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Rhode Island (multiple locations)

Project Name

ACT to End Violence Against Women with Disabilities

Partners

Day One: The Sexual Assault & Trauma Resource Center
(http://www.dayoneri.org)
PAL: An Advocacy Organization for Families and People with Disabilities
(http://www.pal-ri.org/)
Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence
(http://www.ricadv.org)

Affiliated Member Agencies

Advocates in Action
(http://www.aina-ri.org)
Blackstone Valley Advocacy Center
(http://www.bvadvocacycenter.org/)

Overview

ACT (Advocacy, Collaboration, and Training) to End Violence against Women with Disabilities, based in Rhode Island, is a collaborative effort consisting of agency partners to provide integrated services to domestic violence and sexual assault survivors with disabilities. Day One and the RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence (RICADV) have a long history of collaboration and providing services to victims of violence in the state; PAL has a long-established history for excellence in training on disability issues, disability advocacy and work with families of individuals with developmental and cognitive disabilities. This collaboration also partners with two affiliated member agencies; Advocates in Action, RI’s statewide self-advocacy organization; and Blackstone Valley Advocacy Center, an organization that provides services to victims of domestic violence and offers education and awareness training on domestic violence issues.

In 2004, the group received an OVW Education & Technical Assistance grant to End Violence Against Women with Disabilities.  Through this grant, the group developed the ACT (Advocacy, Collaboration, and Training) to End Violence Against Women with Disabilities project.  As part of the project, the ACT planning committee developed a “Conversation Module” asking the question – “is your agency prepared to ACT?” The purpose of the training was for individuals to return to their respective organization (whether it was an agency providing sexual assault, domestic violence or disability services) and begin conversations about whether their agencies were accessible to individuals with disabilities and to start to understand the level of violence that exists in the lives of women (and men) who have disabilities.

This current grant, received in 2006, enables the ACT Collaborative to build on their previous work and provide more intensive technical assistance and support to disability advocacy and violence response agencies in RI.  Specifically they are working with organizations in two RI communities--Warwick and Newport County--to improve access to services for survivors with developmental and cognitive disabilities. The cornerstone of this collaboration is to create an accessible system for domestic and sexual violence survivors with disabilities that is person-centered in its service delivery, provides a comprehensive spectrum of services and is delivered by informed and accountable professionals.

Contact Information

Day One

Karyn Hadfield
401-421-4100, ext. 162 (v)
khadfield@dayoneri.org

PAL

Ken Renaud
401-785-2100 (v)
krenaud@pal-ri.org

Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Sheila Frecnh
401-467-9940(v)
Sheila@ricadv.org