EMERGENCIES and ACCESSIBILITY
EMERGENCIES and ACCESSIBILITY
*If your life and safety are at risk NOW call 911*
To PREPARE for an Emergency:
• Inform a neighbor about the violence at your home and ask them to call 911 if there is a disturbance at your home
Teach your children to dial 911
• Pack your emergency bag, include: State ID or driver’s license, passport, court documents. SSN, medications, 2 nights of clothes, cash, spare keys to house or car, car title if in your name, phone charger
• Place your emergency bag somewhere easy to take in an emergency. This could be in the trunk of your car, at a friend’s home, or near the front door
• Complete a personalized safety plan- https://www.thehotline.org/plan-for-safety/create-a-safety-plan/
What to do IN an Emergency:
• If an argument starts, go to a room with an easy way out of the house. Stay away from rooms like the kitchen and bathroom
Leave. Grab your emergency bag and head to your designated safe place, if you don’t have one you can go to the nearest police station
The police are required to help provide you transportation to a safe place (shelter or hospital) If there is enough proof of a crime the police should also arrest your offender.
AFTER an Emergency:
• Get medical attention- ask the hospital to take photos for you
• Make a police report, no matter what. This helps you have evidence in the future if you decide to press charges or get an order of protection. Get a copy of the detailed report.
• If you are scared for your safety, contact an advocate about getting an Emergency Order of Protection in your county. Your advocate will help you through the court process and paperwork and ensure accessible services throughout.
• Save all medical records and police reports.
• Increase your knowledge of domestic violence and abuse to help prevent being a victim https://www.thehotline.org/plan-for-safety/
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO ACCESSIBLE SERVICES
• Advocates can help explain your rights to service providers but if you cannot get in touch with an advocate late at night or on the weekend, follow the guides below
• If English is NOT your first language and you do not fully understand written English, then this is not a proper way to make a police report or to communicate with hospital staff.
• Inform police by temporarily writing, that in order to have effective communication you need an ASL interpreter. This is your right under several federal and state laws:
Americans with Disabilities Act: 42 U.S.C. §12101 et seq.,
Rehabilitation Act: 29 U.S.C. §701 et seq., and
Illinois Human Rights Act: 775 ILCS Part 5.
• After hours interpreter contact: 866-251-0220.
• If a VRI is being used and you are struggling to understand the interpreter, you have a right to ask the interpreter to transfer the call to a new person. You understanding what is happening is THE MOST IMPORTANT.
• If you go to a shelter, tell the employees what your immediate needs are until you can get in touch with an advocate. Give the shelter your advocates phone number to get in touch ASAP. You might discuss:
1. Communicating temporarily by writing on paper
2. Showing you where everything is in the house is
3. Can you video call your friends in public areas of the shelter? Can you connect to wifi to use your VP?
4. Employees should not enter your bedroom without calling you beforehand or flashing the lights. You cannot hear the knock and someone entering your room without knowing is traumatizing
A CHS advocate will meet with you and an employee at the shelter to discuss further in depth needs if necessary.
TO CONTACT A CHS ADVOCATE, PLEASE EMAIL: CHSCOA@ANIXTER.ORG