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Making Referrals and Finding Community Resources
Victims/survivors may be isolated from personal and social resources and may not be aware of services available to them in their own community, such as financial, legal, counseling or housing programs, or support groups. Researching your local resources and providing advocacy yourself or assisting clients with accessing an advocate through a relevant program in your community can be an invaluable intervention to support a woman in her healing process.
Once you are aware of an individual’s history or current experiences of violence, you can begin to share the range of available and applicable resources to her and play a role in making these services accessible to her. Depending upon what your client wants and needs, you can help her reach out to a hotline, a local shelter and/or local support groups, you can work with criminal and civil justice systems, and you can also help the client make a plan for safety.
When working with anyone around issues of violence against women, but especially when working with someone with a disability or who is Deaf, it is important that you know which resources in your community are accessible. With a solid understanding of those services, you will be able to give your client a more useful and safer referral.
In addition, it will be vital for you to have a genuine connection with various organizations in your community. This relationship will be key to providing a successful referral and, in the long-run, it will help you to work with them on improving accessibility of their services, ultimately making your community a safer and more accessible place for women with disabilities and Deaf women.
