There is Support: Empowering People with Disabilities who Experience Financial Abuse
Abuse of people with disabilities is a growing crime. It is reported that a person with a disability is 3-7 times more likely to experience a violent crime, in comparison to a person without a disability. Blackburn Center and East Suburban Citizen Advocacy have partnered to work with Evolve Coaching to create a series of short public awareness films, titled There is Support, to help people who have disabilities and those that support them to reduce the risk of abuse and connect them to supportive services.
Our first film focused on the overall impact of abuse among people who have disabilities. This short public service awareness film shows how we can use trauma-informed practices to provide the skills and language needed to identify when a situation is becoming unsafe and how we can access or provide help. It was created by people with disabilities for people with disabilities and has been utilized by people across the state. Our cast and crew further earned Autism Connection of Pennsylvania’s award for advocacy for their work. It can be accessed at any time at no cost on YouTube on both Blackburn Center and East Suburban Citizen Advocacy’s pages.
- There Is Support: Coming to Together to Recognize Abuse and Support People with Disabilities >
- Abuse: There is Support >
Our second film focuses on financial abuse and exploitation. It is titled There is Support: Empowering People with Disabilities who Experience Financial Abuse. This film will model real world examples of situations people may experience being exploited and controlled through the means of money or property. Like our initial PSA film, it will show how we and those we support can identify situations of financial abuse and provide help using trauma-informed practices. We would like to seek your support in spreading awareness on how we can empower people with disabilities as well as those who support them. Although these films are meant to be able to stand on their own, we have found that they generate a greater impact when accompanied by education on the topic of abuse.
If you have experienced abuse or know someone, please know there is support. Blackburn Center’s hotline is available 24/7, is always free and confidential, and can be anonymous: 888-832-2272. If you are interested in a program or training for your organization or community group to learn more, please contact: Blackburn Center.
Handouts and Resources to continue the discussion:
