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Volume 10. Issue 7. July 12, 2013 |
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Greeting from our Executive Director, Connie Neal!
According to one of the laws of physics, objects in motion tend to stay in motion. In this issue of the Update, we have a tremendous amount of movement to report...and there's definitely more to come!
On July 1st, we relocated our offices to downtown Albany (119 Washington Ave.) and are beginning the next chapter of our work from an exciting new space. We are adjacent to the heart of New York State government; just a block or so from the Capitol, the Legislative Office Building, and several NYS government agencies. But our movement certainly doesn't end there.
The end of the legislative session in June resulted in some great successes but also brought to light work that still remains before us. You'll see more details on the status of legislation, further below in this Update. Also, NYSCADV continues to serve on the Steering Committee of the Women's Equality Agenda (WEA) with discussions continuing throughout the summer around next steps.
On the national level, NYSCADV traveled to Capitol Hill in June to meet with New York's members of Congress as part of the National Network to End Domestic Violence's Advocacy Day. Discussions focused on federal funding appropriations with VAWA, VOCA, and FVPSA, as well as legislation pertaining to the sequestration, firearms, and immigration.
Around the state, NYSCADV staff continue to travel to meet with programs and attend regional meetings to learn about trends and issues that inform our training and legislative agendas. These conversations are invaluable in order for us to address the technical assistance needs of member programs.
Speaking of training, staff will soon be scheduling sessions on topics including Principles for Practice, Record Keeping and Confidentiality, and the Legal System. Also, stay tuned for information on how you can join us for a Coaching Boys into Men Training of Trainers (TOT) program.
Our website has recently been expanded with a big rollout of the state prevention plan and the online prevention tool kit. Both are available now (www.nyscadv.org)! Also, plans are underway for adding additional information and resources to several sections of our site.
This fall, NYSCADV will celebrate our 35th Anniversary. Stay tuned for further announcements as well as details on our upcoming Annual Meeting.
Finally, mark your calendars! The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) will sponsor the annual national census of domestic violence services on September 17, 2013. In preparation for the census, NYSCADV will be reaching out to all domestic violence service providers in New York State to update contact information to ensure that all programs are given the opportunity to gather and submit data on this day.
The census is critical to illustrate the services that programs are providing and document needs that cannot be met with current resources. In past years in New York, there have been program response rates as high as 88%. This year, it's even more crucial to get as close to 100% as possible! If you do not hear from a NYSCADV staff person by August 1st, please call us to make sure that we did not miss anyone.
Each year, NNEDV publishes a national census report which includes data from every state including numbers of victims served, hotline calls, trainings, and unmet requests for service. Here is an excerpt from the 2012 report:
On September 12, 2012...In New York:
"A young woman called the hotline for help. She met her abuser when she was 18 years old and he threatened to 'put her in the hospital' if she didn't have sex with him. For the past five years, he has raped her on a daily basis." (Domestic Violence Counts 2012: A 24-Hour Census of Domestic Violence Shelters and Services, National Network to End Domestic Violence, 2013)
It is my hope that no one will ever have to go through this experience again. With 100% participation from domestic violence programs throughout the state, we can clearly illustrate the realities of domestic violence in New York, demonstrate the needs that advocates cannot meet due to limited resources, and provide an unquestionable justification for fully funding domestic violence services.
All the best,
Connie |
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Legislative Activity
The Women's Equality Act
June was a busy and exciting month for New York State legislative policy. On June 4th, thousands of New Yorkers from every corner of the state descended on Albany for a rally and lobby day in support of the Women's Equality Act. The rally came immediately on the heels of the governor releasing his 10-point Women's Equality Act, a clear and comprehensive piece of legislation that will improve the lives of New York's 10 million women. This bill is the result of an immense amount of collaboration among a host of critical stakeholders and fulfills the bold promise the governor laid out in January to remove significant barriers to women's full and equal participation in society.
The legislature responded to this Governor's program bill in different ways. The Assembly introduced the full 10-point-plan in the comprehensive manner put forth by the Governor on June 17th and passed it on June 21st. The Senate introduced each point as separate bills on June 18th but passed only 9 of the points on June 22nd, deferring to vote on the bill that addresses reproductive health provisions.
The Senate needs to pass the reproductive health bill, or the omnibus bill to ensure that women in New York have the full protections the Women's Equality Act recognized are lacking. Further, it is important that the Assembly return to Albany soon to pass the nine individual women's equality bills the Senate approved in order to get them signed into law and advance women's equality immediately.
Click here to read NYSCADV's memo of support for the Women's Equality Act. Click here to view updated details of how the Women's Equality Act will help women, and follow the Coalition on Facebook and Twitter for the next steps in our campaign to improve the lives of New York's 10 million women through passage of the Women's Equality Act.
Legislation that emphasizes the proper implementation of orders of protection.
It is very exciting to announce that the legislation which was introduced this year to resolve the ongoing issue of improper implementation of orders of protection (A.6547-B Weinstein/S5605 Robach), passed both houses! Not only did it pass as a stand-alone bill, it is also part of the Women's Equality Act. Click here for our memo of support for more information about the domestic violence components of this legislation.
Legislation that acknowledges and provides remedy for the economic abuse that domestic violence offenders commit against their partners.
On December 5, 2012, The New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Codes and the Assembly Standing Committee on Judiciary held a public hearing "Examination of the problem of economic abuse." This was a significant recognition of the sometimes hard to address dynamic of domestic violence, economic abuse. One of the results of this hearing was legislation that adds identity theft, larceny and coercion to the list of enumerated family offenses which was introduced for the first time this year by Assemblywoman Weinstein (A.7400) and Senator Robach (S.5821) and was passed by both houses unanimously. Click here for the transcripts from the 12/5/12 public hearing.
The Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act.
Domestic violence advocates from across the state were at the Capitol on June 5th to express support for the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act. A compelling press conference was held in which survivors who were unreasonably penalized for crimes they committed as a direct result of the domestic violence committed against them, shared their stories. Click here for an article that describes this day in more detail At this point the bill has strong support in the Senate - 62 Senators have co-sponsored the bill! This legislation is poised to pass during the next session. |
NYSCADV's Primary Prevention Project
Strategic Directions for the Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence in New York State
Since 2002, NYSCADV has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop and implement the Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances (DELTA) project. The purpose of the DELTA Project was to prevent first-time perpetration and victimization of intimate partner violence and included demonstrations sites in fourteen states across the nation. In NYS, the DELTA Project was a collaboration of the NYSCADV, the NY State Prevention Consortium, and three prevention programs in counties throughout New York - A New Hope Center in Tioga County; Center for Safety and Change in Rockland County; and the Domestic Violence Project in Warren and Washington Counties.
In 2006, a NYS Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Consortium (Consortium) was developed to provide state level leadership and support in challenging and reshaping the social conditions and norms that condone and promote domestic violence as well as facilitate a statewide planning process regarding the primary prevention of domestic violence. The Consortium brings together a vital mix of formal organizational collaboration along with broad community support through the inclusion of a multidisciplinary group of experienced prevention practitioners, stakeholders, and advocates.
Strategic Directions for the Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence in New York State is the result of the Consortium's planning process and was originally published in 2010. NYSCADV recently updated this plan and it is now available on our website. This updated version reflects current data and knowledge gained throughout the process of implementing the plan.
Be a part of creating a New York free of intimate partner violence!
To find out more about how you can become involved, contact:
Lorien Castelle at 585-413-0887.
NYSCADV's Online Prevention Tool Kit
Another exciting release of materials that is happening this month is the NYSCADV Online Prevention Tool Kit. The tool kit, available on our website, contains resources that support primary prevention activities. The tool kit contains exercises, activities, primers, information and resources designed to help individuals and groups think about what would prevent domestic violence from happening in their communities. Tools and resources were chosen carefully based on lessons learned from the NYS DELTA Project and successes from local domestic violence programs throughout the state.
For more information on utilizing the resources and information found in this tool kit call 585.413.0887. Training and coaching is available upon request.
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Members Recognized for Their Work.
On June 13, the Erie County Coalition Against Family Violence celebrated its 35th Anniversary and honored this year's Award Recipients. Katey Joyce, Vice President of Child and Family Services and Director of Haven House, a NYSCADV member program, was awarded the Sr. Karen Klimczak SSJ Peace & Justice Award. This unique award is presented to individuals who work toward bringing about peace and justice within the community with a specific focus on dismantling root causes of violence and oppression at the organizational or institutional level. Nominees may be engaged in this work as professionals, volunteers, or survivors of violence and must have made an impact in Erie County. Congratulations, Katey!
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Member Program in the News
NYC Domestic Violence program launches program that allows victims to bring pets into their Shelter.
Urban Resource Institute (URI) has announced the launch of New York City's first-ever co-sheltering program to enable domestic violence survivors and their pets to reside together in shelter. The project, called PALS-People and Animals Living Safely-will run as a six-month pilot which began on June 1. URI is partnering with the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals (the Alliance) because of its expertise in ensuring pet safety in crisis situations. Click here for more information. |
Federal Budget Activity
As mentioned in previous updates, the sequestration that is taking place as a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (signed on March 1, 2013) requires across the board reductions to most Federal Government accounts. This will not affect any current grants but will have a yet to be determined impact on FY 2013 grants. NYSCADV, in coordination with our sister State Coalitions and the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), is requesting that our federal legislators:
- replace sequestration with a plan that addresses the needs of our nation's most vulnerable.
- Due to the cuts from sequestration, an estimated 480,000 fewer victims will be served by domestic violence programs and other victim service providers across the country. These cost-effective, lifesaving programs are threatened and many victims will simply have nowhere to turn if cuts continue.
- fund targeted investments in VAWA, specifically STOP program at $205 million.
- VAWA programs at the U.S. Department of Justice are at the heart of our nation's response to domestic violence. Specifically, the Services, Training, Officers and Prosecutors (STOP) state formula grant program supports coordinated community responses to domestic and sexual violence, and is the foundation of our nation's work to end domestic and sexual violence. To continue its lifesaving work and to reach its full potential, we urge Congress to fund the STOP program at $205 million.
- release additional funds from the Victims of Crime Act fund (VOCA).
- VOCA is a fund for victim services created out of fines and penalties paid by federal criminals, rather than taxpayer dollars. Over 4,000 agencies rely on VOCA to provide services to nearly 4 million crime victims. We urge Congress to release $1 billion from the VOCA fund to address the gap in available services, and from that 1) target $500 million to state victim assistance grants; 2) establish a VOCA tribal funding stream of $20 million; and 3) use up to $35 million of remaining funds to support the Vision 21 initiative and other key priorities.
- fund targeted investments for Family Violence Prevention and Services act (FVPSA; $140 million) and related key programs at HHS.
- The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) funds emergency shelters, crisis lines, counseling, victim assistance and other vital services for over one million domestic violence victims and their children each year. The only dedicated federal funding source for domestic violence services, FVPSA should be funded at $140 million to meet the growing demand for services.
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One way to remedy the budget cuts that will result from sequestration is to exempt VOCA from sequestration. VOCA should not be subject to sequestration as it is a fund from collected Federal criminal fines and penalties, not tax dollars. Therefore, it does not have a direct effect on the nation's debt because no money has to be borrowed to pay for VOCA. Yet, not only is it subject to sequestration, the plan is to base the sequestration on the entire amount of the fund ($11.431 billion) not the proposed VOCA cap of $800 million. To prevent this, Reps. Jim Costa and Ted Poe, co-chairs of the Congressional Crime Victims Caucus, introduced H.R. 2238, which would exempt the Crime Victims Fund from sequestration.
It is very important that all New York State Domestic Violence programs take action today by calling your members of Congress and encourage them to sign on to H.R. 2238 as co-sponsors. Click here for the contact information of your Congressional leaders.
For more information about VOCA, click here for information provided by The National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators (NAVAA).
In addition to emailing and calling your Members of Congress to encourage them to cosponsor the bill, the U.S. House of Representatives has a new tool that allows citizens to "cosponsor" bills to show grassroots support. You can go to http://cosponsor.gov/details/hr2238-113 and http://cosponsor.gov/details/hr1624-113 to "citizen cosponsor" these important bills. What a cool new tool - let's ALL break it in! |
Other Federal Level Legislative Activity
We are also asking our Federal level legislators to:
- pass common sense gun safety measures that keep guns out of the hands of abusers through criminal background checks for all gun sales and improved utilization of the national Instant Criminal Background Checks system.
- We ask Representatives to co-sponsor H.R. 1565 and pass legislation that includes these key provisions; and we ask Senators to pass legislation that includes these key provisions.
- pass comprehensive immigration reforms that help vulnerable immigrant victims escape violence and abuse.
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Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services
You may remember that the theme for this year's NYSCADV Legislative Awareness Day, New Challenges * New Solutions, reflected the spirit that launched the crime victim's rights movement and echoed the mission of the Office for Victims of Crime strategic initiative, Vision 21, Transforming Victim Services. NYSCADV member programs came to the Capitol on April 22nd to examine Vision 21's four topic areas with our legislators:
- The Role of crime victim advocates.
- Building capacity.
- Enduring challenges.
- Emerging challenges.
We can now build on that day as the U.S. Department of Justice recently released the Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services final report. This report presents a cohesive and comprehensive framework for strategic change in the victim services field and addresses ways to overcome political, policy, and philosophical challenges in the field. OVC anticipates that this report will catalyze important first steps in the strategic direction and focus of the victim assistance field.
The Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services Final Report discusses:
- Major challenges to the integration of research into victim services.
- The tremendous need for crime victims to have access to legal assistance to address the wide range of legal issues that can arise following victimization.
- The impact of advances in technology, globalization, and changing demographics on the victim assistance field.
- The capacity for serving victims in the 21st century and some of the infrastructure issues that must be overcome to reach that capacity.
Furthermore, the final report outlines recommendations for beginning the transformative change, which fall into the following four broad categories:
- Conducting continuous rather than episodic strategic planning in the victim assistance field to effect real change in research, policy, programming, and capacity building.
- Supporting research to build a body of evidence-based knowledge and generate, collect, and analyze quantitative and qualitative data on victimization, emerging victimization trends, services and behaviors, and victims' rights enforcement efforts.
- Ensuring the statutory, policy, and programmatic flexibility to address enduring and emerging crime victim issues.
- Building and institutionalizing capacity through an infusion of technology, training, and innovation to ensure that the field is equipped to meet the demands of the 21st century.
Click here for the report.
Stay tuned for next steps and continued discussion regarding this report. |
Impact of HUD Regulations on Domestic Violence Victims and Programs - please complete survey.
Our National partner, the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) is continuing their efforts to understand the impact of HUD regulations on domestic violence victims and programs. With this understanding, NNEDV can provide the strongest advocacy for regulations and practices that will keep survivors safe while accessing housing services and programs. There will be an opportunity to provide official comments on a specific set of regulations in the near future. Therefore, NNEDV is surveying the field now to prepare for those comments and for our continued advocacy beyond the official comment process.
To help them with this effort,
NNEDV is asking
all domestic violence service providers familiar with
housing regulations and funding issues
complete a survey,
A note on housing advocacy: HUD regulations are impacting the way that HUD-funded programs operate and the access that victims have to domestic violence programs and other housing resources. At the national level, NNEDV continues to hear from coalitions and local programs about concerns. NNEDV is developing materials to help programs understand their obligations and to help them navigate this complex and shifting landscape.
In addition to giving NNEDV information, we recommend that coalitions and local programs participate in local Continuums of Care (CoC) to advocate for the housing needs of domestic violence survivors. A strong presence on these Continuums can make a significant difference in the way that laws and regulations are implemented with regard to survivors' safety and access to housing. Click here to find local Continuums of Care (CoC).
BACKGROUND
In 2009, Congress passed the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. Under the HEARTH Act, three separate Homeless Assistance Programs that HUD had administered for several years as part of the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act were combined into a single grant program. The three homeless assistance programs were: the Supportive Housing Program, the Shelter Plus Care program and the Moderate Rehabilitation/Single Room Occupancy (SRO) program. The HEARTH Act also revised the Emergency Shelter Grants program and renamed it the Emergency Solutions Grant program. Another important part of the HEARTH Act was codifying the "Continuum of Care" (CoC) planning process (a long-standing HUD practice that shapes the local community application for funding and service delivery) into law. Additionally, the final rule on the definition of "homeless" and the interim rule on HMIS are key elements to the HEARTH Act implementation.
Some of these regulations are "interim" - meaning they are being implemented now but can be amended before they are final. In fact, HUD will be seeking additional comments on the Continuum of Care (CoC) regulations. We are surveying domestic violence service providers to prepare our updated comments. We specifically want more information on the concept of "Coordinated Assessment". We are also seeking information on other elements of the regulations that impact victims of domestic violence. To review our stated positions on these rules, please see the attached comments. With your input, we will amend these comments in the next official comment period.
For your reference, please see the links to the HEARTH Act interim and final rules below.
Emergency Solutions Grant and Homeless Definition
Continuum of Care (COC)
HMIS |
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Communications
New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence
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