The Network
Report date
November 2018
What has been most instrumental to your progress?
Expanding our project work group membership and developing a mechanism for effectively utilizing the experience, knowledge and expertise members bring to the group was a top priority of our efforts this year. We saw this as critical to our continued efforts, if the project is to develop in a way that is responsive to the needs of South Dakotans with disabilities and those who are deaf, who live in communities of very diverse sizes, with availability of direct services often impacted by both the size of their communities and the distance from 'home' to a service center. We also saw it as critical at this time when all providers are seeking to do more with the same amount of resources or less, which daily calls for all of us to find ways to more effectively collaborate with one another in doing what each of us 'does best' and complimenting the efforts of one another in meeting the needs of those we serve.
A second priority of this year was to host a facilitated work group retreat. The purpose of hosting this retreat was to review the ten proposed project goals identified in the needs assessment process, and work towards identifying a clearly stated primary project objective, three top project goals and priority strategies to begin working on in the current and coming year. Completing this work is seen as an avenue to ensure the project's success and progress - enabling it to set and adhere to timelines, include survivor's stories and input into project activities, assure a variety of community providers are involved in the work, engage in regular communication with one another as the work continues, and begin sharing the work with a larger portion of the community as we carry out specific project activities designed to 'shatter the silence' around the intersection of sexual violence and disability in South Dakota.
Even though limited data is available around the occurrence of sexual violence and people with disabilities, enough is available to tell us that it occurs at rates higher than those of people without disabilities. It also tells us that it is under-reported to authorities e.g., police at higher rates than people without disabilities. It is estimated that only 3% of people with disabilities report their experience of sexual violence to police. There are many factors impacting this reality. One known factor is the reality that law enforcement will encounter people with disabilities in 50% of their cases. Yet, most law enforcement receive little, if any, training related to disability. Some efforts have been made in communities to provide disability awareness training by local providers and disability organizations, as well as some specific disability focused groups. The project believes it is imperative that a cross-disability approach be taken to this training. It must also involve people with disabilities. Hosting a law enforcement 'train the trainer' disability training program was our first step in addressing this need.
Key lessons learned
We've learned how difficult it is to ensure that survivors' voices are part of the work we are doing from beginning to end. And indeed, we have not been as successful in involving these voices as we had hoped at the beginning. We continue to explore different ways to invite, encourage and support their involvement. What is crucial is that survivors are ready to be a part of the process, and we are able to make the process comfortable for them. Thus we have learned that this is an effort that must be flexible and individualized... The irony is that individualized approaches are critical concepts within the disability service world, so this may be a place where the sexual violence side of the intersection can benefit from this area of expertise. At the same time, trauma informed services are crucial components of the sexual violence service world, so the disability side of the intersection can benefit from this area expertise. It will take all of us to find ways to grow survivor involvement in the project activities.
We learned it is time to promote the identity of the project - Bridging South Dakota. It is time to develop materials e.g., website and social media presence, display presence for both sides of the intersection indicating their openness to serving all people who experience sexual violence, community partners working with the collaborators on this project and more. This is not so much the result of a failure. Rather it is the result of the natural evolution of the project to a point beyond planning to implementation, and thus increased visibility at all levels of the community of South Dakota. Along with these efforts, it would appear there is a need to establish a sexual assault hotline that is fully accessible, so there is one point of contact people can reach if they have experienced SA and are seeking assistance. This is another next step we are exploring to see how it might best be implemented so it is widely available and accessible to all.
Reflections on inclusive, collaborative or resourceful problem-solving
Collaborative: We believe that it has been the most important to work with our grant partners, service delivery providers, and survivors/individuals with disabilities to understand the needs of survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors in South Dakota. South Dakota communities like to keep their services and work local and we want to honor that while collaborating for necessary change. It has been wonderful to have a strong collaborative partnership with Communication Service for the Deaf, SD Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities, and the SD Network. The collaboration has been committed to work together and share passion for the project. Since the Coalition and the Network are both membership associations, bringing together their member agencies has grown the work statewide. There has been cross training and sharing, networking statewide, and shared collaborative work such as policy work and connecting disability and victim services providers. The collaboration supports each other, offers great ideas, has shared responsibility of tasks, and provides great ideas together. Welcoming individuals with disabilities and survivors was critical to the project.
Other key elements of Community Innovation
The staff of the three agencies involved with the project are all seasoned and experienced. Bringing years of experience in the field of disability, Deaf, and sexual violence has really brought strength to the project. With the experience comes many years of connections across the state and utilizing those connections assists in the work of the collaboration. The three agencies are respected for their work.
Understanding the problem
Yes- Law enforcement has been slower to respond to the project and we will continue to look for training opportunities for law enforcement and first responders in the area of disability and Deaf. We are adding more survivors with disabilities to our work group and understand the importance of including their voices in the work. As we have talked with the work group and others across the state, we are attempting to bring the training to the local communities instead of holding a large training somewhere in the state. Many communities have their own local trainings and were very willing and interested to partner with our collaboration to bring a speaker to their training sponsored by the project funding. The speaker will be able to address the intersection of disability and sexual violence. In October 2018, we sponsored a speaker for a conference in Sioux Falls hosted by the Child Maltreatment Center and the Unified Judicial System. Wayne Duehn, PHD, was the speaker and his sessions were well attended. Dr. Duehn focused on 'shattering the silence of sexual violence within the disability community'.
If you could do it all over again...
Slow down and plan! It has been very helpful to work with the collaborative partners and work group to really study the needs in South Dakota. We are very concerned about sustainability of our work after the funding and planning helps address this early on. Maximizing Excellence, Sioux Falls, has provided guidance with strategic planning and long term planning. Their work and the ability to pay them to assist the project has been invaluable for the project.
One last thought
The Bush Foundation funding has allowed our collaboration to think outside the box and really identify the needs of survivors with disabilities within the overall project. It is such a gift to have limited restrictions on the funding and be able to move forward to obtain our goals. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity!