TDCJ employee receives national recognition for prison braille program

Ms. Delores Billman, plant manager of the Mountain View Braille Facility, was recently honored for her dedication and commitment to prison Braille programs and offender re-entry during her 35-year career with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Billman was recognized by the National Prison Braille Network, Alternative Media Access Center (AMAC) Accessibility Solutions & Research Center and the Georgia Institute of Technology during the National Prison Braille Forum on October 5th.

Delores and her staff help offenders learn a job skill and develop strong work ethics while producing high quality Braille and tactile graphics for the visually impaired.

Since 1999, nearly 100 female offenders at the Mountain View Unit have transcribed textbooks into Braille for visually-impaired students across Texas and the nation. All Texas textbooks must have a Braille version which includes tactile graphics by order of the Texas Education Agency.

The offenders annually produce approximately 160,000 pages of Braille and tactile graphics at the facility in Gatesville which has become one of the largest prison Braille programs in the country.

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