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

This $400,000 Cooperative Agreement, awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) under the Education, Training, and Enhanced Services to End Violence Against and Abuse of Women with Disabilities program (CFDA 16.529), aims to strengthen partnerships and enhance organizational capacity to provide accessible, safe, and effective services to individuals with disabilities and Deaf individuals who are victims of violence and abuse in East Los Angeles, CA.

The grantee, the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice (doing business as Survivor Justice Center), will collaborate with East Los Angeles Women's Center, Mental Health Advocacy Services, and VIA Care to develop an effective interagency referral process and provide direct legal assistance to survivors with mental health disabilities. The project will also focus on developing educational outreach materials, conducting community outreach, and creating trainings for community-based partners on available resources for survivors. Additionally, the team will work to expand their community partnerships to further the work of the Collaborative for Access and Understanding for Survivors in East L.A. (CAUSE).

The goal of the disability 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 disability program brings together disability organizations and victim service providers to work in a collaborative manner at the intersection of disability and domestic and sexual violence. Continuation grantees are required to implement activities that were identified during the previous award but were not able to be addressed during that initial project period. Continuation grantees may provide direct services if they have successfully implemented the initiatives that ensure that survivors with disabilities and deaf survivors will receive safe, confidential, and appropriate services. The LOS angeles center for law and justice will collaborate with east LOS angeles women's center, mental health advocacy services, and via care to strengthen partnerships and maintain or enhance a multidisciplinary collaborative team (team); 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 grantee's organization and/or service area; and develop a plan that addresses those identified needs and builds a strong foundation for future work. The objective of the team is to address mental health disabilities that are common among survivors due to or worsened by the traumas of domestic violence and sexual assault. To address this, the team, identifying as the collaborative for access and understanding for survivors in east L.A. (cause), will develop and implement an effective interagency referral process and provide direct legal assistance to survivors with mental health disabilities referred through the collaborative. Legal assistance will include assistance to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault who are also victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons. The team will also develop educational outreach materials for survivors, conduct outreach within the community, and create trainings to community-based partners on resources for survivors. Lastly, the team will develop further community partnerships to expand the work of cause.