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Washington, DC

Project Name

Project Peer

Geographic Focus

Washington, D.C.

Overview

The Washington, D.C. collaboration is comprised of eight organizations that serve people with cognitive disabilities, people with mental health concerns, survivors of domestic violence and survivors of rape. In addition, the collaboration includes two self-advocates. These organizations came together in recognition that the service needs each addresses separately overlap and intersect in the lives of women with disabilities who experience violence and abuse. As a recipient of the 2007 Office on Violence Against Women’s Disability Grant Program, the collaboration formally adopted the name Project Peer.

The vision of Project Peer is that in the District of Columbia, survivors of domestic and sexual violence or abuse who have disabilities will live in safe environments, heal and have healthy, successful lives. They will have access to high quality, seamless supports that are person-centered and responsive to each survivor’s needs.

The mission of Project Peer is that together with survivors of domestic and sexual violence and abuse who have cognitive or mental health disabilities, they will:

Increase physical and emotional safety,
Facilitate healing, and,
Promote self-agency and support.

Ultimately, they will transform their system to learn from survivors with disabilities, prioritize the needs of those survivors, and build permanent practices that identify these survivors and meet their needs by creating focused partnerships to share their strengths.

In order to effectively improve services and create change in their partner agencies, the Washington D.C. collaboration is taking part in a planning and development process that includes activities to: strengthen their collaboration, identify their focus, learn about the needs in their organizations, and develop a concrete plan for addressing those needs. Project Peer is currently in the process of developing their strategic plan for change. As their work evolves, so will the information contained in this section.

Planning For Change

This section contains files that document Project Peer's planning and development process, including their efforts to: strengthen their collaboration; identify their needs; and strategically plan for change in their partner agencies.

Strengthening Their Collaboration

As part of the planning phase of their grant project, Project Peer worked on strengthening their collaboration. They collectively determined and agreed upon: member roles and responsibilities; a vision and a mission; shared values; decision making and conflict resolution protocols; policies on confidentiality; communications and work plans; and relevant definitions. Their collaboration charter summarizes these decisions.
Project Peer's collaboration charter is available in both a PDF Version and a Text Version below.

Identifying Their Needs

After strengthening their collaboration and building a strong foundation to work from, the Project Peer team formulated a detailed plan for determining the needs in their partner agencies. The team then completed an in-depth needs assessment process to determine the needs of survivors with cognitive and mental health disabilities in these organizations. Through these organizational assessments, they spoke to board members, leadership, staff and the individuals served in each of their agencies. In total, Project Peer spoke with 139 participants and surveyed 136 staff and board members in their needs assessment process. Project Peer subsequently created a report outlining their key findings.

Six areas of findings emerged from Project Peer's needs assessment process. 1.) Shared Values, Common Strengths 2.) Welcoming/Supportive Environments 3.) Policies and Procedures 4.) Knowledge: Women's Access to Information/Support/Accommodations 5.) Knowledge: Staff Roles/Preparation 6.) Use/Availability of Outside Resources. Project Peer is currently in the process of finalizing their Needs Assessment Report.

Project Peer’s Needs Assessment Report Executive Summary is available in both a PDF version and a Text version below.

Next Steps

Upon completion of their Needs Assessment Report, Project Peer is set to begin engaging in a Strategic Planning process and will create a detailed plan for overcoming the challenges identified through their needs assessment process. Stay tuned for new updates from Project Peer.