STOP TA Clinic 4/3/23: Incorporating People with Disabilities in STOP Grant Planning and Implementation with Olga Trujillo, Activating Change

In this Clinic, Olga Trujillo described how best to serve survivors with disabilities. About 20% of the US population has a disability and people with disabilities are 4x more likely to experience violence in their lifetime. When serving people with disabilities, different needs and accessibility are needed. A major issue for many people with disabilities is the inaccessibility of services. Having accessible services go beyond simply having ramps at a building but include things like language services, housing shelters that accommodate survivors with service animals, and mental health services. Additionally, serving survivors with disabilities include creating culturally specific, intersectional programs that can address the needs of survivors with multiple underserved identities. STOP Administrators are encouraged to investigate services beyond mainstream service providers in order to maximize the survivors with disabilities served. The conversations closed with Administrators being given the opportunity to ask questions and share their experiences related to supporting organizations that serve survivors with disabilities.

Olga Trujillo is the Director of Leadership Development, Visibility, and Collective Healing at Activating Change. Their career spans 40 years, as a lawyer, advocate, author and trainer. Olga has worked on Capitol Hill, at the US Department of Justice, as a consultant and in national non-profit, anti-violence organizations. Throughout the years, they have worked with agencies and organizations in and around the criminal legal system in every state, 3 US territories and 3 countries internationally. In 2011, The Sum of My Parts: A Survivor’s Story of Dissociative Identity Disorder, Olga’s memoir, was released by New Harbinger Publications.  Olga has also co-authored a handbook and other guidance publications for lawyers working with people who have experienced trauma. These include a guide for attorneys which was released in January 2012 and a number of Tip sheets on trauma informed work including “Preparing Survivors for Court” in 2013, “Trauma Informed Legal Advocacy”, “Enhancing Access to Justice: Creating Trauma Informed Courts” and “Enhancing Advocacy Through a Trauma Informed Approach” in 2020.