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Multidisciplinary Response to Crime Victims With Disabilities Community Guide

This guide walks you through a seven-step model for improving your community's capacity to respond to crime victims with disabilities:

• Step 1. Partnering.
• Step 2. Assessing the Community's Needs.
• Step 3. Developing a Strategic Plan.
• Step 4. Taking Action.
• Step 5. Taking Measure.
• Step 6. Evaluating the Project's Impact.
• Step 7. Sustaining the Momentum.

Every step in the model, which was originally developed by SafePlace of Austin, Texas, and was replicated by three pilot sites, is designed to change your response to crime victims with disabilities permanently. If you follow each step, you will—

• Be connected with people and agencies in your community who are also invested in improving services for crime victims with disabilities.
• Have heard from and responded to persons with disabilities and other stakeholders about which changes your agency and other service providers should make.
• Have made a plan based on the needs of your particular community, which may include the following:
• Tracking crimes against community members who have disabilities.
• Changing agency policies and practices that pose barriers to crime victims with disabilities.
• Providing education/training for persons with disabilities, your own staff and volunteers, partner agencies, disability service providers, law enforcement, and others.

• About This Guide
• Purpose of This Project
• Using This Publication
• Participating Organizations
• Acknowledgments
• Reasons To Act
• Step 1. Partnering
• Determine the Type of Collaboration
• Identify Potential Partners
• Build Buy-In Through Meetings
• Resources
• Step 2. Assessing the Community's Needs
• Decide What You Want To Know
• Choose an Assessment Method
• Uphold Safety, Consent, and Confidentiality
• Recruit Participants
• Evaluate the Findings
• Resources
• Step 3. Developing a Strategic Plan
• Prioritize Needs and Identify Solutions
• Devise a Written Plan
• Resources
• Step 4. Taking Action
• Make Victim Services Accessible
• Reach Out to Persons With Disabilities
• Educate the Public
• Train Stakeholders
• Resources
• Step 5. Taking Measure
• Educate Staff on the Definition of Disability
• Develop a Tracking System
• Train Staff To Use the System
• Compile the Tracked Information Regularly
• Share the Information
• Resources
• Step 6. Evaluating the Project's Impact
• Develop an Evaluation Plan
• Assess Training Effectiveness
• Make Evaluations Accessible
• Share the Information
• Resources
• Step 7. Sustaining the Momentum
• Plan for Ongoing Relationships
• Institutionalize Changes
• Seek Funding
• In Summary
• Resources
• Glossary
• Samples From the Pilot Sites
• Funding Sources
• References

About This Guide
Purpose of This Project

OVC funded two grantees under the Multidisciplinary Responses to Crime Victims with Disabilities cooperative agreement to replicate their innovative models for improving the quality of services provided to crime victims with disabilities, increasing their access to the criminal justice system, and helping to track the number of crimes against persons with disabilities. One grantee focused on a statewide replication model (see State-Level Replication Guide). The other grantee—SafePlace, a domestic violence and rape crisis center in Austin, Texas—focused on a community-level replication model, which is the topic of this guide.  

OVC and SafePlace issued a nationwide RFP (request for proposal) seeking local victim service agencies that wanted to become pilot sites for replicating SafePlace's model. Each of the three agencies chosen developed an advisory committee, conducted a needs assessment, developed and implemented a community plan for tracking crimes against persons with disabilities, increased accessibility for persons with disabilities in their own agencies, provided outreach and education to persons with disabilities and service providers, and created strategic, evaluation, and sustainability plans. While each pilot site followed these specific tasks, each also approached the project differently, modifying the model to fit its particular community. SafePlace administered the project, provided subgrants, and offered training, resources, materials, guidance, and technical assistance.

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Using This Publication

This publication serves as a brief how-to guide for organizations seeking to improve their community responses to crime victims with disabilities. The material is presented in sequence, one step at a time, for ease of replication. Tasks and resources specific to each step are included.

The guide also offers tips and recommendations from the pilot sites, which sought change within their own organizations and communities in order to provide better services, conduct outreach, and track crimes against persons with disabilities. Although much of SafePlace's outreach has focused on persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the pilot sites worked with a wide variety of persons with disabilities and with people who are Deaf.

The three pilot site agencies were domestic violence and/or sexual assault centers, so this guide is written largely from their perspective and experience. However, the information and strategies provided here are designed to benefit a wide range of groups and individuals, including but not limited to the following:

• Domestic violence, rape crisis, and other crime victim service agencies.
• Victim advocates.
• State and municipal agencies (such as adult and child protective services).
• Service providers who work with persons with disabilities and/or people who are Deaf.
• Persons with disabilities, including persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and their family members.
• Criminal justice system staff.
• Individuals who want to increase their own awareness of these issues or to make some of these changes in their own communities.

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Participating Organizations

SafePlace, a nonprofit agency in Austin, Texas, was created in 1998 with the merger of the local domestic violence and rape crisis centers. SafePlace's mission is to end sexual and domestic violence through safety, healing, prevention, and social change. In 1996, 2 years before the merger, the rape crisis centers had established a nationally recognized disability services program to educate persons with disabilities about sexual violence prevention and sexuality. Two years later, the program broadened its focus to include domestic and caregiver violence. As national attention on this issue grew, the disability services program began providing consultation and training to other service providers throughout the Nation in developing protocols and community partnerships and in increasing staff members' skills for providing accessible services. To date, SafePlace staff have provided training and education to more than 50,000 professionals around the state and Nation as well as to persons with disabilities, people who are Deaf, and family members.

The three pilot sites follow:

• Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs (DAIP) of Duluth, Minnesota, has served Duluth and its surrounding communities with coordinated community responses since 1980. Its services include a domestic violence response team in the Duluth Police Department, advocates who help victims navigate the justice system, and individual support for victims of domestic violence. St. Louis County, which is in the northeastern corner of Minnesota, features large rural areas and contains pockets of poverty and isolation. DAIP offers domestic violence training and resources to help this region's community activists, domestic violence workers, practitioners in the criminal and civil justice systems, human service providers, and community leaders make a direct impact on domestic violence.
• Family Crisis Services (FCS) of Portland, Maine, is a domestic violence project serving victims and survivors in Cumberland and Sagadahoc Counties. The project covers urban, suburban, and rural communities, ranging from Portland, with a population of 64,505, to Frye Island, with a population of 70. FCS was founded in 1977 and serves nearly 4,000 crime victims and survivors each year. The project offers an emergency shelter, support groups and outreach programs in multiple locations, transitional services, and an extensive educational program that focuses on dating violence and youth.
• Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio (SARNCO) is a sexual assault intervention and prevention program that has served Columbus, Ohio, and the surrounding suburban cities within Franklin County since 1992. Columbus is both the state capital and the largest city in Ohio. SARNCO is part of the OhioHealth hospital system and works with local law enforcement, hospital systems, and social services agencies to provide medical and social support services to survivors of sexual assault. Services include evaluation and treatment in local emergency departments, emotional support from volunteer advocates, a 24-hour rape helpline, long-term advocacy, referrals to aftercare counseling, and community outreach and prevention education.

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Acknowledgments

OVC would like to acknowledge the following people and organizations for their contributions to this project and the replication guide:

• Linda Riddle, Katy Eagle, and Paula Morton of Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs (DAIP) of Duluth, Minnesota, as well as DAIP partners Erin Fontaine of Access North, Kelly Kurtz of the Program to Aid Victims of Sexual Assault, Amanda Gigliotti of Access North Center for Independent Living, Sterling Harris of Programs for Aid of Victims of Sexual Assault, and Sandy Moore and Dianne Naus of the Minnesota Disability Law Center.
• Lois Galgay Reckitt and Meg London of Family Crisis Services (FCS) in Portland, Maine, along with FCS partners Fay Luppi of the Violence Intervention Project, Commander Vern Malloch of the South Portland Police Department, Deputy Chief Amy Berry of the South Portland Police Department, and Dennis Fitzgibbons of the Alpha One Center for Independent Living.
• Stephanie Smith-Bowman, Heather Herron Murphy, and Maytal Russ of the Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio (SARNCO)—OhioHealth of Columbus, Ohio, along with SARNCO partners Gail Heller and Sandy Allen of CHOICES for Victims of Domestic Violence, Donna Foster of the Governor's Council on People with Disabilities, Krystal Martin of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, and Denise Blackburn-Smith of the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
• Wendie Abramson, Katharine Brouillette, Heather Kamper, Dianne King, and Shell Schwartz of SafePlace.

This replication guide was developed using a number of resources created by SafePlace, and others as noted, under the direction of OVC staff and the OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center, which assists victim service providers, advocates, and other allied professionals in learning new skills and adopting best practices that will enhance their abilities to provide quality victim services.

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Reasons To Act

Crime statistics related to persons with disabilities are sobering:

• According to a recent national study, persons with disabilities are two to three times more likely to be victims of violent crimes than persons without disabilities, depending on age, crime, and gender (Harrell and Rand, 2010). (Note: This statistic may be low, as it does not include people living in nontraditional residences, such as group homes, nursing homes, and institutions.)
• In a national study on abuse perpetrated by personal assistants, Powers and colleagues (2002) reported that 67 percent of the 200 women with physical and/or cognitive disabilities who were interviewed reported lifetime physical abuse and 53 percent reported lifetime sexual abuse.
• In a survey of 5,326 North Carolina women, women who self-reported having a disability were 7.6 times more likely to have been sexually assaulted than women without disabilities (Martin et al., 2006).

In addition, persons with disabilities and people who are Deaf are less likely to receive assistance from victim services or the criminal justice system in the aftermath of abuse or assault.

Considering some of the civil rights strides persons with disabilities have made in the past two decades, it is all the more troubling that crime rates remain high and discrepancies in service persist. But persist they do, in part because of the following:

• Disability service providers are often unaware of the high rate of abuse or of what to do when someone discloses abuse.
• Victim service providers may not understand how to adapt services to persons with disabilities.
• Crimes against persons with disabilities, if they are reported at all, may be more easily dismissed by the criminal justice system.
• Crime victims with disabilities themselves often do not report crimes because they—
• Do not know whom/where to call for help.
• Lack communication options (e.g., American Sign Language interpreters).
• Rely on the perpetrator for physical or financial assistance.
• Fear they might lose their children or their ability to live in the community.
• Do not realize that what they are experiencing is abuse.
• Lack the support they need to get help.
• Fear they will not be believed.
• Have previous negative experiences with law enforcement, domestic violence/sexual assault services, or other victim service agencies.

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Step 1. Partnering

It takes many people working together to create lasting change in a community. All of the steps in this project are important, but investing time on this first one—developing partnerships with others committed to this work—lays a strong foundation for improving services to crime victims with disabilities. Developing connections with the right partners from the start can make all the efforts to follow easier and more effective.

Step 1 involves the following tasks:

• Determine the type of collaboration.
• Identify potential partners.
• Build buy-in through meetings.

Note: Unless otherwise specified, the terms "partner" and "partnership" refer to project partners and could include members of collaborative partnerships or advisory committees.

Determine the Type of Collaboration

Depending on the time you have available and existing community relationships, you may want to develop collaborative partnerships, a formal advisory committee, or both.

• Collaborative partnerships consist of agencies and individuals working side by side with you to make changes that will improve your response to crime victims with disabilities. These partnerships include community members who have the power to make changes within their agencies or organizations as well as persons with disabilities. One benefit of partnerships is that groups can either begin with as many representatives as possible or can start with one or two partners and add more later. Although it may be easiest to involve only those organizations with which you are already connected, beginning with all of the key organizations at the table decreases the chance of offending others later or of working with insufficient information and potentially duplicating efforts. Most SafePlace model partnerships included between five and eight individual stakeholders or organizations.
• A formal advisory committee is exactly what it sounds like: a group that meets regularly that can provide feedback, identify community resources, help network, and drive overall project strategy. One benefit of advisory committees is that they can help formalize the process, keep an eye on the big picture, provide an external perspective, and keep the momentum going. A reasonable size for an advisory committee is 8–12 members.

Each pilot site approached this task differently. One focused on creating strong core partners who also provided feedback on strategy and functioned in advisory committee roles; one developed a basic advisory committee but relied much more heavily on partners; and the third developed both strong partnerships and a separate, fully active advisory committee. In each case, the sites worked to find people who could best promote change in their own agencies and the community.

Identify Potential Partners

Consider which groups and people are already involved or have a stake in improving your community response to crime victims with disabilities. First on that list would be persons with a range of disabilities, followed by family members and representatives from organizations such as disability services, law enforcement, victim services (including domestic violence and rape crisis agencies), court systems, and hospitals that conduct forensic sexual assault exams.

Include—

• People with whom you already have a working relationship as well as people from unfamiliar organizations.
• People who can make changes in their organizations, such as managers and executive directors, and people who have an impact on other segments of the community, such as those who are involved in or who lead relevant community groups and committees.
• People who receive victim and disability services (or who have in the past) and people who provide those services.
• People who support this work, those who are neutral, and—strategically—people who could derail your efforts if not brought on board.

The pilot sites began by seeking out new alliances and strengthening old ones, but each approached the task differently, depending on the strength and diversity of its existing networks:

• Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs—known for developing the multidisciplinary Duluth Model as a tool against domestic violence—mined many of its existing networks and partners but expanded its work to include persons with disabilities and disability service organizations.
• Family Crisis Services—which provides services over a large area that includes urban, suburban, and rural communities—took advantage of its strong existing relationships with two police departments. It also stretched itself to bring in a Deaf services organization, young adults with intellectual disabilities, and a center for independent living.
• Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio—which works with 10 local emergency departments and already had a strong working relationship with a Deaf victim services group—developed a large and diverse group of project partners. As is typical with any community effort, network staff found that a smaller group of six or seven partners was able to work more effectively on the project.

The pilot sites found their collaborative partners and advisory committee members from the following groups: Persons with various disabilities and people who are Deaf who are interested or experienced in the issue, including crime victims with disabilities. Survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Additional domestic violence, sexual assault, and other victim service agencies. Disability and Deaf service and advocacy agencies and groups, including a Governor's Council on People with Disabilities, a state developmental disabilities council, independent living centers, legal advocacy groups for persons with disabilities, and a brain injury association. Medical providers, including a medical center's social work department, a psychiatric emergency services program, and sexual assault nurse examiners. Criminal justice and legal service organizations, including a statewide nonprofit legal clinic serving crime victims, a county prosecuting attorney's office, and police departments. A multidisciplinary team that included members from county and city criminal justice and law enforcement offices, a domestic violence center, a faith-based organization, and the department of corrections. State victim service coalitions.

It also can be useful to include parents and family members of persons with disabilities as your partners and advisory committee members.

Plan to discuss a tentative meeting schedule (e.g., biweekly, monthly, or quarterly), the types of input and experience you are looking for, and the goals you are trying to accomplish. Then, after you have made a list of potential partners, you are ready to begin recruiting through individual meetings or phone calls.

Build Buy-In Through Meetings

The pilot sites had funding to do this work and therefore led the way in their communities. Without specific funding, the leadership duties of your project may be shared between partners. If you have done most of the footwork to bring the partners together, lead the first meeting. Tell the group that everybody in the room was invited because they share an interest in improving the lives of crime victims with disabilities and that you have agreed to conduct this first meeting and possibly others until the membership has defined their purpose and set achievable goals. Ask for their input about sharing leadership.

At the first meeting, discuss roles and expectations. Work to gain solidarity on a basic vision—even if it's as simple as making the community more accessible to crime victims with disabilities. Think about how to increase ownership among the group and how to gain commitment for a reasonable amount of short- and long-term outcomes.

Discuss partners' reasons for being part of the project and what they feel they can contribute. Include a checklist of the knowledge and skills that will be valuable to the project, such as having an extensive network of contacts, writing or editing skills, organizational skills, knowledge about the issues, firsthand experience working with victims, training/presentation skills, and so forth.

To make your meetings more effective—

• Determine a reasonable meeting schedule based on the group's time commitment and the level of guidance the project will need. If the group cannot meet once or twice per month, meet every other month.
• Plan and prepare for meetings carefully, keeping the group's goals at the forefront.
• Be flexible if some partners can only be present via conference call or would prefer meeting at their locations now and then. Don't rule out any options that will allow the entire body to gather.
• Distribute the agenda and notes to partners who are not able to attend, as they may still have ideas or feedback to contribute.
• Consider options for increasing the opportunities for partners with intellectual or developmental disabilities, limited writing skills, or no access to e-mail to provide input. One option is to have fellow partners become mentors to these members.
• If time allows, personally request input from absent partners related to their expertise or interests. This shows them that they are missed and valued, and they may be more likely to attend the next meeting.

Keep your partners informed and involved every step of the way. Encourage them to provide you with ideas and feedback at any time, not just when everyone gets together. Bring people into the project as full and valued participants if you want them continually invested in the group's vision and goals. Following are some ways to do this:

• E-mail the group on a regular basis.
• Take turns meeting at partner agencies.
• Take turns calling key partners who missed a meeting.
• Invite feedback on specific issues, even if you think you know the best way to do something.
• Share responsibility for leading the meetings and suggesting agenda topics.

Resources

Community Engagement: Brief Overview of Data Collection Methods. Provides succinct information about developing focus groups, key informant interviews, community forums, public hearings, and surveys.

Facilitating Meetings: A Guide for Community Planning Groups. Addresses issues facing community planning groups, including opposition and disagreement.

Group Facilitation and Problem-Solving, The Community Tool Box. Describes how to conduct effective meetings and develop facilitation skills and techniques for leading group discussions.

Making the Meeting Accessible. Covers access issues in planning meetings—from physical space, to lighting, to interpreters, to bathroom locations, to the readability of materials.

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Step 2. Assessing the Community's Needs

You can't fix a problem until you know what the problem is. In a nutshell, that is the purpose of the community needs assessment—to find out the ways that your agency and community partners can improve services for and responses to crime victims with disabilities.

A needs assessment can be as simple or as complex as resources allow. At its most basic, it is a process—one that begins with a set of questions:

• What do you want to know?
• Who has the information you seek?
• What are the most effective strategies for reaching the right people and getting them to discuss the issues with you?

Consider the audience, the different ways to gather information, and just what it is you're measuring.

The pilot sites set out to gather information that would give them a better idea of the needs of crime victims with disabilities in their communities. For this step, as with every other, the sites leaned heavily on direct input from persons with disabilities. Hearing firsthand feedback from crime victims with disabilities had a powerful impact on the partners' understanding of the degree of the problem.

Although their efforts were successful, the process was never as simple or easy as it might seem. Much thought and discussion took place before the first contacts were made or the first surveys were completed. Assessments that produce the most relevant and useful feedback begin with careful planning, goal setting, and a design.

Step 2 involves the following tasks:

• Decide what you want to know.
• Choose an assessment method.
• Uphold safety, consent, and confidentiality.
• Recruit participants.
• Evaluate the findings.

Decide What You Want To Know

It's a pretty simple concept, but very easy to forget: Ask what you want to know, and go to the source for the information you seek. The pilot sites primarily wanted to know three things:

1. Why don't community members with disabilities or people who are Deaf report crimes?
2. How do disability, Deaf, victim service, medical, and law enforcement agencies in our community respond to crime victims with disabilities or people who are Deaf?
3. How can service systems be more responsive to crime victims with disabilities or Deaf crime victims?

To get that information, they developed the following types of questions for their community needs assessment plans:

• What stops people from reporting abuse and victimization?
• What experiences have crime victims with disabilities or those who are Deaf had with local victim service agencies such as domestic violence/sexual assault agencies, disability service providers, and the criminal justice system?
• What do service providers need to know to support crime victims with disabilities or those who are Deaf?
• What stops service providers (e.g., police, disability services, victim service agencies) from providing services to crime victims with disabilities or those who are Deaf?
• How can our agency improve services and be more accessible to persons with disabilities and people who are Deaf?
• How can law enforcement, victim services, disability and Deaf service agencies, persons with disabilities, and people who are Deaf work together to improve services?
• What information could improve a service provider's response to crime victims with disabilities or those who are Deaf?
• How should violence against persons with disabilities be handled? Why?

This last question may be especially important in states that legally require certain professions (and sometimes, all citizens) to report known or suspected abuse against persons with disabilities to authorities, as many law enforcement and criminal justice systems mistakenly believe that all abuse of persons with disabilities should be handled by adult protective services. Contact your state's adult protective services agency to find out about your state's laws, and your legal responsibility, for reporting abuse against persons with disabilities.

Choose an Assessment Method

The pilot sites developed needs assessment methods that allowed them to get the most information from a variety of participants. Some people feel less pressured talking in a group situation, some prefer to meet one-on-one, and others feel more comfortable with written formats. Each site developed information-gathering strategies and instruments with its target audience in mind.

Focus Groups

Focus groups guided by skilled facilitators tend to be more efficient than one-on-one interviews, as indepth information can be gathered from a wider range of people at once. Focus groups also allow participants to meet new people, network, and build community relationships. Effective facilitators are knowledgeable about various disabilities, including the fact that many persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities are brought up to submit to any person in authority. Facilitators also need to have some experience soliciting information from groups of people, including asking followup questions and being comfortable with silence to give people time to think about their answers.

During focus groups, at least one staff member should take notes—although two is best for accuracy—so that responses may be reviewed and considered after the fact. If the focus group includes people who are Deaf, ideally the facilitator will be fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). If that is not possible, use certified ASL interpreters who are well-versed in the language of abuse and the issues of exploitation, domestic violence, sexual assault, neglect, stalking, and other forms of victimization.

Any notes taken should be treated as confidential documents and stored as such. They should not contain names or scenarios that could identify the participants.

One-on-One Interviews

One-on-one interviews provide more flexibility for respondents who use communication aids, need more time to answer questions (or need questions reworded), require a quiet setting, or prefer not to talk in a group. Individual interviews also allow information gathering at a deeper level because there is more time to discuss a topic extensively. The pilot sites were careful to let participants know that all information would be confidential, that notes would not identify them by name, and that any information obtained would be kept in a secure location.

Surveys

Surveys allow for larger scale information gathering. Thanks to the Internet, this method now enables you to reach any number of people with a limited amount of effort. Even old-fashioned pen-and-paper surveys, however, provide the same clean form of data, as every respondent answers the same questions. Surveys are less time consuming and take less effort than interviews and focus groups relative to the amount and reliability of data collected. For this project, the pilot sites had mixed results with surveys. Those that were aggressively promoted—such as when supervisors asked patrol officers to fill out the survey before going on shift—had strong results. Without such strong promotion, the sites reported disappointing results. Other disadvantages of surveys follow:

• Surveys do not allow for the give-and-take between respondents and interviewers that happens in person.
• Written or e-mailed surveys may present serious barriers for people with limited reading skills, people who are blind or have low vision, or people whose first language is not English (e.g., people who are Deaf, immigrants).

Whether you distribute paper copies to specific recipients or use an online resource to reach a broader audience (e.g., SurveyMonkey®, FreeOnlineSurveys), there's one more important point to consider: The data you collect will only be as good as the questions you ask.

Uphold Safety, Consent, and Confidentiality

Each type of community needs assessment method comes with its own safety and confidentiality issues. Whatever method you use, spend time with your partners considering how to avoid endangering or exploiting persons with disabilities who are in abusive situations.

To protect the safety of all involved, OVC, SafePlace, and the three pilot sites spent a fair amount of time discussing safety and developing the following tools:

• An OVC-required privacy certificate provides rules about participant safety, confidentiality, and data collection and storage. Certificates should be signed by persons with disabilities and those who are Deaf who participate in focus groups and individual interviews and also can be read aloud to participants at the beginning of each session, with an ASL interpreter for Deaf participants.
• A confidentiality agreement for staff and partners states that staff and partners will keep private the identities of and information shared by people participating in the community needs assessment, along with exceptions.
• Consent forms for focus groups and individual interviews describe the purpose of the needs assessment and people's roles and note that participation is voluntary and that people can stop participating at any point. They also note that any information shared is to be kept confidential at all times and specify any exceptions to that policy. (For example, how would you handle it if somebody with a disability reports abuse during the session, and state law requires you to report this disclosure to adult protective services? As noted earlier, consult your adult protective services agency to find out the mandatory reporting laws in your state.)

In addition, the pilot sites made available counselors and advocates during and after interviews and focus groups, in case any topics were emotionally triggering to participants. The sites also gave participants information about community resources for counseling and support.

The sites were aware that any written correspondence, e-mails, or phone calls could further expose participants who were in abusive situations to danger and were careful to ask about the safest way to communicate.

Recruit Participants

Once you have settled on the needs assessment method, partners can next work together to recruit participants from different stakeholder groups. The pilot sites included adults with disabilities and those who are Deaf as well as their families, staff from partner agencies, law enforcement and criminal justice staff, and service providers who work with adults with disabilities, those who are Deaf, and victims of crime (including sexual assault and domestic violence). To recruit these participants, the sites used the following strategies:

• Make personal contacts. Before sending out invitations and fliers, contact the specific people, agencies, or groups you are targeting. Use your partnership's existing networks and talk to disability groups and organizations about ways the needs assessment process will benefit the populations they serve as well as the community in general.
• Make use of existing gatherings. In an ideal world, persons with disabilities would be fully integrated in our society. At this time, however, many persons with significant disabilities, particularly intellectual and developmental disabilities, still live, work, and play in segregated settings. Ask to hold a confidential focus group at a local center for independent living, group home, disability support group, accessible recreation center, residential facility, or federally subsidized apartment complex where low-income persons with disabilities live.
• Broaden the search. Some adults with disabilities gather together by choice. If you are getting a response only from persons with one type of disability, look for other disability-specific groups, such as mental illness support groups, self-advocacy groups for persons with intellectual disabilities, a Deaf club, and support groups for persons with specific disabilities such as muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, lupus, traumatic brain injuries, and so forth.
• Target the instrument to the audience. The sites found that professionals with time constraints (e.g., law enforcement officers) were more likely to respond to surveys than to requests for focus groups or individual interviews. Conversely, because the topic of interpersonal abuse is a difficult subject that may best be broached in person, focus groups and individual interviews are sometimes a better fit for survivors who have experienced crimes as personally intrusive or humiliating as domestic violence or sexual assault. One-on-one meetings and smaller focus groups may also be more accessible than surveys for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities or people with limited English skills.
Tips From the Field

Incentives can really help you recruit participants. One pilot site got a strong response by giving out gift certificates from local grocery stores to persons with disabilities who participated in focus groups or interviews.
• Remind people, if you can do so safely. When setting up focus groups or interviews, ask if people would like you to follow up with a reminder call or e-mail a day or two before the meeting. Be careful about phone calls or e-mails if the person is living in an abusive environment, as this can present serious safety issues.
• Remove barriers. Ask people if they need assistance with transportation or childcare to participate.
• Provide incentives. Provide whatever incentives you can manage: food, gift cards, money, and so forth.

Evaluate the Findings

This last step is the culmination of your group's effort—the end of one conversation and the beginning of another. What did the interviews, focus groups, and surveys tell you? The answers will guide the rest of your work in making your community more responsive to crime victims with disabilities.

The data the group collects should point you to key conclusions and relevant patterns, but usually include a few surprises as well. Take the time to look closely at the responses you receive, consider any issues raised that you had not thought about previously, and chart the direction the project will take according to what you have learned.

List the gaps, barriers, needs, and themes that emerge from the assessment. Once you are satisfied that you have identified the major issues and needs in your community, you and your partners can summarize your findings and recommendations in a report and share it with an advisory committee, board members, key stakeholders, and potential funders. This document will become the basis for your action planning.

The pilot sites used the following process:

• Separately list each stakeholder group's responses to questions asked during the focus groups, interviews, and surveys. (See Recruit Participants for potential stakeholder groups.) For example—

Stakeholder group: Crime victims with disabilities
Question 1: What are your thoughts about why persons with disabilities may not ask for help when abuse occurs?
Response: At Family Crisis Services, persons with disabilities expressed—

• Fear that the information would not be kept confidential.
• Lack of awareness of available resources.
• Negative experiences with law enforcement, Family Crisis Services, and other service providers.
• Lack of trust in local crisis or law enforcement services.

Use this process for each question. When finished, your document will list responses to each question by each stakeholder group. Do not worry about redundancy at this point. List a response as many times as it is made to help you identify critical issues.

• Make several copies of the document. Then ask at least two people (staff or partners) to independently review and make stakeholder-specific lists of the following types of information:
• Gaps, barriers, or issues identified by participants.
• Unusual, odd, or unexpected answers.
• Core themes that are connected to broader issues.
Tips From the Field

Sometimes community needs assessments bring out conflicting information. Persons with disabilities may share perspectives different from disability service providers, who may make suggestions different from crisis service agencies. List all of the responses. If some perspectives are actually at complete odds with each other, enlist the assistance of your advisory committee in developing a way to address differing perspectives.

The lists can change based on the goals of your needs assessment. When finished, each reviewer will have a set of stakeholder-specific gaps, barriers, issues, needs, and themes.

• Have the reviewers meet to discuss similarities and differences in what each noted. Having multiple reviewers identify issues using the same data can help check the human tendency to pay attention to what is more personally relevant, problematic, or interesting.
• Decide whether the gaps, barriers, needs, or issues have clearly emerged or if the data need further review. For example, the reviewers may next compare the responses of the stakeholder groups. What are the differences and similarities between how crime victims who are Deaf and crime victims with disabilities perceive victim services? How do law enforcement staff and victim services staff agree and disagree about how best to work together?
• Work with your partners to develop a set of long- and short-term goals and recommendations. For example—

As a result of their needs assessment, Family Crisis Services staff and partners knew that in their strategic plan, they would address recommendations to provide education and training to all stakeholders: their own victim services staff, law enforcement, disability service providers, and persons with disabilities and those who are Deaf.

• Once satisfied that you have fully identified the issues and needs within your community and discussed which ones to address, summarize those findings in a needs assessment report. This report will focus on what you have learned from needs assessment participants, key findings, and recommendations for action.

Your report should include the following information:

• Overview of the needs assessment and project partners involved.
• Methods used to gather information (e.g., focus groups, interviews, surveys).
• Participants (include number and type).
• Strengths and limitations of the needs assessment.
• Key findings: What did you learn?
• Recommendations: What do you want to do (short and long term)?
• Assessment questions (in an appendix).

Resources

Assessing Community Needs and Resources, The Community Toolbox. Provides an indepth, step-by-step guide to developing, conducting, and analyzing community needs assessments.

Guide to Conducting a Needs Assessment. Provides a clear, six-step process for developing needs assessments.

Samples From the Pilot Sites

• Community Needs Assessment Plan (PDF, 23 kb)
• Privacy Certificate (PDF, 122 kb)
• Confidentiality Agreement (PDF, 11 kb)
• Consent Forms
• Focus Groups (PDF, 23 kb)
• Focus Groups Attended by Persons With Intellectual Disabilities (PDF, 12 kb)
• Individual Interviews (PDF, 17 kb)
• Individual Interviews of Persons With Intellectual Disabilities (PDF, 12 kb)
• Community Needs Assessment Report (PDF, 15 kb)
• Protocol for Individual Interviews, Focus Groups, and Community Meetings (PDF, 44 kb)
• Script for Setting Up Interviews and Focus Groups (PDF, 19 kb)
• Focus Group and Individual Interview Questions
• Persons With Disabilities (PDF, 12 kb)
• Disability Service Providers (PDF, 12 kb)
• Victim Services Staff (PDF, 13 kb)
• Surveys
• Disability Service Providers (PDF, 13 kb)
• Law Enforcement Staff (PDF, 14 kb)
• Victim and Disability Service Providers and Law Enforcement Staff (PDF, 16 kb)
• Needs Assessment Recruitment Flier: Persons With Disabilities (PDF, 36 kb)

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Step 3. Developing a Strategic Plan

Once armed with solid information about the challenges, service gaps, and experiences of crime victims with disabilities in your community, as well as recommendations for action, it is time to move confidently to the next step—developing a plan.

The strategic plan follows neatly from the community needs assessment. However, partners will need to discuss which recommendations of the assessment to follow, along with when and how.

You might find, as the three pilot sites did, that the strategic plan focuses largely on—

• Increasing the accessibility of your agency and partner agencies.
• Developing accessible materials or adapting mainstream materials for use by people with disabilities.
• Providing outreach and education to persons with disabilities and community members.
• Providing training to disability and Deaf service providers, law enforcement, and domestic and sexual violence and other victim service agency staff.

Step 3 involves the following tasks:

• Prioritize needs and identify solutions.
• Devise a written plan.

Prioritize Needs and Identify Solutions

Begin by analyzing what the community needs assessment revealed about the gaps and strengths of your community's services for crime victims with disabilities. You are likely to identify more needs than you can address, at least in the beginning. To help prioritize—

• Consider the resources, time, and partnerships that will be necessary to address each need.
• Consider the urgency of the unmet needs and their impact on crime victims with disabilities.
• Analyze which resources you have to adequately address each issue.
• Differentiate between short- and long-term goals.

Below is an example of how one of the pilot sites, Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio (SARNCO), crafted its strategic plan.

• State the big-picture problem in general terms. For example, the results of SARNCO's community assessment revealed that it was not providing services to many victims of sexual or domestic violence who have disabilities or who are Deaf.
• Pull specific examples of the problems from the assessment. SARNCO was not getting many requests for services from crime victims with disabilities or many referrals from disability or Deaf service agencies. It also learned that it rarely targeted its outreach to persons with disabilities or those who are Deaf.
• List reasons for the problem. SARNCO noted that it had few relationships with agencies serving persons with disabilities and those who are Deaf. The community needs assessment also revealed that some survivors of abuse who have disabilities or survivors who are Deaf did not know about SARNCO's services, did not understand their options or legal rights, were frustrated by the process for getting help, or had been dissatisfied with services they had received previously.
• Identify as many solutions as you can. SARNCO staff's potential solutions included the following:
• Revisiting the needs assessment to see how welcoming the agency and community were to persons with disabilities and those who are Deaf.
• Building relationships with disability service providers and individuals with disabilities and those who are Deaf.
• Targeting outreach and education to persons with disabilities and those who are Deaf.
• Training social service providers in how to respond effectively to crime victims with disabilities and crime victims who are Deaf.
• Choose the solutions that you can realistically address with the project partners' staff, time, and resources. You may not be able to address all the problems at once, or even more than one at a time. In that case, choose the most critical issue first. Among other solutions, SARNCO decided to develop outreach materials for persons with disabilities and those who are Deaf; educate at least 80 people per year who have disabilities or who are Deaf about SARNCO's services; and train at least 80 stakeholder professionals (e.g., disability service providers, victim service providers, law enforcement) per year on providing more effective services to crime victims with disabilities and Deaf crime victims.

Devise a Written Plan

Consider presenting the plan in an easy-to-read table format (see Sample Strategic Plan Excerpt below), and make sure that it does the following (adapted from McNamara, 2008):

• Establish the goal. This is what you will actually achieve. Goals are general statements about what you need to accomplish, and they address the major gaps and barriers identified during your needs assessment.
• Identify your major strategies (mission statement). These statements describe the goal of your project in more detail.
• Identify the success indicator or results you would like to achieve.
• Set your timeframe for these goals. The timeline can be as specific as the first 3 months or as broad as the first year.
• Identify the responsible parties—the staff members or project partners responsible for each task.
• Identify performance measurements. These indicate what the project is accomplishing and whether results are being achieved. These activities and objectives will flow directly into your evaluation plan.

When the group has developed the plan, partners can ask themselves the following questions:

• Are the ideas practical?
• Will the solutions likely be effective?
• Are the strategies feasible?
• Will the plan likely be accepted by everyone involved, including other community stakeholders?

Devising a plan that all the partners can agree on may take some discussion. Your group may have to renegotiate, compromise, and reeducate each other. During the process, keep as your touchstone the common agreement to address the needs uncovered during the community needs assessment.

Resources

Developing a Strategic Plan, The Community Toolbox. Includes sections on developing mission statements, objectives, an action plan, and action steps as well as gathering community feedback.

Strategic Planning Toolkit. Offers guidelines, tools, and resources for every step of a six-step strategic planning process.

Sample From the Pilot Sites

• Strategic Plan (SARNCO (PDF, 47 kb)

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Step 4. Taking Action

Finally the time comes, and you arrive at the very doorstep of change. You have developed a collaborative partnership or an advisory committee to share the work. You have an understanding of the needs of crime victims with disabilities and how to better reach them with your services. You've discovered where partners are strong and where they can improve. And the partnerships have created an ambitious but workable plan for change. Now it's time to take action.

The work involved in meeting this goal is dynamic and requires commitment. Ideally, each partnering agency will—

• Assess its own accessibility.
• Address any barriers that stop persons with disabilities from receiving effective services.
• Share information about safety, healthy relationships, and relevant community services for persons with disabilities.
• Train staff in domestic violence/sexual assault agencies, disability service organizations, court systems, law enforcement agencies, and emergency departments (including sexual assault nurse examiners).

It's a very tall order. But whether you tackle everything at once or break it into smaller goals, by taking the steps listed above, you've already laid the groundwork to make your plan succeed.

Step 4 involves the following tasks:

• Make victim services accessible.
• Reach out to persons with disabilities.
• Educate the public.
• Train stakeholders.

Make Victim Services Accessible

The pilot sites made themselves more accessible because they were committed to serving all survivors of crime in their communities. Organizations that require more incentive should heed the following: It is illegal to discriminate against persons with disabilities in the United States. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 require that the same full range of services be available to all people in the most integrated setting, regardless of any physical, sensory, cognitive, psychiatric, or other disability. All service providers, regardless of agency size, are required to provide accessible services to persons with disabilities.

There are three types of accessibility, and they are all intertwined:

• Attitudinal accessibility.
• Physical accessibility.
• Programmatic accessibility.

Attitudinal Accessibility

The least tangible but most important kind of accessibility is making crime victims with disabilities feel welcomed. Increasing your staff's attitudinal accessibility involves training and discussions to increase staff buy-in.

All three pilot sites spent a fair amount of time addressing their staff's fears and training them to better work with persons with a variety of disabilities and people who are Deaf. For staff members who worked directly on this project, a major internal shift came from conducting the focus groups. Listening to persons with disabilities and those who are Deaf talk frankly brought immediate clarity to staff about the need to improve their services to this population.

Opening the minds of other staff who were not part of the focus groups took training, discussions, patience, and a clear directive from management that providing services to crime victims with disabilities was an organizational priority. In the end, the best way to dispel anyone's fears about working with this population is simply to have those individuals work with survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors. After working through this project, the Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio (SARNCO) reported that its staff are no longer "shy, scared, or ignorant of the needs of survivors with disabilities. Confidence was missing before." Family Crisis Services (FCS) reports that staff now have an attitude of "how can we make this work," rather than the previous attitude of "this isn't going to work."

Even with this level of improvement, attitudinal accessibility can never be checked off a to-do list as complete. Stretching and learning to serve diverse populations is the work of a lifetime.

Other ways to address staff attitudes follow:

• Hire staff and recruit volunteers with disabilities.
• Fill vacant direct service positions with staff committed to serving abuse survivors with disabilities.
• Bring in crime victims with disabilities and Deaf crime victims to train staff.
• Train agency staff and volunteers about disability issues.
• Expand board membership to include persons with disabilities.

Physical Accessibility

Physical accessibility is the most tangible concept. It means making facilities usable for persons with all types of disabilities. Often, when people think about physical accessibility, they think about making a building accessible to people who use wheelchairs. In fact, all agencies should be physically accessible at this point to comply with ADA regulations. (See the Glossary for an ADA definition.)

Wheelchair accessibility is important, but it is by no means the beginning and end of physical accessibility. The pilot sites learned to go beyond ADA regulations and to consider the spirit of the law, which is to do whatever needs to be done on an individual basis to make services work for every person. Consider the great variety of disabilities and how they affect people and then consider your building and your services.

To make your building more accessible—

• Widen doorways and add ramps for people who use wheelchairs.
• Remove clutter in hallways for people who are blind or who use walkers or canes.
• Add flashing fire alarms for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
• Avoid area rugs or bathmats; they can slip or otherwise trip someone using crutches, a walker, or a cane.
• Provide accessible reading materials. This may mean developing brochures that can be read by someone with a third-grade reading level (which will make it easier for persons with intellectual disabilities and people for whom English is a second language, such as many people who are Deaf). It also may mean having materials available in large print or Braille.
• Put bright, reflective tape on stairs to make them more visible to people with low vision.
• Have a lower counter available where people using wheelchairs can be greeted by a receptionist, fill out paperwork, and so forth.

FCS improved its accessibility by moving into a new shelter that included an elevator, lower door handles that can be opened with a closed fist, three bedrooms, an accessible shower on the first floor, and a more open floor plan.

Programmatic Accessibility

Programmatic accessibility means looking at how rules, policies, and practices may inadvertently keep persons with disabilities from receiving services. FCS adopted a policy that allows personal care attendants, service dogs, and therapy pets in its shelters; changed its intake form to clarify its intention to "screen all people in" for services rather than screening them out; and changed the format of staff meetings to include regular discussions about working with abuse survivors with disabilities. Other recommended changes include developing the following:

• An ADA policy.
• A clear policy statement that eligibility for services and termination from services will be nondiscriminatory, will comply with the ADA, and will not be based on disability.
• A policy to provide American Sign Language (ASL) for Deaf clients or other language interpreters for clients with limited English proficiency.
• A policy not to include diagnoses in consumer or client files.
• A policy not to use restraint or seclusion as a method of behavioral management of clients.
• A policy allowing service animals.
• Mental health policy statements that clearly indicate that unaddressed mental health issues are not a reason to consider a person inappropriate for services or to terminate services.
• A practice of making all materials more accessible to persons with disabilities and those who are Deaf, including open captioning on audiovisual materials.

Reach Out to Persons With Disabilities

You've addressed physical accessibility, you've made changes to your policies and practices, and your staff members have begun the long-term job of addressing any of their own internal biases toward working with crime victims who have disabilities. Those gains are only the start. Persons with disabilities, as you discovered in your needs assessment, do not report crimes for many reasons, including fear and lack of trust. Conducting outreach is one way to let persons with disabilities know that your agency exists and that you and your partner agencies are committed to serving them.

Common outreach methods include staffing booths at public awareness events, distributing brochures or fact sheets that advertise that your services are accessible to persons with disabilities and address some of the issues facing these crime victims, and providing cross trainings with disability service agencies.

In developing or amending brochures, keep in mind the range of persons with disabilities and Deaf people. A woman who is easily fatigued because of multiple sclerosis has different service needs from a Deaf crime victim who requires an ASL interpreter, who, in turn, has different needs from a person with an intellectual or developmental disability. It would be impossible to develop materials that speak to all the disabilities individuals may have. Instead, your message can be simply that you provide services to persons with disabilities and those who are Deaf. Make your materials accessible to people with limited reading skills because of a cognitive disability or because their first language is ASL, not English. Invite persons with disabilities to help your agency create and edit its materials.

Other examples of outreach methods include the following:

• Build relationships and partnerships with disability service agencies. These relationships can be built one-on-one or on a larger scale. The pilot sites found that having strong relationships with community partners was their biggest asset in reaching out to persons with disabilities.
• Brainstorm options for collaboration. In Austin, SafePlace provides the nonprofit Goodwill Industries with donations it is unable to use in exchange for vouchers for clients to shop at Goodwill thrift stores. (Goodwill provides job-related services and opportunities to people with barriers to employment.) Through a grant-related collaboration, a Goodwill staff member also assists SafePlace clients who are living in transitional housing with job searches.
• Develop disability-specific outreach materials. For this project, Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs and its partners developed a brochure targeting persons with disabilities. SARNCO developed fact sheets for outreach events on issues relevant to persons with disabilities (see sample fact sheet in Resources section). FCS developed a photo book of the shelter and distributed it to local disability service agencies to familiarize persons with disabilities with the shelter and its accessibility features.
• Add the universal wheelchair logo and the interpreter symbol to brochures and fact sheets, along with the note "ASL interpreters are available upon request."
• Provide materials in alternate formats (e.g., in large print, in Braille, on CD–ROM, using simplified language).
• Distribute brochures, newsletters, and other literature in places that are frequented by persons with disabilities, including disability and Deaf advocacy and activist groups, Offices for Students With Disabilities at local colleges, independent living centers, state rehabilitation agencies, day programs for adults with disabilities, and so forth.
• Stage open houses for persons with disabilities and disability service providers to learn about your services.
• Increase your Web site's accessibility so that someone who has limited reading skills can still get information, "alternative text" is provided for all pictures and designs, and the wheelchair logo and interpreter symbol are prominent. (See Resources: Accessible Web Sites for more information.)

Educate the Public

The pilot sites held classes for persons with disabilities and those who are Deaf. These classes often included role playing and discussions and were tailored to the learning needs and experiences of each audience.

Possible topics for your community to explore include the following:

• Healthy relationships.
• Boundaries and assertive communication.
• Dating.
• Sexuality.
• Bullying.
• Power and privilege.
• Abuse in relationships and how to recognize it.
• Safety tips.
• Sexual harassment.
• Victim service resources.

Although the following list is not comprehensive, it does list steps that may help you plan your educational sessions:

• Identify the learning objectives for each session. What specific knowledge or skills do you expect participants to achieve? Are these expectations reasonable and based on the target audience?
• Select materials or a curriculum that fits the reading and comprehension levels of your audience.
• Discuss and post class guidelines to promote a safe environment for discussion and sharing. Be clear from the beginning that everybody is encouraged to participate, and everyone has a right to decline participating. Assure participants that taking a break if they need one is okay. Most important, be a model for respectful relationships by listening and responding thoughtfully to what audience members say.
• Class participants may disclose past or current victimization. Check with your state's adult protective services agency to determine your state's legal requirements about reporting suspicions and disclosures of abuse against persons with disabilities. At the beginning of the class, let participants know if your state requires you to report known or suspected abuse. This allows people to make informed decisions about how much information they share in class.
  
  If someone does disclose abuse, let that person know that he or she can report the abuse to adult protective services and that you can be present if that would feel supportive. Offer to help make the initial contact. Assist with safety planning if necessary, and provide referrals to resources the person may need (e.g., emergency shelter, emergency protective orders, forensic exam, counseling, law enforcement, crime victim compensation).
• Hearing or talking about situations of abuse can sometimes act as a trigger to survivors of violence, to the point that some people experience the terror of abuse again—this time in the classroom. As you choose materials and plan your curriculum, reduce that possibility by avoiding pictures or discussions of graphic or frightening incidents.
• Create open-ended questions that will engage participants as you begin the discussion (e.g., Who are the most important people in your life?).
Related Resources

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SafePlace Lending Library
(lists available curricula)

Safety Planning, National Domestic Violence Hotline

Sample From the Pilot Sites


•	Class Guidelines for Persons With Intellectual Disabilities (PDF, 10 kb)

• Practice transition statements that will help move the discussion along if needed (e.g., "Now that we've talked about some of the important people in your life," or "Let's talk about who would help you if you had a problem").
• People learn in different ways. Some learn best through reading, some through spoken words, some through practice. To fit different learning styles, experiment with various ways to deliver the information (e.g., games, role playing, facilitated discussion). Limit the time you spend standing in front of the group simply talking.
• Plan a time for the facilitator to debrief as soon as possible after the session. Talking through what went well and what needs improvement while the experience is fresh will give trainers ideas for improving future classes and discussions.

Train Stakeholders

Cross training can fill in the gaps for stakeholders in this project. Victim services staff, who may have little experience providing services to persons with disabilities, can increase their skills and awareness. Staff in disability services, who may not be aware of how prevalent abuse is or what to do when it is reported, can learn how to recognize and respond sensitively to abuse and other crimes against persons with disabilities.

Make use of your advisory committee or collaborative partnership to begin cross training with your own staff, disability service agencies, law enforcement, medical staff, and other victim service agency staff and volunteers.

For the three pilot sites, the primary purposes of the trainings were to—

• Increase disability awareness/sensitivity.
• Learn how to provide more accessible and welcoming services to crime victims with disabilities.
• Share information about mandatory reporting requirements and responses to suspicions or disclosures of abuse.

Depending on the audience, professional training topics may include the following: Dynamics and prevalence of abuse/victimization against persons with disabilities. Dynamics of power and control in relationships. Unique barriers faced by a person with a disability leaving an abusive relationship. Possible indicators of abuse. State reporting requirements for abuse or exploitation of persons with disabilities. How to recognize and respond to signs or disclosures of abuse. Safety planning for crime victims who have disabilities or those who are Deaf. Disability etiquette and Deaf culture. Communication with Deaf people and with persons with intellectual, speech, and visual disabilities. Strategies for providing sensitive and accessible victim services. Engage your audience with a mixture of lectures, discussions, activities, case studies, and role playing.

Resources

Accessibility

Increasing Agency Accessibility for People With Disabilities: Domestic Violence Agency Self-Assessment Guide. Includes a comprehensive list of program and facility issues to consider in making a domestic violence agency—as well as other agencies—fully accessible to persons with disabilities.

Accessibility: Ramps, ADA Bathrooms and a Whole Lot More! Helps identify ways to increase access to services for crime victims with disabilities.

ADA Web page. Provides information and technical assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Making your Documents more Readable. Offers information about which font sizes and types are easiest to read.

Whole Building Design Guide. Has a wealth of information about accessibility, a history of accessible buildings, and resources for more information.

Screening Practices for Domestic Violence Victims with Disabilities. Supports crisis agencies in including questions about disability issues and service needs in their intake process. It covers initial contact and crisis intervention and provision of ongoing services and includes sample screening questions.

Accessible Web Sites

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Requires that electronic and information technology be accessible for persons with disabilities. This law applies to government agencies and to agencies receiving federal funds.

Knowbility, Inc. Teaches how and why to make technology accessible to everyone.

Designing More Usable Web Sites. Links to resources on all aspects of Web accessibility.

Accessibility Institute. Contains a how-to and demos page that provides links to short tutorials giving specific examples on Web accessibility.

Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. Provides an accessibility checklist for Web content developers.

Outreach and Education

Disability Services ASAP (A Safety Awareness Program) Informational Fact Sheets, SafePlace. Cover topics ranging from inquiring about abusive experiences, Internet safety, communication with someone with atypical speech, and dynamics of caregiver abuse.

Promoting Interest in Community Issues, The Community Toolbox. Discusses how to develop a plan of communication, hold a press conference, and develop public service announcements, posters, fliers, brochures, and Web sites.

Providing Training and Technical Assistance, The Community Toolbox. Discusses how to design and deliver a training session.

SafePlace Lending Library. Lends curricula on personal safety, healthy relationships, and safer sexuality, among other topics.

Safety Planning, National Domestic Violence Hotline. Provides guidelines for developing safety plans.

Your Rights Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Describes section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, outlines who is protected from discrimination, and reviews prohibited discriminatory acts in health care and human services settings.

Sample From the Pilot Sites

• Class Guidelines for Persons With Intellectual Disabilities (PDF, 10 kb)

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Step 5. Taking Measure

A byproduct of improving services to crime victims with disabilities is an increase in the number of crimes reported by this population. This increase will not necessarily mean that more crimes are being committed in your community, but that you and your partners have been effective in removing some of the barriers to reporting crimes.

Setting up a system to track these reports of crime takes time but also brings benefits. You may find, as the pilot sites did, that you are providing services to more persons with a larger variety of disabilities than you at first realized. Tracking and reporting crimes against persons with disabilities can focus community attention on improving services to this underserved population.

Step 5 involves the following tasks:

• Educate staff on the definition of disability.
• Develop a tracking system.
• Train staff to use the system.
• Compile the tracked information regularly.
• Share the information.

Educate Staff on the Definition of Disability

What is a disability?¹ During this project, agency staff, volunteers, and crime victims with evident disabilities themselves struggled to answer that question.

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a person with a disability has difficulty performing any of the following tasks (or has a record of or is perceived as having difficulty):

• General life activities, such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working. Examples of disabilities in this category could include intellectual and developmental disabilities, cystic fibrosis, blindness or low vision, Deaf or hard of hearing, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, and so forth.
• Major bodily functions, such as functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, and digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions. Examples of disabilities in this category could include cancer, AIDS, diabetes, and heart disease.

Further, according to the ADA, a person is still considered to have a disability even if the condition—

• Is treatable with medication (e.g., mental illness, diabetes).
• Can be addressed with the help of assistive technology (e.g., prosthetics for missing limbs, power wheelchairs).
• Happens intermittently if the condition would be substantially limiting when active (e.g., seizure disorder, some forms of mental illness).
• Is in remission if the condition would be substantially limiting when active (e.g., multiple sclerosis, cancer).

Adopt the ADA standard definition of disability, and ensure that all partners use it to keep reporting consistent.

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1 This section's definitions were adapted from the ADA's definition of disability and from B. East, Advocacy, Inc., (now Disability Rights–Texas), personal communication, June 15, 2010.

Develop a Tracking System

The pilot sites set up systems with their partners to track the number of crimes committed against persons with disabilities in their communities. To do so, they started by developing internal tracking systems. Typically, this means modifying your current intake forms, hotline questionnaires, or client evaluation surveys to add a question about disability status. Remember: Answers to these questions must not affect eligibility for services.

Once the sites developed internal tracking systems, they shared them with their community partners and discussed how those partners could begin tracking the number of crime victims with disabilities served by their own agencies.

At the beginning of the project, the sites combined had a baseline of 23 reports of crime for the previous year. After putting tracking plans in place, the sites and their partners reported 1,380 crimes in 1 year. Community partners included rape crisis and domestic violence centers, a family justice center, a center for independent living, a protection and advocacy agency, three police departments, and a justice league.

Tracking mirrored the particular makeup of each community. Because the Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio (SARNCO) is part of a hospital network, for example, its tracking system largely focused on its own rape crisis staff and hospital sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) as well as other project partners. Family Crisis Services (FCS), on the other hand, worked with its core police partners to track crimes using a database form.

Because each agency and each community are unique, there is no one-size-fits-all tracking plan. You will need to develop a plan that fits your own particular partners and community.

The following tips and examples may help you begin your own tracking plan.

• Take it one step at a time. SARNCO developed its tracking system in several stages:
• SARNCO first amended its own data tracking forms to ask all people served by the agency if they had a disability. This internal tracking plan included counting sexual assault survivors with disabilities who received long-term advocacy services, hospital advocacy services, and helpline advocacy services.
Sample From the Pilot Sites
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Plan for Tracking Crimes Against Persons With Disabilities (PDF, 22 kb)
• Next, SARNCO approached its partners—area hospitals, law enforcement agencies, and the prosecutor's office—about developing their own tracking systems.
• The site also worked with SANE coordinators at all four Ohio Health Hospitals to develop and implement a data tracking plan.
• Finally, it extended this plan to reach out to all SANE programs at area hospitals. This information is now being tracked as part of SARNCO's citywide hospital data.
Tips From the Field

When it comes to tracking, aim for progress instead of perfection. Staff from all three pilot sites understood that even with their outreach efforts, not all persons with disabilities will report crimes, and many will report crimes but not identify themselves as having a disability. Remember that the first goal is to begin counting a population that traditionally has not sought victim services.
• Determine how you will protect the confidentiality of each person being tracked.
• Avoid duplication. Without compromising confidentiality, develop a tracking system that helps partner agencies, or even different programs in your agency, to avoid counting the same crime victims more than once. FCS avoided duplication, for example, by tracking crime victims by gender, date of birth, and town.
• Keep safety at the forefront. FCS initially consulted with two local police departments about tracking disabilities of crime victims on police reports. However, the group discussed a growing concern that the information might later be used against victims of violence with disabilities in child custody or other legal cases. Because of these safety concerns, the group decided not to track disabilities on police reports, knowing that it would mean that it would not be able to count all the crime victims with disabilities in the community. Instead, the FCS tracking system involved—
• Adding a data cell in its database to track persons with disabilities receiving its services.
• Training direct service staff and volunteers in the domestic violence shelter and at the hotline on how and why to ask questions about disability.
• Asking the victims if they have disabilities when making the usual followup calls on all police reports of domestic violence to see if further services are needed.

Train Staff To Use the System

Talk to your staff about why collecting information about disabilities is important, and address any discomfort they might have with asking the question. Staff instructions might include the following:

• For victim service agencies, ask any disability-related questions after staff have determined eligibility for rape crisis or domestic violence services. A person cannot be excluded from services because of a disability. (Note: Many victim service agencies, such as domestic violence/sexual assault centers, have waiting lists for services and may have to prioritize individuals receiving services according to the level of danger or crisis.)
• For all agencies—
• Emphasize that answering questions about disabilities is voluntary. Do not force the issue. Commonly, persons with intellectual disabilities are taught to comply with authority figures or service providers, so they may answer just to please you.

Ask all people the same questions, whether they appear to have a disability or not. This tactic is a good way to reach persons with hidden disabilities (e.g., seizure disorder, mental illness/trauma, AIDS, cancer). Letting all clients know that everybody is asked the same question also reduces the possibility of perceived discrimination. Use your best judgment about when to ask and when not to ask about disability. Do not ask when the person seems to be feeling overwhelmed or is in extreme crisis, for example. Only record people who say they have a disability. Do not assume a disability based on your personal observation.

Compile the Tracked Information Regularly

Devise a system with your partner agencies for compiling the tracked information at regular intervals. The pilot sites, for example, compiled information quarterly. Adapt this system or devise your own method for organizing and storing the collected information on a spreadsheet or in a database.

Consider the following when determining how often to compile information:

• How will you avoid counting the same people if they are still receiving services from one quarter to the next?
• Who will be responsible in each agency for tracking and compiling the information?
• How often will each agency track?
• How often will the larger group gather the information? Who will be responsible for gathering the data from partner agencies?
• How long will you track these data?

The pilot sites tracked information about crimes against persons with disabilities for a year during the project but have continued to track after the project ended. Track the data long enough to notice if changes are occurring—for a minimum of a year. If at all possible, institutionalize the change so that your community automatically collects data every quarter.

Share the Information

Share the tracked information about crime victims with disabilities with your partners, local law enforcement, victim service agencies, the criminal justice system, and others.

Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs found that half of the people they asked—50 percent of the people they were already serving—reported having a disability. Although your numbers may not be that high, bringing this information to light in your community will show all stakeholders how critical it is to continue to improve services for crime victims with disabilities.

Resources

Samples From the Pilot Sites

• Template Plan for Tracking Reports of Crime (PDF, 64 kb)
• Plan for Tracking Crimes Against Persons With Disabilities (PDF, 22 kb)

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Step 6. Evaluating the Project's Impact

Project evaluations are useful because they tell you if goals are being met, if your services are being changed as intended, and if further tweaking of your project is needed to better meet community needs. Additionally, evaluations are helpful in assessing the project's value, reporting to funders, and demonstrating accountability to the community, advisory committee, funders, and the agency's board of directors.

Step 6 involves the following tasks:

• Develop an evaluation plan.
• Assess training effectiveness.
• Make evaluations accessible.
• Share the information.

Develop an Evaluation Plan

The project evaluation flows directly from the strategic plan. To gauge your project's effectiveness, you should have already worked with your partners to add reasonable measurements to the strategic plan's activities and goals. (See Devise a Written Plan in step 3 of this guide.)

Although there are numerous methods for developing a project evaluation, the three pilot sites used a simple output- and outcome-based plan to collect information on the following:  

• Outputs.
• Outcomes.
• Method of measurement and data collection.

Outputs

Outputs are simply a number or count of services provided. Each site tracked and reported the following information:

• Numbers of training sessions and presentations conducted quarterly.
• Numbers of individuals with disabilities and professionals attending the training sessions and presentations.
• Types of groups trained or educated:
• Own agency staff/volunteers.
• Criminal justice professionals.
• Disability service providers.
• Victim assistance providers.
• Persons with disabilities.
• Other.
• Number of unduplicated crime victims with disabilities the agency served each quarter. (Note: This will lead to an unduplicated count through the course of the entire project.)
• Number of crime victims by type of disability the agency served each quarter (indicate individuals who self-identify as having multiple disabilities by documenting them in multiple categories):   
• Physical disability.
• Cognitive disability.
• Deaf or hard of hearing.
• Blind or low vision.
• Acquired disability.
• Mental illness label.
• Age-related disability.
• Other disability.
• Number of crimes against persons with disabilities reported to project partners each quarter.

Outcomes

Outcomes measure the actual impact that the program makes. Outcomes tend to be expressed as percentages. Types of outcomes may include changed attitudes or values, changed behaviors, new knowledge, or new skills. Sites reported on the following outcomes:

• Percentage of individuals with disabilities who were educated on the issue and who demonstrated an increased understanding of the issue through pre- and post-tests.
• Percentage of service providers and other stakeholders who were trained on the issue who reported an increased understanding of the issue through pre- and post-tests.

For this project, 85.5 percent of persons with disabilities and 85 percent of professionals reported or demonstrated an increased understanding of the issues through these tests, which were given immediately before and after each educational session.

Method of Measurement and Data Collection

In collecting data on your outputs and outcomes—

• Identify the types of information you need to gather. You may want to know the number of disability service providers you trained, the number of crime victims with disabilities who are receiving services because they were reached through your outreach efforts, the number of victims reporting satisfaction with services, and so forth.
• Determine the method of data collection that will be used to measure the effectiveness of outcome activities (e.g., pre- and post-class surveys, class evaluation form).
• Identify the staff person who will be collecting and compiling the data and indicate how often data will be collected.
• Decide whether the information will be reviewed monthly or quarterly.
• Identify who will review data and who will be involved in making changes to services based on information from the evaluation.

Assess Training Effectiveness

You can evaluate the effectiveness of your training sessions through pre- and post-tests and through class evaluations.

Pre- and Post-Tests

One way to measure whether people are getting the information you hope they are from your training sessions is to analyze what participants know before and after the class. This can be accomplished through pre- and post-class surveys. If you use this method, develop separate pre- and post-tests for your different audiences (e.g., persons with disabilities, disability and victim service providers, law enforcement).

Evaluation Surveys

To collect feedback on training sessions or services, use evaluation surveys. Evaluation surveys might ask people (1) to rate the effectiveness of the training; (2) if they learned new information and, if so, which information was the most helpful; (3) how they will use the information; and (4) for additional comments. Evaluation forms will not measure what people learned during the session accurately, but they can give you feedback about your training methods and the information presented. You can also send followup evaluation surveys several weeks or months after the training to rate the ongoing effectiveness of the information you presented.

Make Evaluations Accessible

Complicating factors usually arise when you begin evaluating training sessions:

• Persons with a range of disabilities might have difficulty filling out pre- and post-tests. For example, they may be unable to use their hands because of severe arthritis, spinal cord injuries, or cerebral palsy or they may have difficulty reading the questions.
• Pre- and post-testing can set up test anxiety in the audience. Although the pilot sites reminded people that they were testing the facilitator's teaching effectiveness and not the participants' grasp of the information, they still experienced resistance.
• Pre- and post-tests are not always an effective measurement for persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Be aware, again, that persons with intellectual disabilities have often been trained to comply with authority figures and may answer in ways that they perceive would please the trainer.

When giving surveys or tests to persons with intellectual disabilities, people who are physically unable to write responses, or people with limited English reading and writing skills, adapt your evaluation method:

• Ask questions orally of the group, and note the responses.
• If the class is small and staff are available, have staff work one-on-one with individuals who need assistance with the evaluation form.
• Use an evaluation instrument that has been adapted for people with limited English reading skills.

For people who do not read, write, or speak, consider developing a visual aid that features scenarios discussed during the educational session, and ask participants to point to or circle answers.

Share the Information

Informing stakeholders, partners, and funders about the project's accomplishments can help maintain and increase community enthusiasm for the project. Periodically collect the evaluations from your training sessions and develop a pie chart or graph showing the improvement in knowledge of the various audiences. Use these exhibits to make the data visually clear and easily understood when you update your stakeholders.

Resources

Basic Guide to Outcomes-Based Evaluation for Nonprofit Organizations with Very Limited Resources. Provides basic guidelines to help organizations plan and implement outcomes-based evaluations.

Guide to Performance Measurement and Program Evaluation. Helps agencies develop an evaluation plan, establish measurable goals and objectives, design and conduct the evaluation to continuously assess progress, identify measures to reflect a program's impact, and use the results to refine and improve services.

Professional Development Modules. Help users who want an introduction to the major components of an evaluation, are novice evaluators and want to learn more or to self-instruct, or are experienced evaluators and want advice in a targeted area.

Samples From the Pilot Sites

• Evaluation Plan (PDF, 24 kb)
• Pre- and Post-Tests
• Victim Service Providers (PDF, 11 kb)
• All Service Providers (PDF, 27 kb)
• Persons With Disabilities (PDF, 10 kb)
• Training Evaluation for Service Providers and Law Enforcement Staff (PDF, 39 kb)
• Followup Survey for Disability Service Providers (PDF, 26 kb)
• Class Evaluation for Persons With Intellectual Disabilities (PDF, 26 kb)

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Step 7. Sustaining the Momentum

Every step of this project is designed to change the response of your agency and other service providers in a permanent way. If you followed each step—

• You are now connected with people and agencies in your community who are invested in improving services for crime victims with disabilities.
• You have heard from and responded to persons with disabilities and other stakeholders about what changes need to be made in your agency and other agencies.
• You made a plan based on the needs of your particular community, including—
• Tracking crimes against persons with disabilities.
• Changing agency policies and practices that are barriers to crime victims with disabilities.
• Providing education and training for persons with disabilities, your own staff and volunteers, partner agencies, disability service providers, law enforcement, and others.

The three pilot sites that took on this project did not stop here. They know how important this work is and are invested in continuing to improve services for crime victims with disabilities in their communities.

To keep their momentum going, they took some of the following steps:

• Plan for ongoing relationships.
• Institutionalize changes.
• Seek funding.

Plan for Ongoing Relationships

Discuss how to keep your relationships moving forward with your collaborative partners or advisory committee. Options include the following:

• Provide cross trainings.
• Share materials.
• Refer clients to other agencies.
• Coordinate outreach efforts.
• Assess how best to meet the needs of crime victims with disabilities.

To institutionalize its relationships, for example, the Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio moved its project partners into a subcommittee of its board.

Institutionalize Changes

To make permanent improvements in services, put them in writing and put them into practice. Develop new policies, procedures, and practices or modify existing ones to reflect the changes you've made in how your agency does business.

Seek Funding

You can do much of this work without funding, but additional support can pay for more staff training time as well as cover costs for interpreters and for other accommodations. Funding tips include the following:

• Include accessibility costs (e.g., for interpreters) in grant applications.
• Build relationships with current and potential funders to discuss ways that funding could increase services for crime victims with disabilities.
• Talk to the agency's board of directors about including funds for accessibility (e.g., American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters, emergency attendant care) in the annual budget.
• Some federal, state, and local funds are available for agencies interested in changing their community's approach to serving crime victims with disabilities. Check with your state Developmental Disability Council for potential grants, and become familiar with federal grant opportunities, including those from the Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice.

Two of the pilot sites were awarded funding from public and private sources:

• Family Crisis Services received $5,000 in funding from United Way for ASL interpreters.
• Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs and its partners entered into a 3-year collaborative agreement with the Office on Violence Against Women Disability Grant Program, U.S. Department of Justice.

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In Summary

Consider taking any of these incremental steps to begin making permanent changes in your community:

• Identify disability rights leaders in your community and invite them to join your sexual assault response team, domestic violence task force, or other crime victim committee.
• Ask your board of directors to nominate board members with disabilities.
• Assess your program or organization's accessibility (see, e.g., Increasing Agency Accessibility for People with Disabilities: Domestic Violence Agency Self-Assessment Guide).
• Display the wheelchair logo and interpreter symbol on your print and online materials, along with a note that interpreters are available upon request.
• When you distribute notices for job openings, include a statement such as this:

[Name of organization] strives to employ individuals with diverse backgrounds who mirror the populations we serve. [Name of organization] is an equal opportunity employer. We comply with laws prohibiting discrimination in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, transfer, layoff, or discharge on the basis of a person's race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability—either mental or physical—or sexual orientation.

• Distribute your materials at places such as state vocational rehabilitation services, low-income housing, disability service agencies, Deaf clubs and spiritual organizations, Deaf service agencies, and so forth.
• Seek out volunteers with disabilities for meaningful roles in the agency, including direct services.
• Meet with the executive director of a local disability service agency to talk about how you can work on improving services for crime victims with disabilities together.
• Ask a Deaf social service or Deaf victim service agency to provide staff training on Deaf culture and communicating with people who are Deaf and hard of hearing.
• Ask persons with various disabilities and a disability service agency representative to speak to your staff and volunteers about disability etiquette and to provide basic information about types of disabilities and ways to enhance accessibility.
• Ask if you can provide information to disability services staff about responding to suspicions or disclosures of abuse in a manner that is sensitive to the person's situation as both a person with a disability and a victim of crime.

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Resources
Glossary

Accessibility. Being accessible to crime victims with disabilities and crime victims who are Deaf means working with your staff, board, and volunteers to remove any barriers to services. True accessibility includes the following:

• Holding training and discussion sessions to increase staff awareness and comfort in working with persons with various disabilities and people who are Deaf.
• Ensuring that agency policies and procedures are welcoming, such as routinely providing American Sign Language interpreters and allowing personal care attendants and service animals to accompany persons with disabilities to crisis shelters or other confidential settings.
• Developing a welcoming atmosphere for persons with a range of disabilities, such as including statements about your commitment to accessibility and standard symbols (e.g., wheelchair logo, interpreter symbol) in agency materials.

Americans with Disabilities Act. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990 to guarantee persons with disabilities equal opportunity in and access to employment, public accommodations (which include domestic violence and sexual assault centers and other victim service agencies), and government services (among others). According to the ADA, the same goods, benefits, and services must be available to all people, regardless of the type or severity of any disability.

Consumer. A term commonly used for persons with disabilities in the disability field is consumer, meaning people who consume services. Consumers have choices. The term avoids some of the complications and negative implications of the words victim and survivor. It also has its own connotations, in that it separates persons with disabilities from persons without disabilities. In the context of this guide, the term consumer is not currently used by law enforcement or survivor or victim services. The most uniformly equalizing words for all groups in any context are simply people or person.

Deaf culture. The word Deaf is capitalized throughout this guide, and the phrase "people who are Deaf" is often kept distinct in places from "persons with disabilities." These two deliberate choices were made out of respect for the many people who are Deaf who identify themselves primarily as members of the tight-knit Deaf culture and who do not feel that being Deaf is a disability. The topic of whether being Deaf is a disability or not is controversial even among people who are Deaf or hard of hearing. Some people who identify as culturally Deaf (with a capital D) do not believe it is a disability because they can function well with technology; some people who are Deaf believe that missing one of five senses does constitute a disability; and yet others believe it is the lack of accommodations and flexibility by the hearing community that makes being Deaf a disability.

Disability.¹ According to the ADA, an individual with a disability has a "physical or mental impairment" that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of having such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment. The definition of disability was expanded in 2008 under the ADA Amendments Act. Major life activities are now defined as—

• General life activities, such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working. This category is broad, but examples might include intellectual disabilities, developmental disabilities (disabilities that develop before age 21, such as cerebral palsy or Down syndrome), cystic fibrosis, blindness or low vision, Deaf or hard of hearing, spinal cord injury, and so forth.
• Major bodily functions, such as functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, and digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions. Examples of disabilities in this category include cancer, AIDS, diabetes, and heart disease.

Further, a person is still considered to have a disability even if the impairment—

• Is treatable with medication (e.g., mental illness, diabetes).
• Can be addressed with the help of assistive technology (e.g., prosthetics for missing limbs, power wheelchairs).
• Happens intermittently if the condition would be substantially limiting when active (e.g., seizure disorder, some forms of mental illness).
• Is in remission if the condition would be substantially limiting when active (e.g.,multiple sclerosis, cancer).

Modifications (or accommodations). Modifications refer to the steps agencies can take to allow each person with disabilities to receive services. Some modifications are general: wheelchair ramps, forms available in large print, and so forth. Other modifications are individual: a person with active symptoms of mental illness may want to sit facing the door during counseling sessions; a person who has a cognitive disability may need a clear explanation of the forms and releases he or she is required to fill out.

Partner, partnership. Unless otherwise noted in the text, these terms refer to project partners and could include members of collaborative partnerships or advisory committees.

People-first language. People-first language is intended to draw attention to the fact that persons with disabilities are people, first and foremost. It addresses the fact that our culture has traditionally treated persons with disabilities as less than human. It identifies all people as people first and avoids offensive terms such as handicapped, crazy, Deaf and dumb, crippled, challenged, retarded, or suffering from. It is respectful to say "the woman with the disability" rather than "the disabled woman" or "the handicapped woman"; "the woman with a diagnosis of mental illness" rather than "the schizophrenic"; and "student with a disability" instead of "special needs student." However, we encourage you to refer to a person's disability only if necessary and to respect how individual people prefer to identify themselves.

Survivor. This term is likely to have different meanings for the mental health field and for victim services workers. Some people who have a psychiatric label refer to themselves as "surviving" mental health systems. Within the domestic violence or rape crisis fields, an individual who has left a violent relationship or a person who has been sexually assaulted may refer to herself or himself as a survivor.

Victim. This term is commonly used by law enforcement agencies and some victim service programs. Some domestic and sexual violence and other service agencies avoid the word victim altogether because of its implications of passivity. Others believe that people who have experienced domestic violence or sexual assault are victimized and, through healing, become survivors. Disability rights activists may avoid the term because persons with disabilities have historically been described as victims of their disabilities.

---

1 Adapted from the ADA's definition of disability and B. East, Advocacy, Inc., personal communication, June 15, 2010.

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Samples From the Pilot Sites

This section includes resources that SafePlace and its subgrantees—the three pilot sites—used while implementing a multidisciplinary response to crime victims with disabilities. Adapt these samples for your own use as you develop your community's response.

• Sample Privacy Certificate (PDF, 122 kb)
• Sample Confidentiality Agreement (PDF, 11 kb)
• Sample Consent Forms
• Focus Groups (PDF, 23 kb)
• Focus Groups Attended by Persons With Intellectual Disabilities (PDF, 12 kb)
• Individual Interviews (PDF, 17 kb)
• Individual Interviews of Persons With Intellectual Disabilities (PDF, 12 kb)
• Sample Community Needs Assessment Plan (PDF, 23 kb)
• Sample Protocol for Individual Interviews, Focus Groups, and Community Meetings (PDF, 44 kb)
• Sample Script for Setting Up Interviews and Focus Groups (PDF, 19 kb)
• Sample Focus Group and Individual Interview Questions
• Persons With Disabilities (PDF, 12 kb)
• Disability Service Providers (PDF, 12 kb)
• Victim Services Staff (PDF, 13 kb)
• Sample Surveys
• Disability Service Providers (PDF, 13 kb)
• Law Enforcement Staff (PDF, 14 kb)
• Victim and Disability Service Providers and Law Enforcement Staff (PDF, 16 kb)
• Sample Needs Assessment Recruitment Flier: Persons With Disabilities (PDF, 36 kb)
• Sample Community Needs Assessment Report (PDF, 15 kb)
• Sample Strategic Plan (PDF, 47 kb)
• Sample Fact Sheet (PDF, 49 kb)
• Sample Class Guidelines for Persons With Intellectual Disabilities (PDF, 10 kb)
• Template Plan for Tracking Reports of Crime (PDF, 64 kb)
• Sample Plan for Tracking Crimes Against Persons With Disabilities (PDF, 22 kb)
• Sample Evaluation Plan (PDF, 24 kb)
• Sample Pre- and Post-Tests
• Persons With Disabilities (PDF, 10 kb)
• Victim Service Providers (PDF, 11 kb)
• All Service Providers (PDF, 27 kb)
• Sample Training Evaluation for Service Providers and Law Enforcement Staff (PDF, 39 kb)
• Sample Followup Survey for Disability Service Providers (PDF, 26 kb)
• Sample Class Evaluation for Persons With Intellectual Disabilities (PDF, 26 kb)

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Funding Sources

Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Developmental Disabilities Council (select your state)

Foundation Center

Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice

Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

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References

Harrell, E., Ph.D., and M. Rand. 2010. Crime Against People with Disabilities, 2008. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Martin, S.L., N. Ray, D. Sotres-Alvarez, L.L. Kupper, K.E. Moracco, P.A. Dickens, D. Scandlin, and Z. Gizlice. 2006. "Physical and Sexual Assault of Women with Disabilities." Violence Against Women 12(9):823–837.

McNamara, C. 2008. Basic Guide to Program Evaluation. Minneapolis, MN: Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Powers, L.E., M.A. Curry, M. Oschwald, S. Maley, M. Saxton, and K. Eckels. 2002. "Barriers and Strategies in Addressing Abuse: A Survey of Disabled Women's Experiences—PAS Abuse Survey." The Journal of Rehabilitation 68(1):4–13.

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