Consent Resources for People with Cognitive and Developmental Disabilities

What do we mean when we say consent? Do we mean empowered decision making, a legal exchange, or what? Here are a few ways to look at it. Find the entire discussion about consent in the 2018 webinar series, webinar #2.

  • Autonomy/Agency (empowerment) 
  • Self-determination; i.e., my decisions impact what happens to me and the world around me;
  • Possible for everyone through supported decision making;
  • Power is located within the individual and executed through the individual’s decisions;
  • Power is shared in the mutuality of equitable sexual decision making.
  • (Legal) Consent
  • Requires competency and capacity in sexual decision making
  • Legal and medical systems interact to enact decision making power (system over individual)
  • Comprehensive culturally affirming sexual health education not required in every state, but competency is always required for legal sexual consent

Culturally Affirming Healthy Sexuality Resources

Pre-screen individuals using trauma-informed processes as a sexual consent tool can trigger trauma-related memories.  Healthy sexuality classes are part of comprehensive violence prevention efforts that include organizational assessments and policy changes as necessary to support health and wellness for all people. 

Credit

Post written by Cierra Olivia Thomas Williams, Prevention Specialist at Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence  

IMPACT:Ability

IMPACT:Ability brings together a sexual violence prevention program with a Boston disability services agency. Together, they worked to create culture change supportive of equitable practices and multiple forms of relationships for people with disabilities. Meg Stone, IMPACT:Ability Executive Director and Keith Jones presented September 1, 2016 at the National Sexual Assault Conference on their work “Collaborating with the Disability System to Prevention Sexual Assault and to Support Survivors with Disabilities.” IMPACT implemented policies that support the ethical and equitable treatment of people who receive services at a disability services day program in Boston. Using a variety of evaluation methods, Ms. Stone reported most non-managerial staff could not correctly identify proper reporting protocol in 2012 before her intervention. In 2014, post-intervention evaluations demonstrated most staff could correctly identify reporting protocols and were more likely to report caregiver abuse of a client with disabilities.IMPACT:Ability is an evidence-based program that uses a three pronged approach to:

  • build capacity within agencies to support and report abuse using model policies and procedures;
  • empower people with disabilities with relationship skills necessary to pursue safe, healthy, and consensual interactions with others; and
  • provide organizational consulting and consent training, including sexual violence prevention model policies (code of ethics, mandated reporter of abuse, participant-on-participant abuse, whistleblower, abuse disclosure checklist, residential sexuality).
Check Out IMPACT:Ability

Credit

Post written by Cierra Olivia Thomas Williams, Prevention Specialist at Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Leadership for Empowerment and Abuse Prevention (LEAP), Virginia Commonwealth University

Applied researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University have developed and are evaluating a healthy relationships program for people with intellectual and development disabilities called Leadership for Empowerment and Abuse Prevention (LEAP).  The four-session program (and a one-session abbreviated version) was developed using Universal Design Principles and is co-facilitated by a person with a disability and a support person without a disability.  Researchers have been developing and testing participant outcome measures with a pre-test, post-test, and a 3 month follow up. Evaluation was initially in a paper-pencil format but has been moved to video vignette format. Implementation fidelity procedures include an observer checklist (and comments) to ensure consistency of the delivery of the curriculum across the facilitators.  Over 600 people have participated in LEAP.  Researchers are continuing rigorous outcome evaluation of the program in part due to an OVW Research & Evaluation grant they received for the through 2022.

Read More About LEAP

Credit

Post written by Cierra Olivia Thomas Williams, Prevention Specialist at Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Sexual Health and Disability Education (SHADE), YWCA Metro St. Louis, Missouri

The YWCA of Metro St. Louis, has a full program focused on teaching sex education to folks with disabilities as a component of abuse prevention. The program, called Sexual Health and Disability Education (SHADE), now has 2 full-time staff dedicated to this service. Much of this program is based off of Dave Hingsburger’s work, specifically his Ring of Safety model (6 protective factors for reducing the likelihood of abuse against people with disabilities).

Check Out SHADE

Credit

Post written by Cierra Olivia Thomas Williams, Prevention Specialist at Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence