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AUGUST 2021
NEWS & UPDATES
Volume 19 | Issue 8
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A Father’s Pledge
Fathering to Promote Equitable and Respectful Dating Relationships
Calling All Dads!
Based on the success and interest in June 2021’s Father’s Day Pledge, NYSCADV is making the pledge available to fathers and father figures all year long. The Father’s Pledge is part of NYSCADV’s Because We’re Dads Initiative and is just one way fathers can promote relationship behaviors that support gender equality.
NYSCADV launched the Because We’re Dads initiative in June of 2020 with a commitment to developing and providing tools, resources, and learning exchange opportunities for programs to discuss successes and challenges in their work to engage and mobilize men, particularly father’s and father figures in efforts to promote equal rights, gender equality and healthy relationships. Fathers play a significant role in the lives of their children and have the opportunity to influence attitudes and behaviors that support healthy and equitable relationships premised on respect, consent and nonviolence.
Fathering to support our children to be engaged in equitable and respectful dating relationships requires dads to be present and attentive. Fathering is not only about raising our children to be respectful and equitable in their interactions- discussing what that looks like and modeling those behaviors; it also means helping to create the social environments in which our children develop, practice and master the qualities skills necessary to achieve that. Dads have a tremendous role to play in both of these aspects: directly supporting our children to be able to flirt and date in ways that are equitable and respectful while helping to develop social environments that are gender equitable.
We believe that peace begins at home and that it can then ripple out to our schools, our workplaces and our communities. Let’s make New York State a place where healthy, respectful relationships based on equality are the norm!
Check out the Because We’re Dads page on our website to learn more!
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A Message from NYSCADV’s Director of Prevention
Did you know that NYSCADV has resources that can assist you in all your youth engagement endeavors, including reaching the adults that are in their lives?
Dear Prevention Colleagues & Supporters,
The summer is flying by! As we enjoy the last few weeks before another school year begins, I know that many of you are finalizing your plans to work with youth in school based settings. I wanted to send out a reminder that NYSCADV has a well-vetted collection of excellent, evidence-informed resources for working with a variety of audiences related to your youth engagement activities. That includes training outlines, curricula and supporting materials for not only working with youth but also for engaging parents and caregivers, school nurses, counselors, coaches and school athletes, as well as teachers and administration.
Parents and caregivers are often eager to have resources and support around promoting healthy relationship behaviors and especially welcome guidance for having conversations about consent and respect as their children begin to date. Why not offer them conversation starters, prompts and talking points that will support parents to have these challenging discussions?
Remember that it’s not enough to reach students. The concept of “teach early/teach often” is premised on engaging the adults that are also sending messages and modeling behavior in the lives of those children and young people you are working with.
For prevention educators, some considerations are below.
- Offering evening sessions for parents of students in the schools you are working with a variety of dates and time slots to choose from.
- Reaching parents in their places of work. Consider incorporating a component that focuses on educating parents about healthy adolescent relationships and what dating abuse looks like into your educational/training sessions with your local workplaces.
- Doing an in-service for all of the school nurses, coaches, bus drivers, counselors, etc. in your district or across districts. You can tailor the information you’ll offer to different age groups from Kindergarten through High School.
- Doing an in-service for day care centers and independent child care providers in your area.
For parents, caregivers, and other supporters, it’s never too early to discuss consent and healthy communication with children. For toddlers and preschoolers, it’s about sharing and “hands are not for hitting.” As children get older they can understand more complex concepts like being a good listener and good friend until, suddenly, we are talking about dating relationships. The early lessons and reinforcement create a foundation that makes those later conversations about dating and sexuality that much easier. Check out resources in the Across the Lifespan and Parents sections of the Prevention Toolkit for more.
Stay tuned for a “Back to School” Learning Exchange for an opportunity to exchange ideas among prevention educators in NYS. In the meantime, check out NYSCADV’s online Prevention Toolkit. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, contact me at lcastelle@nyscadv.org.
Lorien Castelle, Director of Prevention
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VOCA Fix Legislation Signed Into Law
President Biden signed the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Fix into law on July 22, 2021. VOCA is a critical source of funding for victim services. The Crime Victims Fund (or CVF), which supports VOCA grants, has been in danger of running out of funds for some time. With this new law, millions of additional non-taxpayer dollars will flow into the CVF, replenishing it and ensuring the long-term sustainability of VOCA.
Many domestic violence programs in New York State rely heavily on VOCA funding. In fact, it is the most important funding stream for most domestic violence programs operating in the state. Some programs obtain 30% of their operating revenue from a VOCA grant. Yet since 2018, NY’s VOCA assistance grants have decreased $136 million. As a result, New York State’s Office of Victim Services which administers federal VOCA grants has warned domestic violence programs that existing contracts may be cut. That’s what makes the VOCA fix legislation so critical to all New Yorkers. NYSCADV will continue to prioritize its advocacy with OVS and other state partners to ensure existing contracts with domestic violence providers are not negatively impacted as the CVF is replenished over time.
In other news, the House Education and Labor Committee passed a bill (HR2119/S1275) to reauthorize the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act in a bipartisan vote. The bill increases funding to $270 million, would permit direct cash assistance to survivors, continues support for the CDC’s current DELTA program and creates a new CDC capacity building prevention program that will be open to more domestic violence coalitions, including tribal coalitions. The bill has already passed out of committee in the Senate, so it will now go to each chamber’s floor for a full vote, after being reconciled for some slight differences.
Important DV-Related Legislation Signed into Law
On July 23, 2021, the Governor signed NYSCADV priority bill A2520/S1789 which enshrines federal provisions ensuring the confidentiality of conversations between DV advocates and survivors into state law. Effective immediately, the new law ensures DV victims can access services with their privacy intact and without the fear that they can be tracked by their abusers. Communications with clients which reveal suspected child abuse or maltreatment are not protected by the new law.
Separate legislation which was prioritized by DV advocates to increase the age of consent of marriage to 18 was signed by Governor Cuomo on July 22, 2021 (A3891/S3086). The new law repeals provisions that allowed 17-year-olds to marry under certain conditions.
Another law that becomes effective this month permits the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to communicate the release or escape of an individual to a victim of crime via e-mail, rather than snail mail, if requested by the victim (A7680/S7099).
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SAVE THE DATE: NNEDV DV COUNTS SURVEY DAY |
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NNEDV's DV Counts Census Day will take place on Thursday, September 9th, 2021. More information is forthcoming and will be shared with all identified program contacts when available. If you have any questions or would like to update your program's contact information, please reach out to Jennifer Clark at jclark@nyscadv.org.
Thank you to all the DV Programs and their staff that participated in the 2020 DV Counts Census. We had a 100% participation rate and could once again gain a clear picture of the needs of survivors in New York State. The full 2020 report for NNEDV's DV Counts Survey is available here.
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CAREER EMPOWERMENT TRAINING SERIES |
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Career Empowerment for Survivors: What Advocates Need to Know
Hosted by NYSCADV and Nicole Eniclerico of the YWCA of Union County
In this four workshop series, we will discuss key factors that affect our clientele, domestic violence survivors, in their path to a successful job search ending in employment. Advocates will get a better understanding of how to work with and support clients through specific barriers that are limiting their capability to find employment, such as the struggle of a job search, lack of interview skills, and unstable living environments. These workshops will also provide helpful resources that can help clients reach their goals.
The workshops and topic areas are included below:
All workshops will be recorded.
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U.S. Department of Justice: BJA FY 2021 Internet of Things National Training and Technical Assistance Program
This program furthers the Department’s mission by supporting and assisting state, local, territorial, and tribal jurisdictions in improving the criminal justice system and enhancing its knowledge of the transfer of data wirelessly in an effort to prevent, investigate, and respond to illegal use of the internet in violation of the law.
U.S. Department of Justice: BJA FY 2020 State Criminal Alien Assistance Program
To create and implement training and technical assistance programs for law enforcement, prosecution, and analysis in criminal justice agencies.
U.S. Department of Justice: BJA FY 2021 Preventing School Violence: BJA’s STOP School Violence Program
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice
Assistance (BJA) is seeking applications for funding under the Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Grant Program to prevent violence in a K-12 school setting.
U.S. Department of Justice: FY 2021 Restrictive Housing Reform Implementation Assistance Program
The Bureau of Justice Assistance seeks a training and technical assistance (TTA) provider and subject matter experts to help state correctional agencies implement changes to their trainings, policies, and practices to reduce their use of restrictive housing.
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GJ Attitude is a clothing company focused on projecting courage, confidence and power to women. The company is generously donating 5% of all sales to NYSCADV. Visit the GJ Attitude website by clicking here to view t-shirt collections and place an order. Thank you, GJ Attitude, for supporting NYSCADV's work!
Shop on Amazon Smile by following the link to Amazon Smile, login to your Amazon account, and select New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence as your charity of choice. Amazon gives to NYSCADV every time you shop!
Are you interested in hosting a fundraiser to support NYSCADV's work to end and prevent domestic violence? Reach out to NYSCADV's Deputy Director, Gina Peattie for more information! |
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