Volume 10. Issue #4. April 12, 2013

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Greetings from Executive Director, Connie Neal!

 

Spring is a busy time in Albany.  Last month, we saw the legislature and the Governor come together and enact an on-time budget for the third year in a row.  This month, we have been doing the final preparations for Legislative Awareness Day 2013.  This year's LAD gathering will be unique in the fact that it is occurring in conjunction with Crime Victim's Rights Awareness Week.  The theme New Challenges * New Solutions sets a tone of information sharing and collaboration.  Come to the Capitol on Monday, April 22nd to educate your legislators about the role of domestic violence advocates; strategize around ways to build capacity of programs to offer comprehensive domestic violence services; remind them of the enduring challenges that must be resolved; and talk about emerging challenges that we must prepare to address.  You are the voice of victims of domestic violence and LAD is the yearly opportunity to come together and speak in a unified voice with the legislature.  On behalf of the NYSCADV staff, we look forward to seeing you there.

 

 
Around the StateAroundtheState
 

New York State Budgetbudget

 

For the third year in a row, the New York State Governor and Legislature have enacted an on-time state budget. The result for domestic violence related funding is that the Governor and the Legislature:

  • restored the non-residential domestic violence service funding to last year's level of $1.2 million;
  • restored funding for civil legal services in the manner that we requested by restoring the Legal Services Assistance Fund (LSAF) and passing the Judiciary budget.

 

We are grateful to the Governor and the Legislature that funding was restored as any losses would have been detrimental. At the same time, we acknowledge domestic violence programs continue to be underfunded. Therefore, we look forward to taking a different approach to the budget discussions by starting the conversation about next year's budget, now. As described in the summary of our upcoming legislative awareness day, April 22nd is an opportunity for domestic violence service providers to educate the legislature about domestic violence services and to challenge the legislature to think differently about how domestic violence services are funded while considering the long term needs of these programs. For more about legislative awareness day, see the section below.

Legislative Awareness Day - April 22, 2013LAD

 

This year's legislative awareness day, New Challenges * New Solutions, is quickly approaching. Come to the Capitol on April 22nd and gather with domestic violence advocates from across the state to:

  • Educate the legislature about domestic violence services.
  • Challenge the legislature to think differently about how domestic violence services are funded and consider the long-term needs of these programs.
  • Inform the legislature about the gaps that exist, including those that prevent the laws that they have passed from being fully effective.
  • Question what really works to prevent future acts of domestic violence and to prevent domestic violence from occurring in the first place. 

Click here for and agenda and more information about each of these points.

 

We released the expanded materials on April 10th to registered attendees and have been hosting webinars to engage attendees in a more detailed discussion about the LAD message. The last webinar will be held on Monday, April 15th @ 2:00 PM.  Click here to register.

 

 

 

News that Highlights Domestic Violence from Around the State
  
Domestic Violence Animal Abuse Database

The SUNY Buffalo Law School's Women, Children & Social Justice Clinic recently launched a Domestic Violence Animal Abuse Database. The database, the first of its kind in New York State, links domestic violence victims with agencies that provide emergency shelter for their pets and promotes collaborations between domestic violence service providers and agencies such as the SPCA, animal rescue shelters, and similar agencies that assist animals. It provides domestic violence victims with information on shelters that either house victim's pets or have a referral system with an agency that will accept a victim's pets. Visit their website to learn more about animal shelter options for victims of domestic violence, access the database, and download a start up manual for sheltering animals and/or their brochure regarding the expansion of New York State Orders of Protection to include companion animals.

 

Legal Services NYC Files Two Federal Lawsuits on Behalf of Victims of Domestic Violence

In March, Legal Services NYC filed two different federal lawsuits on behalf of victims of domestic violence - one against the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and the other against the New York Police Department (NYPD).  Click here to read more about how the lawsuit seeks to reform NYCHA's treatment of victims of domestic violence applying for housing and click here to read about their civil rights action against the NYPD for discrimination against immigrant New Yorkers seeking police assistance. 

  
 
Around the NationAroundthenation
 

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and

Child Abuse Prevention Month 

To read the President's proclamation on Sexual Assault Awareness Month, click here. For the President's proclamation on Child Abuse Prevention Month, click here.

 

The 2013 Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) campaign focuses on healthy sexuality and child sexual abuse prevention. This April, join the conversation. Start talking about healthy childhood development to prevent child sexual abuse. Click here for more information.

 

The 2013 Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month focuses on preventing child maltreatment and promoting well-being. For more information and resources, click here.

 

Awareness months are a great opportunity to hold educational events within your organization and in your community.

 

Federal Budget Activity

The final FY 13 Appropriations bill passed the House and Senate and was signed by the President in the end of March. This included:

  • $4 million increase for VAWA (Rural  +$2.5 million and SASP +2 million and $0.5 million decreases to Workplace Response and Court Improvements)
  • $25 million increase to the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) cap (annual release), bringing the FY 13 VOCA total to $730 million. 
  • There is a small rescission to all DOJ programs that will cut programs by .182%. 
  • All Labor, Health and Human Services programs (FVPSA, Hotline, RPE and DELTA) are level-funded.
  • Sequestration is still in effect and will reduce all of these programs by a further 5-5.1%. 

We are happy domestic violence related funding has either remained level-funded (a victory in these tight budget times) or seen modest increases.  We know, however the Sequestration, on top of local and state cuts, could be harmful to programs and victims.  

New Initiatives

  • Check out the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) blog to learn more about the new Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative (DVPH Initiative). Two of the demonstration sites are in New York State - the Borough of Brooklyn and Westchester County. Click here for more information.
  •  The Department of Justice selected three domestic violence courts to serve as resources to specialized courts nationwide - one of which is the Brooklyn Integrated Domestic Violence Court (IDV). For more information, click here.
  •  The American Probation and Parole Association released a fact sheet series related to promising victim related practices, one of which is dedicated to family violence. Click here for the fact sheets.  NYSCADV is proud to partner with such a victim centered organization. Many of the materials that NYSCADV assisted them in developing are also available on their website. If your agency is interested in building upon or improving relationships with community corrections agencies, please contact Elizabeth Bliss, Project Specialist (ebliss@nyscadv.org; 518-482-5465) to strategize.  
Follow Up to NYSCADV's Update Sent in March
  • Top United Nations officials welcomed an agreement by more than 130 Member States on the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, and urged governments to translate the outcome of the 'historic' gathering into concrete actions to protect and promote women's human rights and fundamental freedoms.  Click here for more information.
  • The passage of VAWA was recognized in a variety of ways, many of which received media attention. For example, a press conference was held at Vera House in Syracuse for survivors and advocates to thank U.S. representative Dan Maffei for his vote in favor of the legislation. Click here for the news coverage of this event. 
NO MORE Day was an historic day of awareness for domestic violence and sexual assault. The official launch of NO MORE, the first branding effort for these hidden issues, was commemorated with a variety of events which took place across the nation. The NO MORE symbol generated widespread media attention from outlets including ABC News, Examiner.com the Washington Examiner and more. Click here for media highlights from NO MORE day.
 
Educational OpportunitiesEducationalops
 

Local and National Training Events

 

Who do I pay first? Debt prioritization and collection defense of survivors of intimate partner violence.

Webinar offered by the Center for Survivor Agency and Justice on March 27, 2013 

Click here for recording.

 

The training focused on providing debt-related advocacy to IPV survivors while incorporating client values, safety considerations, and debt prioritization education. Faculty covered the basics of debt prioritization and collection defense, strategies for prioritizing IPV survivors' debts, and contextual information to seek and keep in mind when representing a survivor facing debt collection issues.

  

Faculty for this session was Fred Corbit, Senior Attorney at the King County Office of the Northwest Justice Project in Seattle, Washington.

  

Raped or "Seduced?" How Language Shapes our Response to Sexual Violence

Webinar hosted by Legal Momentum

April 15, 2013. 3:00 - 4:30 PM.

 

This interactive webinar will explore the language of sexual assault: how we talk about and write about this crime.  We will discuss specific examples of the language we use and explore how to discuss sexual assault in a way that more accurately depicts the crime.

Click here to register. 


Financial independence for Latina survivors of domestic violence

Presented by Alianza

April 18th & 19th in New York City

 

This is a free training for OVW grantees and other domestic violence service providers who work with Latina survivors of Domestic Violence, including immigrant women.

 

Through this training, participants will have the opportunity to:

  • Learn about the specific financial education needs and cultural considerations for Latina victims.
  • Be trained in the basics of financial literacy and the development of small businesses.
  • Receive copies of the Alianza training curriculum and training video: �Si Podemos/Yes We Can!- Beyond Domestic Violence: Achieving Financial Independence. The curriculum was developed in collaboration with WESST, a nonprofit agency dedicated to small business development and financial training, based in Albuquerque, NM.
  • Learn effective methods for facilitating workshops using �Si Podemos/Yes We Can training curriculum.  To register, click here. 

 

Transgender Health and Wellness: Providing primary care and mental health services for transgender people and their families.

Conference organized by Arlene Istar Lev, LCSW-R, CASAC and Carolyn Wolf-Gould, MD.

Albany, NY. April 26, 2013

 

This one-day conference is designed for new or experienced medical and mental health providers who are interested in the care of adult and pediatric gender-nonconforming, transgender, and transsexual people and their families. Click here to register. 

  

National Safe and Together Model Symposium

Presented by David Mandel and Associates. 

May 9-10, 2013.  New Orleans, LA.

This two day conference brings together child welfare professionals, domestic violence advocates and their partners in a discussion about the intersection of child maltreatment and domestic violence. Using the Safe and Together™ model, with its emphasis on perpetrator behavior patterns as a framework, participants will work by individual discipline and collaboratively to enhance skills related to intervening to increase child and adult safety and well-being.  This symposium will include plenary sessions, skill building and discussion breakout sessions, and panel discussions.

The symposium will give special emphasis to how the Safe and Together™ model can enhance collaboration in communities where co-located domestic violence advocates or specialists work inside child welfare agencies.  Click here to register. 

 

Gay-Straight Alliance & Advocacy Retreat

A weekend retreat for High School Students offered by Unirondack.

May 17, 2013 - May 19, 2013. Western Adirondacks, NY.

 

Across the country students who want to create a safe place for LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Question) students and their straight allies are forming Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs). School GSAs work to make all students feel safe and respected in school, and help to create a positive and affirming environment that is free of homophobia and harassment. If you or someone you know is a High School student involved in a GSA, or interested in helping create school environments that are inclusive and affirming, pack your bags and head to camp. Unirondack staff, community educators and trainers will be offering games, activities and workshops that will help participants develop their leadership skills and address LGBTQ issues in their community.  Click here for more information. 

 

Communications

New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence

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