ODP’s ISAC Plan for Sexual Abuse Prevention and Healthy Relationships

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has announced that the document, “Action Plan: Information Sharing and Advisory Committee (ISAC) Plan for Sexual Abuse Prevention and Healthy Relationships,” is available now on MyODP. The document is the product of conversations and commitments made by ODP’s ISAC membership and emphasizes the shared responsibility of everyone to help prevent sexual abuse.

The Department of Justice reported that people with intellectual disabilities are sexually assaulted at seven times the rate of those without a disability. This is almost certainly an underestimate. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have raised the national consciousness, illuminating how sexual assault is pervasive in our country. Yet, it is still too often ignored, downplayed, justified, or rationalized.

For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, this suppression of the reality of sexual abuse is exacerbated because people often aren’t believed, or their testimony is discounted or devalued. As a result, ISAC organizational representatives have laid out these plans to tackle the problem and begin implementing a solution.

Contact RCPA IDD Division Director Carol Ferenz with any questions.