Domestic Abuse Shelters Lack Disabled Services

[Guest guest]

Los Angeles Times June 14, 2004

Domestic Abuse Shelters Lack Services for Disabled

'There is an appalling degree of ignorance' on how to help victims with

disabilities, one expert says

By s, Times Staff Writer

For three months, the 31-year-old woman suffered severe beatings from

her boyfriend. And when the abuse ended, the threats began, forcing the

Northern Californian to find safety.

Only for this woman, who has epilepsy, cerebral palsy and mild

schizophrenia, the one place certain to provide counseling and

protection was also the one place she feared.

" I was afraid to go " to a domestic violence shelter " because I'm

disabled, " said the woman, whose name was withheld at her request

because she fears retaliation from her ex-boyfriend. " I didn't think

they knew how to deal with me. If I had a seizure, I was afraid they

would not know how to help me. I was worried about them not knowing. "

So instead of relocating to a domestic violence shelter, she moved into

a group home for the disabled.

" There is an appalling degree of ignorance in domestic violence programs

on how to reach out and serve people with disabilities, " said Dan

Sorensen, founder and chairman of the California Coalition on Crime

Against People With Disabilities. " There are efforts, but some are

relatively feeble. A lot of people feel they cannot go to domestic

violence centers because they are being turned away. They are hearing,

'I'm sorry we can't help you; we don't have the services.' "

Few domestic violence shelters and programs address the varied needs of

disabled victims, experts say. Although state and federal funding to

help these people has increased in recent years, most of it has gone to

reimburse them for medical and relocation expenses and to law

enforcement training. It has not gone to emergency shelters, where by

most accounts, the need is large.

" Shelters are just barely surviving, " said Margaret Nosek, executive

director of the Center for Research on Women With Disabilities at the

Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. " They're struggling to pay their

electric bills, let alone retrofit their shelter with a ramp or bring on

extra services for women who might need them. "

Nosek estimates that 10% of women living with disabilities are in

abusive situations and that about half of those women have suffered

physical or sexual abuse within the last year.

There are 104 government-funded shelters in California, according to the

Statewide California Coalition for Battered Women. The coalition did not

know how many of those were accessible to the disabled.

Federal civil rights law requires public and other government-funded

buildings to be accessible, said Mankin, chief of the Office of

Universal Design, part of the California state architect's office.

But many shelters have inherited facilities that do not comply with the

Americans With Disabilities Act; nor do they have enough money to

correct the deficiencies. Other shelters — with long-term plans for

upgrading their facilities — tend to wait before constructing

disabled-accessible structures, Mankin said.

He added that if a disabled woman called a shelter for help, she would

typically be directed to a facility that could meet her needs. But

advocates for disabled victims say getting through the door is just part

of the struggle. Obtaining necessary services is the other.

" We just started including the disabled by saying places were

'handicapped accessible,' " said Peggie Reyna, director of services for

the deaf and disabled at the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against

Women. " But that just means you can get your wheelchair through the

door. You can't reach a sink; you can't get in the shower. It's so much

more than one issue. "

At most shelters, clients must care for themselves and their children,

cooking dinner, cleaning and doing the laundry, said Reyna, whose

program averages at least three new clients with serious disabilities

every month.

A 1997 study conducted by the Center for Research on Women With

Disabilities concluded that only 22% of shelters in the United States

provided abuse-related services to disabled women and that only 5.5%

offered personal-care attendant services.

One 37-year-old victim, whose name is being withheld because she fears

for her safety, said she moved from one abusive relationship to the next

and was stabbed and beaten by several partners.

In 1987 the woman, who is deaf, escaped her abusive husband, who knows

sign language, only to return to him because she was uncomfortable at a

shelter without devices for the hearing-impaired.

In 2000, she left Los Angeles and an abusive boyfriend who she said

terrified her and seven of her children for almost seven months. Sadly,

she said, the lack of interpreters for the deaf at domestic violence

shelters has not changed.

" I could see the camaraderie, the friendship and the closeness between

the other women, " said the woman, who had an interpreter during

mandatory weekly support groups and case manager meetings only. " They

could speak, but I felt alone. I couldn't communicate. Groups of women

would get together, talk for hours, knit blankets and make things and

talk, talk, talk. But I couldn't be close. "

Federal and state lawmakers have begun addressing the special needs of

disabled abuse victims.

The U.S. Violence Against Women Act of 2000 seeks to improve programs

addressing domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.

As a result, last year, more than $1.4 million in grants provided

training to law enforcement, prosecutors and courts on dealing with

domestic violence against the disabled.

However, none of that money went toward services or shelters.

" There are two schools of thought when it comes to dealing with disabled

domestic-violence victims, " said Diane Stuart, executive director of the

Office on Violence Against Women, which awards the funds. " One is to

create a facility where someone who is a victim with a disability can

have everything…. But the reality is to adapt the existing shelter and

train the workers on how to respond to those with disabilities. "

Five years ago, the California Assembly approved a bill to provide

direct help to disabled victims of domestic violence.

Sponsored by Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth (D-Santa Barbara), the

bill calls for court-ordered fines against offenders to reimburse

domestic-violence victims for medical expenses and relocation expenses

and the cost to the disabled of retrofitting their cars or renovating

their homes. Former Gov. Gray signed the bill in October 1999.

" There are a number of circumstances where the victim is mentally or

physically disabled and suffers physical harm that does not always

repair itself, " said , a former Santa Barbara County prosecutor

who has worked on domestic-violence issues. " We have included a

provision to try to help these victims become as whole as possible. "

But that must start at the beginning.

Janet Fernandez, who works with disabled crime victims in Sacramento

County, praised the steps made by law enforcement in working with these

people but reiterated their lack of power when coupled with struggling

shelters.

" Law enforcement has become far more sophisticated in responding to

victims more appropriately, " she said. " But if, socially, we lack the

support system for housing and for services … our victims have no

alternatives. "

'There is an appalling degree of ignorance' on how to help victims with

disabilities, one expert says.

By s, Times Staff Writer

For three months, the 31-year-old woman suffered severe beatings from

her boyfriend. And when the abuse ended, the threats began, forcing the

Northern Californian to find safety.

Only for this woman, who has epilepsy, cerebral palsy and mild

schizophrenia, the one place certain to provide counseling and

protection was also the one place she feared.

" I was afraid to go " to a domestic violence shelter " because I'm

disabled, " said the woman, whose name was withheld at her request

because she fears retaliation from her ex-boyfriend. " I didn't think

they knew how to deal with me. If I had a seizure, I was afraid they

would not know how to help me. I was worried about them not knowing. "

So instead of relocating to a domestic violence shelter, she moved into

a group home for the disabled.

" There is an appalling degree of ignorance in domestic violence programs

on how to reach out and serve people with disabilities, " said Dan

Sorensen, founder and chairman of the California Coalition on Crime

Against People With Disabilities. " There are efforts, but some are

relatively feeble. A lot of people feel they cannot go to domestic

violence centers because they are being turned away. They are hearing,

'I'm sorry we can't help you; we don't have the services.' "

Few domestic violence shelters and programs address the varied needs of

disabled victims, experts say. Although state and federal funding to

help these people has increased in recent years, most of it has gone to

reimburse them for medical and relocation expenses and to law

enforcement training. It has not gone to emergency shelters, where by

most accounts, the need is large.

" Shelters are just barely surviving, " said Margaret Nosek, executive

director of the Center for Research on Women With Disabilities at the

Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. " They're struggling to pay their

electric bills, let alone retrofit their shelter with a ramp or bring on

extra services for women who might need them. "

Nosek estimates that 10% of women living with disabilities are in

abusive situations and that about half of those women have suffered

physical or sexual abuse within the last year.

There are 104 government-funded shelters in California, according to the

Statewide California Coalition for Battered Women. The coalition did not

know how many of those were accessible to the disabled.

Federal civil rights law requires public and other government-funded

buildings to be accessible, said Mankin, chief of the Office of

Universal Design, part of the California state architect's office.

But many shelters have inherited facilities that do not comply with the

Americans With Disabilities Act; nor do they have enough money to

correct the deficiencies. Other shelters — with long-term plans for

upgrading their facilities — tend to wait before constructing

disabled-accessible structures, Mankin said.

He added that if a disabled woman called a shelter for help, she would

typically be directed to a facility that could meet her needs. But

advocates for disabled victims say getting through the door is just part

of the struggle. Obtaining necessary services is the other.

" We just started including the disabled by saying places were

'handicapped accessible,' " said Peggie Reyna, director of services for

the deaf and disabled at the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against

Women. " But that just means you can get your wheelchair through the

door. You can't reach a sink; you can't get in the shower. It's so much

more than one issue. "

At most shelters, clients must care for themselves and their children,

cooking dinner, cleaning and doing the laundry, said Reyna, whose

program averages at least three new clients with serious disabilities

every month.

A 1997 study conducted by the Center for Research on Women With

Disabilities concluded that only 22% of shelters in the United States

provided abuse-related services to disabled women and that only 5.5%

offered personal-care attendant services.

One 37-year-old victim, whose name is being withheld because she fears

for her safety, said she moved from one abusive relationship to the next

and was stabbed and beaten by several partners.

In 1987 the woman, who is deaf, escaped her abusive husband, who knows

sign language, only to return to him because she was uncomfortable at a

shelter without devices for the hearing-impaired.

In 2000, she left Los Angeles and an abusive boyfriend who she said

terrified her and seven of her children for almost seven months. Sadly,

she said, the lack of interpreters for the deaf at domestic violence

shelters has not changed.

" I could see the camaraderie, the friendship and the closeness between

the other women, " said the woman, who had an interpreter during

mandatory weekly support groups and case manager meetings only. " They

could speak, but I felt alone. I couldn't communicate. Groups of women

would get together, talk for hours, knit blankets and make things and

talk, talk, talk. But I couldn't be close. "

Federal and state lawmakers have begun addressing the special needs of

disabled abuse victims.

The U.S. Violence Against Women Act of 2000 seeks to improve programs

addressing domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.

As a result, last year, more than $1.4 million in grants provided

training to law enforcement, prosecutors and courts on dealing with

domestic violence against the disabled.

However, none of that money went toward services or shelters.

" There are two schools of thought when it comes to dealing with disabled

domestic-violence victims, " said Diane Stuart, executive director of the

Office on Violence Against Women, which awards the funds. " One is to

create a facility where someone who is a victim with a disability can

have everything…. But the reality is to adapt the existing shelter and

train the workers on how to respond to those with disabilities. "

Five years ago, the California Assembly approved a bill to provide

direct help to disabled victims of domestic violence.

Sponsored by Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth (D-Santa Barbara), the

bill calls for court-ordered fines against offenders to reimburse

domestic-violence victims for medical expenses and relocation expenses

and the cost to the disabled of retrofitting their cars or renovating

their homes. Former Gov. Gray signed the bill in October 1999.

" There are a number of circumstances where the victim is mentally or

physically disabled and suffers physical harm that does not always

repair itself, " said , a former Santa Barbara County prosecutor

who has worked on domestic-violence issues. " We have included a

provision to try to help these victims become as whole as possible. "

But that must start at the beginning.

Janet Fernandez, who works with disabled crime victims in Sacramento

County, praised the steps made by law enforcement in working with these

people but reiterated their lack of power when coupled with struggling

shelters.

" Law enforcement has become far more sophisticated in responding to

victims more appropriately, " she said. " But if, socially, we lack the

support system for housing and for services … our victims have no

alternatives. "