[NFBF-L] service Animals in Domestic Vilence Shelters

[marion.gwizdala at gmail.com]

Dear All,

 

                Advocates for service Animal Partners has received numerous
calls from survivors of domestic abuse who use service animals being denied
services by domestic violence shelters. As the result, we have created a
technical assistance manual concerning service animals in domestic violence
shelters. An announcement about this project follows. Please feel free to
circulate this message to your networks as appropriate.

Fraternally yours,

Marion Gwizdala

 

Please  circulate the following message as widely as appropriate. If you
received this message as a forward and would like to be added to our email
distribution list, please follow the "Become a Partner" link below.

 

                This information contains references to domestic violence.
If you or someone you know is facing domestic abuse and needs support, the
National Domestic Abuse Hotline can be reached by calling 800-799-7233 or
texting the word BEGIN to 8878.

 

                It takes a great deal of courage and strength for a survivor
of domestic violence to flee their abuser. Those who perpetrate domestic
violence do so through sexual, psychological, emotional, and/or financial
abuse. This abuse is specifically intended to disempower the target of the
abuse while giving the survivor dependency upon the abuser. I can only
imagine facing increasing threats of abuse should I attempt to flee this
violence and making the decision to do so in spite of the risk! The hours
around the time a survivor makes the choice to flee and acts upon that
choice is the most dangerous and the most frightening. These are the times
most have their first encounters with a domestic violence shelter. They have
come to feel ssupported and be kept safe.

Those of us who use service dogs regularly face discrimination by being
turned away from other businesses, such as restaurants, hotels, and retail
stores; however, if a domestic violence shelter turns someone away because
of their service dog, the survivor may have no choice but to return to their
abuser. Imagine how their abuser will react when they come  back after
fleeing? Both the survivor and their service dog are in even greater danger
as a warning to not flee again! The abuser is likely to become even more
emboldened now that the shelter has limited the survivor's options. 

Avoiding or quickly resolving service animal access challenges is as simple
as creating sound, written, legally compliant policies and protocol
concerning service animals and ensuring all staff, contractors, and
volunteers read and understand the policies and protocol. Without sound
guidance, including specific written policies and protocol, shelter staff
may turn to policies and practices more familiar to them, such as the
shelter's pet policies and protocol or, lacking such, what they believe
these policies and protocol ought to be. Coupling the failure to create
specific service animal policies with the inaccurate online misinformation
found while researching this issue, the need for a comprehensive written
policy and protocol statement becomes evident. Absent proper guidance and
accurate information, the failure to develop such detailed written policies
and protocol can lead to well-meaning, unintentional but nevertheless,
illegal discrimination. This discrimination, perpetrated by people in
positions of power and influence over marginalized populations, leads to
internalized disability stigma which exacerbates cross-sectional health,
wellness, and safety disparities. It is in the best interest of both the
domestic violence shelter and the survivor seeking safe shelter to have
compliant policies and specific protocol to guide shelter personnel. 

In theory, there is really no need to create separate service animal
policies since federal law, the superlative of all policies, clearly
outlines the rights and responsibilities of service animal handlers and the
businesses we patronize. Creating sound, compliant policies communicates a
commitment to corporate cultural competencies of respect, dignity, and
nondiscrimination reflected by the foresight to create, implement, and train
the staff on these policies. 

Advocates for Service Animal Partners has created a training manual to
assist domestic violence shelters in the creation of sound, compliant
policies concerning service animals. This discussion is not meant to be an
exhaustive treatment of every eventuality one might face in a domestic
violence shelter. No such resource can do so. What is offered is broad
guidance and illustrative examples. The settings are meant to be general
principles to be applied to most circumstances in a domestic violence
shelter. our goal is to provide enough information to understand the
principles so staff can apply these guidelines to any situation that arises.
Each situation must be addressed on a case-by-case basis and decisions
should be compliant not only with the law and your code of ethics but with
the best interest of the individual you are there to serve. Should a
situation occur needing more expert guidance, Advocates for Service Animal
Partners offers a dedicated hotline to answer questions from our supporting
partners to apply state and federal laws to a particular circumstance. 

This document is not written from a theoretical, imaginary, fictional
perspective; rather, it is based upon actual interactions with survivors who
use service animals and faced challenges from the domestic violence shelters
from which they sought safety and support. As you read this information,
consider how your shelter staff would respond to some of the specific
challenges brought forth in these pages. 

This technical assistance manual is scheduled for release on August 11. You
can request your copy of this invaluable guidance by going to our
<https://serviceanimals.info/BecomeaPartner.html> "Become a Partner". Please
indicate in the comments section you are ordering your copy of "service
Animals in Domestic Violence Shelters".

                If you need more information or specific guidance, please
feel free to reach out to us. 

 

Advocates for Service Animal Partners Inc. (ASAP)

386-ASAP411 (386-272-7411)

 <mailto:Advocacy411 at gmail.com> Advocacy411 at gmail.com

https://ServiceAnimals.info

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