Disability Justice Initiative

About Disability Justice Initiative

Welcome to Alaska’s Justice Initiative website! The Justice Initiative is a collaboration of many different stakeholders who have the common vision of reducing interpersonal violence against Alaskans with disabilities and/or Alaskan seniors. This webpage was created to be the central location for relevant education and training resources and information specific to these grants:

 
DARTs are coordinated community responses to violence and sexual violence against people with disabilities. The purpose of DARTs is to bridge the victim advocacy and disability service systems. DARTs work to increase accessible, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed (ACRTI) services for people with disabilities across multiple networks. DARTs are a systems change project through the Alaska Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (CDVSA).
 
  • Deliverables

    While the FY20 application is currently closed, a typical DART contract is for $5,000 and has 8 deliverables including:

    • Contract Set Up

      Approval of a Scope of Work; completing a university Short Form Contract; submitting an updated agency W9; planning and turning in a schedule of trainings (#2 and #4 below); and collecting signatures from the leadership of at least 6 core partners on a community MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) in the first contract month.

    • Onsite TA Visit

      Coordinating 1-2 days of on-site technical assistance training about DART with agency leadership, and at least 50% of staff; core partners from all six main networks are encouraged to attend. This training event is scheduled with the DART Project Director (Rebekah Moras) in the first contract month.

    • Accessibility Performance Indicator
      Completing a performance indicator with the DART Project Director to measure agency capacity to serve survivors with disabilities. The indicators can be found here: https://www.endabusepwd.org/publications/performance-indicators/
    • Accessibility Performance Indicator
      Completing a performance indicator with the DART Project Director to measure agency capacity to serve survivors with disabilities. The indicators can be found here: https://www.endabusepwd.org/publications/performance-indicators/
    • Training Coordination
      Coordinating at least two, one-hour trainings with the DART Project Director about disability and domestic violence/sexual assault topics for all DART partners; people with disabilities in the community often also attend. Both trainings have a formal sign in sheet for attendance, and an evaluation to collect audience feedback. The trainings can be opportunities for partners to cross train with each other within the community. Teams have the option to work with the DART Project Director to deliver trainings or to bring in outside trainers.
    • Individual Calls
      Participating in 4 technical assistance video calls one-on-one with the DART Project Director throughout the year. This includes an initial contract set up call, two maintenance calls, and a closing call; we try to complete calls using video conferencing with Zoom.
    • Statewide Calls
      Participating in 2 technical assistance video calls with other DARTs statewide; also with Zoom video conferencing. The purpose of statewide calls is to develop an Alaskan learning community focused on accessible, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed (ACRTI) service delivery, to generate ideas for responding to difficult cases, and to support each other.
    • Information Sharing
      Providing contact information to the DART Project Director to document DART community membership. 
    • Dissemination
      Creating a DART dissemination product specific to a community, like a brochure, social media page, website page, flier, business card, logo, sticker, etc.

Start A Dart

  • 1. Accessibility Starters

    General:

    1. PATHWAYS: Keeping open pathways across rooms in various directions. Pathways kept free of chairs, tables, bags, drinks/food, papers, etc. Open pathways benefit wheelchair users, strollers, cane users, various walking gaits, larger bodies, and pregnant people.

    2.  HUMILITY: With unmet access needs, organizers and presenters can: thank the person bringing it to our attention; apologize; try to address the access barrier; later on, educate ourselves for the future.

    3.  FRAGRANCE: Reducing or eliminating fragrance use in the days/week of the event - e.g. perfumes, scented lotions, essential oils, hair products, air fresheners, scented laundry soap, drier sheets.

    4. INVISIBLE/VISIBLE: Remembering both “invisible” and “visible” disabilities.

     

    Presentations:

    1. INVITATION: Welcoming people to care for their access needs before you begin. Example: “During class, please feel free to move around, take breaks, eat and drink when you need to.”

    2. MIC: Please use mics and watch this video "Like the Mic"
    No need to ask if anyone needs the mic (this outs people). Gently insist that people use the mic to: increase volume for everyone who is hard of hearing; reduce background noise because fewer people can speak at a time; keep conversation pace from being too fast; make session recording possible; and make it possible for people to participate online. If an invisible disability prevents someone from using the mic (like anxiety), just repeat what they say into the mic for them. Being in a hurry is not an excuse to not use the mic. At large events, have mic movers raise the mic in the air when it is on the way to a new speaker, and when a speaker is talking. This helps interpreters follow who is speaking. Mic movers can also have something to raise in the air depending on what they are doing (e.g. green star with mic, red heart moving mic.)
     

    1. INTERPRETERS & CLOSED CAPTIONING: For American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and Deaf people, have reserved open seating in close and clear line of sight to presenters and their materials. When using videos, turn on the Closed Captioning (CC) – as with the mic, no need to ask if people need this. Make sure ASL interpreters and CC words are not visually blocked by anything like people, chairs, shadows, etc.

    1. LIGHTING: Taking action for more light, less light, focused light, mixed lighting, and backlighting/no backlighting. Examples: less light for video and closed captioning, people with traumatic brain injury and people with sensory processing needs; more light for interpreters, for people with low vision, and some people with mood disorders; mixed room lighting for people to go where needed.

    2. VISUAL COMMUNICATION: Try to keep your mouth uncovered when you are speaking. Turn towards people so that they can watch your face, if possible. It’s also ok if some people can’t do eye contact.

    3. BREAKS: Honor breaks without asking the audience – people may need to rest, stretch, empty a bag, breastfeed, check blood sugar, take medications, etc. At least 10 minutes is needed for these things (at least!). Access happens in break times, as do relationships – breaks and relationships are also “productive”.

     

    Materials:

    1. SHARING AHEAD: Send slides and handouts to organizers as soon as you can before the event, to be made available to attendees e.g. posted on website, emailed out. This can be more cost effective and green (more environmentally friendly). Final versions can be reposted after the event/class/training. Sharing ahead benefits attendees needing more reading time, screen reader users, people with low vision using magnification, people whose first language is not the language of your materials, and people totally new to your content.

    2. NON-SERIF: Use non-serif fonts like Ariel, Helvetica, Verdana.

    3. COLOR CONTRAST: Use color contrasting slide backgrounds and text color: use light slides with dark font, or dark slides with light font.

    4. FONT SIZE: Use at least size 18 font size for slides, and 14 for print outs. Limit # of words on slides (“6x7” or less – six words per row, less than 7 rows).

A DART usually has core partners from at least six main networks:
Behavioral Health
Developmental Disabilities
Housing/Homelessness
Independent Living
Tribal Entity
Victim Advocacy