The training and services to end violence and abuse against women with disabilities and deaf people grant program (disability program) is authorized by 34 U.S.C. 20122

The Center for Family Services, Inc., a non-profit organization in New Jersey, received a $607,500 cooperative agreement award from the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women under the Education, Training, and Enhanced Services to End Violence Against and Abuse of Women with Disabilities grant program (CFDA 16.529). The 3-year grant, which began on October 1, 2023, will enable the organization to collaborate with local partners to strengthen services for individuals with disabilities and Deaf individuals who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Key activities include developing an auxiliary aids reservation system and web-based resource, creating communication boards, conducting cross-training for advocates, hosting self-advocate engagement events, and implementing trainings on serving survivors with disabilities. The project also aims to identify and address organizational barriers to providing accessible, safe, and effective services through the implementation of a barrier removal plan.

The goal of the disability grant program is to create sustainable change within and between organizations that improves the response to individuals with disabilities and deaf individuals who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and to hold perpetrators of such crimes accountable. The center for family services will collaborate with services empowering rights of victims, pathways to recovery for adults, and the ARC gloucester to strengthen partnerships and maintain or enhance a multidisciplinary collaborative team, known as heal of TRI-county; increase organizational capacity to provide accessible, safe, and effective services to individuals with disabilities and deaf individuals who are victims of violence and abuse; identify needs within the grantees organization and/or service area; and develop a plan that addresses those identified needs and builds a strong foundation for future work. The heal of TRI-county collaboration focuses on increasing and improving services to deaf people and people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in camden, cumberland, and gloucester counties in southern new jersey. During this project period the heal of TRI-county collaboration will: develop an auxiliary aids reservation system and create a web-based central repository for access issues. Develop and test communication boards focusing on domestic and sexual violence. Conduct cross-training and develop tools to increase the capacity of advocates that work with deaf survivors and survivors with I/DD in the areas of law enforcement, courts, and hospitals. Host self-advocate engagements & learning opportunities. Engage in sign language interpreter development and revise services empowering rights of victims sign language interpreter application. Implement trainings on serving survivors living with disabilities, guardianship, and deaf culture & serving survivors who are D/deaf, hard-of-hearing and living with hearing loss. Participate in the development of the services empowering rights of victims client handbook. Implement items identified in the barrier removal plan and identify safety enhancements for each partner organization.