Office for Victims of Crime
Community-level Replication Guide
 September 2012 Text size: decrease font size increase font size   Send e-mail icon

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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 wheelchair and interpreter symbol sign language 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.