with blindness or low vision, and training and technical assistance for the federal Older Individuals who are Blind program. As a national center of excellence, we offer resources on a variety of topics for service providers, businesses, and persons with vision loss on our websites: