Rhode Island Commission Against Domestic Violence

What is the scope and extent of domestic violence?

Domestic violence is the physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse of a person by their intimate partner or family member. The operative clinical issues of domestic violence have been identified by researchers and clinicians as power and control. When one person in a relationship continuously exerts power and control over his or her partner, domestic abuse is the result.

Domestic violence is reaching epidemic proportions in our society. The American Medical Society named domestic abuse as the single most serious health problem facing women in this country. Studies indicate that one quarter of all women experience abuse in their intimate relationships Unfortunately, Rhode Island is no exception to the national norm. In fact, in 1998 we received 20,822 calls for assistance.

The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence does not discriminate because of sex, race, creed, color, age, physical ability, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion in any aspect of our agency. However, due to the nature of the services provided, women represent the majority of our clients. Therefore, although we provide services to all victims of domestic violence, the female pronoun refers to our clients.

Who are we?

The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence has been an effective vehicle through which VOCA funds can make a substantial and lasting contribution to victims in the Rhode Island community. The Coalition represents Rhode Island&srquo;s six domestic violence and advocacy programs, which have been providing direct services to victims of domestic violence for over twenty years. Each year, we serve over 10,000 victims of domestic violence.

The Coalition&srquo;s six member agencies provide shelters for battered women in addition to a number of other services, available to both shelter residents and victims living in the community. These services include support groups, individual counseling and education regarding the dynamics of domestic violence, court advocacy, restraining order advocacy, programs for children who experience and/or witness domestic violence, and personal advocacy in finding affordable housing, employment and/or financial support. VOCA funds the work of our victim advocates as they provide these essential services to victims of domestic violence through both community and residential settings.

Increased statewide outreach efforts heightened public awareness about domestic violence, and, most recently, the VAWA police training programs have resulted in an increase in victims reaching out for assistance. Advocates reach over 5,000 victims of abuse in the year.

The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence is an effective vehicle through which VOCA funds can make a substantial and lasting contribution to victims throughout Rhode Island. A VOCA grant to the Coalition is an expeditious way to support the victim service work of six highly reputable victim service agencies, and the VOCA funds we receive are equitably divided among those agencies. In this way, we are able to provide personal, confidential victim services throughout the state. Furthermore, the Coalition administers the VOCA grant with its own resources. We continue to experience an overwhelming number of requests for help from victims of domestic violence due to the extensive press coverage given to the issue and growing public awareness. In fact, the number of victims of abuse coming to us for help continues to increase, as demonstrated through growing numbers of calls through the Helpline for Victims of Crime and local agency callers.

The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence is an association of the six domestic violence shelters and advocacy has been providing free, confidential direct services to victims of domestic violence throughout Rhode Island for nineteen years. These six agencies receive funding from federal; states, local and private sources, and have a history of providing direct services in a cost-effective manner. In addition, the Coalition and its member agencies enjoy the support and approval of the communities we serve, as evidenced by the multitude of donations we receive from individuals through the United Way (both cash and in-kind), and by countless donated volunteer hours. The Coalition and its member agencies rely heavily on volunteers, who enhance the work of the paid victim advocates and enable us to serve more clients than we would be able to without them.

As an association of organizations, we have the strength, unity and statewide vision necessary to confront domestic violence on institutional levels and, thereby, to effect changes in services, policies, laws and public attitudes affecting victims. In addition, the structure of the Coalition has enabled us to successfully offer coordinated, unduplicated services to Rhode Island&srquo;s victims of domestic violence, including emergency shelter, hotline assistance, legal and personal advocacy, support groups, children&srquo;s groups, community education and outreach, assistance in filing compensation claims and for restraining orders, and advocacy for victims of federal domestic violence crimes.

The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence is the association of the six domestic violence shelter and advocacy agencies whose primary purpose is to end domestic violence in Rhode Island. Our membership includes: Blackstone Shelter; Elizabeth Buffum Chace House; Sojourner House; Women&srquo;s Center of Rhode Island; Women&srquo;s Resource Center of South County; and Women&srquo;s Resource Center of Newport and Bristol Counties.

The Coalition was incorporated in 1979 in order to assist Rhode Island&srquo;s shelters for battered women in statewide planning and development, and has been providing free, confidential services to victims of domestic violence for over eighteen years. The Coalition applies for grants on behalf of its member agencies, from private, corporate, state and federal sources; and we have the ability to meet the financial match requirements for VOCA funding. The Coalition and its member agencies have consistently improved and expanded victim services throughout Rhode Island while effectively providing the comprehensive support and personal advocacy needed for an abused woman and her children to escape a violent relationship.

The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence collaborates with national and local domestic violence programs. Nationally, we accomplish our mission as an active member of the National Network to End Domestic Violence and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Locally, the Coalition and its members work on a daily basis with the Family and District Courts throughout the state and with virtually all Rhode Island police departments. We have developed a close working relationship with the Department of the Attorney General and the Attorney General&srquo;s Task Force on Domestic Violence. Through the Coalition&srquo;s participation on the Supreme Court Victim Services Committee and through our Court Victim Advocacy Program, we collaborate with other victim service agencies in the state, including the Attorney General&srquo;s Victim/Witness Program, the Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center of Rhode Island, and Justice Assistance. We are currently involved in an exciting initiative with the Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center of Rhode Island (The Network to End Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault) to more effectively meet the needs of women who are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, through hospital advocacy and enhanced advocate training on both issues. The Coalition routinely cooperates with the International Institute to assist immigrant battered women and to provide written materials in different languages, and with the Socio-Economic Development Center for Southeast Asians to create an atmosphere in the shelters that is comfortable for Southeast Asian battered women. Other current collaborative partnerships include the Governor&srquo;s Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, the Department of Health Steering Committee on Violence Against Women, the Governor&srquo;s Justice Commission, and Rhode Island&srquo;s Violence Against Women Act Planning Committee (and various subcommittees).

The Coalition and its member agencies have a recognized record of accomplishment of successfully administering and implementing effective programs for victims of domestic violence. Moreover, our membership and we are recognized as reputable and distinguished leaders in the State on the issue of domestic violence.

What do we do?

The Coalition&srquo;s member agencies offer crisis intervention services for victims of domestic abuse and short-term emergency housing for abused women and their children who have been forced to flee their homes. In addition to emergency shelter, these agencies provide an array of other services, available to both shelter residents and victims living in the community. These include support groups; individual counseling and educational programs regarding the dynamics of domestic violence; court advocacy; programs for children who experience and/or witness domestic abuse; and personal advocacy in finding affordable housing, employment, and/or financial support to enable women to live safely and independently.

The domestic violence agencies strive to take their clients&srquo; diversity into consideration in every facet of their service provision, from ensuring translation services for non-English speaking victims to monitoring the posters on the facility walls for multi-cultural representation. In recent years, our member agencies have placed a priority on initiating outreach programs to underserved populations. Examples include collaborative programs with Progresso Latino, volunteer and staff training within the Southeast Asian community, and programs which specialize in outreach to Latino, Southeast Asian, lesbian and rural communities.

Deborah DeBare - Coalition Executive Director

Deborah DeBare has been involved with domestic violence work since 1982, as an advocate, shelter executive director, and in her current position as Executive Director of the Coalition. She has a proven track record of initiating and overseeing collaborative projects with varied agencies and state departments, and represents the Coalition on a variety of multi-disciplinary task forces and committees. The Coalition&srquo;s Executive Director is responsible for overseeing the implementation of this grant and reporting to the Governor&srquo;s Justice Commission on its progress.

Executive Directors - Member Agencies

The Directors of the member agencies will be responsible for supervising their respective shelter and community victim advocates and for obtaining the objectives contained in this proposal. The Executive Directors for each of our members are: Linda Impagliazzo - The Blackstone Shelter; Judy Earle - Elizabeth Buffum Chace House; Deb Linnell - Women's Resource Center of Newport and Bristol Counties; Barbara Burlingame - Sojourner House; Katherine OHare Women's Center of Rhode Island; and Mary Roda -Women's Resource Center of South County. Katy Hynes of Sojourner House, will be responsible for supervising the Temporary Restraining Order Office Advocate.

Volunteers

As in years past, the Coalition and our member organizations rely very heavily on volunteers. Sojourner House uses volunteers to supplement the staffing at the Temporary Restraining Order Office in Providence and to assist with work on criminal cases. The six shelters for battered women use volunteers in virtually all aspects of their operations. All volunteers complete a 36-hour training program before working directly with victims.

What is our challenge?

The member agencies sheltered 773 women and children for 24,449 shelter nights (a 11.8% increase over the previous year). In all, the six shelters and advocacy programs provided critical, in-person services to 9,121 women and children.

Domestic violence is a serious social, legal, and medical problem requiring a serious community response. In 1987, the Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court recognized the urgent nature of the problem and responded by commissioning a broad-based task force to evaluate the issue and make recommendations was that legislation be introduced to strengthen the domestic violence laws and to improve law enforcement&srquo;s response to domestic violence victims and perpetrators. In 1988, the Rhode Island General Assembly enacted far-reaching domestic violence legislation, placing Rhode Island in the forefront of a nationwide trend to enact tough domestic violence laws. Rhode Island is now part of a growing number of states in the United States, which have enacted mandatory arrest provisions to their domestic violence statutes.

What is our approach?

The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence and its six member agencies have played a major role in he development of our State&srquo;s response to domestic violence. The Coalition forms a network of the State&srquo;s various domestic violence programs in order to organize an effective statewide system of service delivery and to facilitate an effective public education program to increase awareness about the problem of services available to victims and perpetrators. In addition, the Coalition administers a comprehensive, court-based Domestic Abuse Victim Advocacy Program.

How we coordination with other service agencies?

The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence is integrally involved in our State&srquo;s broad initiative to serve victims of crime. We were founding members of the Supreme Court&srquo;s Statewide Crime Victim Service Providers Steering Committee, and we continue to actively participate in their activities. We work closely with the Attorney General&srquo;s Victim Witness Assistance Program, with the Attorney General&srquo;s Domestic Violence Unit and Task Force on Domestic Violence, with Justice Assistance, and we work collaboratively with the Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center of Rhode Island through the establishment of The Network, to enhance advocacy statewide for victims of domestic and sexual abuse. Other collaborative work includes the Department of Health Violence Against Women Prevention Program, RI Legal Services, Rhode Island&srquo;s Violence Against Women Act Planning Committee, the Governor&srquo;s Interagency Council on Homelessness, and the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless.

The Coalition and our member organizations also have developed extensive working relationships with all police departments in the State. Coalition staff works with the Providence Police to provide comprehensive domestic violence training for each new recruit class at the Municipal Police Training Academy. Finally, the Coalition has worked hard to develop and maintain positive working relationships with the judiciary, hospital emergency departments, the probation department, and police prosecutors and city solicitors for the various cities and towns throughout Rhode Island.

What is our action plan?

The Public Safety Grant Administration Office VOCA funds supports the salary and fringe benefits of our victim advocates who provide advocacy and related services to battered women in a community or residential setting. The Victims of Crime Act originally provided part of the seed funding for our Court Victim Advocacy Program, which is now mandated by statute and funded by the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Thanks to Rhode Island&srquo;s domestic violence laws, to the increased role of law enforcement, to the State&srquo;s concerned judiciary, to our increased outreach efforts, and most recently to heightened public awareness about domestic abuse, advocates working through our Court Victim Advocacy program have seen their caseloads increase dramatically, resulting in more victims who are utilizing additional services (including shelter, support groups, counseling, assistance with filing restraining orders, children&srquo;s groups, advocacy, and assistance with filing compensation claims) during and after their involvement with the court system.

The Coalition&srquo;s Domestic Violence Advocacy Program offers comprehensive services to victims of domestic abuse who seek protection from their abusers, peace in their lives, and justice. We offer battered women and their children safe places where they can heal, and empower them to rebuild their lives. Through our Domestic Violence Advocacy Program, advocates are available at each of our six domestic violence shelters, at the Restraining Order Office in Providence&srquo;s Garrahy Judicial Complex, and through community-based outreach offices throughout Rhode Island.

• Temporary Restraining Order Advocate

Although the Coalition receives funding from the State Supreme Court and other sources to administer this program, those funds are not sufficient to maintain our increased level of service delivery. We are therefore requesting VOCA funds to pay a portion of the salary/benefits of the Temporary Restraining Order Advocate.

This advocate provides critical services to victims of domestic violence crimes and assistance to the individual judges at the various court Proceedings. Specifically, this advocate provides the following services:

1. She is available daily in the Temporary Restraining Order Office for victims of domestic violence crimes;

2. She sends informational letters to victims explaining the criminal justice system and notifying the victim of her court dates;

3. She contacts victims by telephone to provider support and follow-up information;

4. She provides victims with referrals to the shelters, counseling, etc.;

5. She informs victims of their right to file for crime victim&srquo;s compensation benefits.

Shelter and Community Advocates

Requests for assistance have increased steadily over the past eighteen years and shelters for abused women and their children continue to operate at full capacity. The new, stricter laws, the existence of the Court Victim Advocacy Program, and increased public education and prevention work have created an unprecedented demand for services. Increasingly abused women are being referred to shelters for battered women by the police, courts and the Court Victim Advocacy program. However, many women who call shelters do not wan to leave their homes and go into shelter.

They need the services offered through the shelter programs. Victims of domestic violence need to talk about what has been happening to them and to become informed about the current domestic violence laws; to attend individual counseling or participate in a battered women&srquo;s support group; they need help for their children, and in obtaining the protection of a restraining order or filing for housing assistance so they can leave their abuser.

The domestic violence agencies continue to effectively meet the growing demand for services. We have become increasingly aware of the extent and kinds of services battered women need to leave an abusive partner and lead a violence free life, and have developed specialized services for victims from traditionally underserved populations. Our operations, then, include the provision of services not only to shelter residents, but also on an outreach basis to clients who are not living in the shelters.

The battered women&srquo;s advocate provides services in accordance with the goals and objectives listed below:

1. To discuss with every victim of domestic violence the options available to her in terms of services and safety;

2. To operate a personally-staffed, 24-hour hotline at each shelter;

3. To provide temporary shelter for battered women and their children;

4. To provide empathetic listening, support, peer counseling, and access to counseling to battered women and their children;

5. To explain to every victim of domestic violence the dynamics of battering;

6. To advocate on behalf of battered women vis-à-vis social service agencies;

7. To assist victims in obtaining crime victims compensation benefits;

8. To provide outreach services to non-residential victims.

Again this year, the Coalition Against Domestic Violence and its six member agencies worked cooperatively to set forth the goals and objectives of this program. As our program indicates, 100 percent of the VOCA funds are distributed to our member agencies for direct victim services. Although the Coalition&srquo;s Executive Director is ultimately responsible for the efficient and proper administration of any grant agreement resulting from this program, the individual administrators of our member agencies are responsible for carrying out their share of the program&srquo;s objectives on a day-to-day basis. Those administrators are members of the Coalition&srquo;s Board of Directors and are present at monthly Board meetings during which we evaluate our progress towards our goals.

How do we measure our success?

The Coalition has several considerations to address when measuring the success

1. The number of victims who completely leave abusive relationships;

2. The number of victims who receive our services (thereby moving them one step closer to leaving an abusive relationship);

3. Ensuring that the array of services necessary to leave an abusive relationship is in place for those who are at the point at which they can choose to do so.

4. Creating awareness in the community that domestic violence is a severe threat to countless women and children and cannot be tolerated.

We measure our success through a combination of all of the above Considerations. Therefore, the goals and objectives of the service aspect of the program measures statistical analysis of the numbers of women and children seeking our services as well as the types of services they seek and receive. In addition, we collect data with respect to hours spent on the project and referral information, required. The member agencies also use client satisfaction surveys and questionnaires to assess the impact that the services have on the clients directly. Such input is a valuable resource as part of a program evaluation plan.

The Executive Director in conjunction with the Planning and Evaluation committee of the Board of Directors, measure our effectiveness by analyzing the above mentioned data. Recommendations and information from the Program valuation Committee is share with the full Board of Directors at their monthly Meetings. In addition, all six member agencies are actively participating in a committee spearheaded by the United Way that is designing more detailed outcome measures for game of the programs provided statewide for victims of domestic violence.

For more information contact:

Deborah DeBare, Executive Director

Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence

422 Post Road, Suite 202

Warwick, Rhode Island 02888

Telephone: (401) 467-9940

E-Mail: ricadv@ricadv.org