|
|
September 2020
News & Updates
|
|
NYSCADV WELCOMES NEW DEPUTY DIRECTOR |
|
NYSCADV is excited to welcome Gina Peattie as the Deputy Director! Gina Peattie holds a master’s degree in public administration (MPA) specializing in non-profit sector management and a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She has more than 15 years of professional experience focused in areas of operations, program development, fundraising, outreach, education, and counseling. Previously, Gina has held leadership positions at CFC International, the Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York, the Santa Clarita Valley Youth Project, and the YWCA Rape Crisis Center in Hackensack, NJ. Most recently, Gina was the Director of Family Support & Outreach at the Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation (CCF), where she was responsible for all matters related to patient/member support and relationship management with the medical/healthcare community. Her responsibilities included strategic planning, analysis, program and material development, building partnerships, and management of all support programs and activities.
During her tenure at CCF, Gina successfully obtained grant funding for the expansion of programming and the development of new programs, including an educational webinar program, a private member online community, a hospital care bag program, an educational video, and the organization’s first patient/family conference. Finally, Gina collaborated with partner nonprofit and advocacy organizations to advance research, raise awareness and engage the broader community.
We are thrilled to be working with Gina and enthusiastic about the incredible wealth of experience and knowledge that she is bringing to NYSCADV and to the movement to end domestic violence! Please join us in welcoming her aboard by sending her an e-mail at gpeattie@nyscadv.org!
|
|
EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE!
This year’s General Election will be held Tuesday, November 3rd! Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, all voters are able to vote by absentee ballot, even if they are not ill and plan to stay in the county in which they are registered on Election Day. Early voting at voting booths will also be permitted, as will traditional voting at polling places on Election Day.
To receive an absentee ballot, voters must first apply for an absentee ballot by mail by October 27, or in person by November 2. Absentee ballots are available for download here. Early voting at polling places is available from October 24, 2020 through November 1, 2020, but dates and hours at specific locations may vary. For a listing of all county Boards of Election, or to find out where your polling place is, click here.
For those who are not yet registered to vote, you must submit a voter registration form by October 9.
How to register to vote:
-
Register to vote online at NYS DMV's website, if you already have DMV-issued identification, by clicking here.
- Register to vote in person at your local county board of elections or at any NYS Agency-Based voter registration center.
- Register to vote via snail mail by requesting a NYS voter registration form be mailed to you.
Finally, domestic violence survivors who obtain a court order from NY Supreme Court, Family Court or County Court in the county in which they are registered to vote may request their voter registration record be kept separate and apart from other registration records and not be made available for inspection or copying by the public or any other individual, except election officials acting within the course and scope of their official duties. For additional information, contact your local Board of Elections.
For more information on all aspects of voting registration, deadlines and voting, visit the NYS Board of Elections website by clicking here.
|
|
 |
Child Victims Act (CVA) Extended
Governor Cuomo signed legislation (S7082 Hoylman/A9036 Rosenthal L.) on August 3rd, 2020, extending the look back window for victims to file claims under the Child Victims Act (CVA). The Governor already issued an executive order permitting such claims to be filed until January 14, 2021. This new law extends the time frame even further, to August 14, 2021. More information can be found by clicking here.
|
|
|
|
Domestic Violence Survivor's Justice Act (DVSJA)
The Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA) passed in 2019 and is intended to give judges discretion in sentencing and re-sentencing domestic violence survivors who have committed crimes as a result of their abuse. It allows currently incarcerated domestic violence survivors to appeal their sentencing. However, there is still more work to be done as is made clear by this essay, “Alive but Still Not Free: Nikki Addimando and Judicial Failure to Apply the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act," by Christopher L. Hamilton, Boston University Law Review. To read the essay, click here.
|
|
|
|
NYSCADV’s Because We’re Dads: Back to School Toolkit Now Available
NYSCADV recognizes the impact fathers, male-identified caregivers and other father figures have on promoting women's rights, gender equality, and healthy relationship behaviors. 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. To highlight the impact that fathers and father figures have on our lives, NYSCADV, in collaboration with Rus Ervin Funk, launched the Because We’re Dads: Reaching and Mobilizing Fathers to Promote Gender Equality Initiative earlier this summer.
Dads actively support their children in school and schooling. Beyond supporting them with reading, writing and arithmetic, dads can also have a powerful impact on what children are learning socially. The transitions of school are particularly powerful and meaningful opportunities to engage young people. Transitioning from elementary school to middle school/junior high; from middle school/junior high to high school; and from high school to college are significant turning points in the journey of a student, particularly with respect to the shifts they experience socially. Children in these transition periods often experience a great deal of stress which they may or may not be aware of, and need support through.
School is not only a place where children learn academically and educationally, it is also one of (if not THE) most powerful places where children learn socially – social and gender roles, social norms, etc. Here, children learn what it means to be a friend and how to relate to people who may be different than they are. They also work through what it means to be a boy or a girl and the accompanying expectations regarding traditional gender roles/norms, and gender inequalities.
Our recently-released Back to School Toolkit is designed to help dads develop the confidence, capacity and comfort they need to engage in challenging yet critical conversations with their children. It focuses on how dads can support their children to manage challenging transitions with an eye toward encouraging and promoting gender equality.
This toolkit also addresses current events, including the COVID 19 pandemic and the ongoing nation-wide uprising around systemic racism, police brutality, racial inequity and injustice. Included resources reflect the impact these dynamics have on youth in (and out of) school, and the roles that fathers can play to discuss these issues with their children.
This toolkit (like all NYSCADV toolkits) is an evolving resource. Over the coming months, we’ll be providing additional tools, resources and opportunities as we learn more from our collective work and efforts to engage and mobilize dads.
About our Because We’re Dads Consultant: Rus Ervin Funk, MSW, CSE is a consultant and activist focusing on efforts to advance gender and racial justice, and develop services that meaningfully support men and boys. He is the co-founder of the North American Men Engage Network and serves as the Program Consultant and Chair of the Policy Advocacy Committee.
|
|
SEXUAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH
The tenth annual World Sexual Health Day observance – organized by the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) – takes place on September 4th and the theme for this year’s observation is Sexuality Education for all: a bridge to sexual health.* For more information, click here.
|
|
NATIONAL SUICIDE AWARENESS MONTH
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month—a time to share resources and stories in an effort to shed light on this highly taboo and stigmatized topic. It is important to reach out to those affected by suicide, raise awareness and connect individuals with suicidal ideation to treatment services. It is also important to ensure that individuals, friends and families have access to the resources they need to discuss suicide prevention.* For more information, click here.
|
|
FEATURED RESOURCES
-
13th - 13th is a documentary by Ava DuVernay. This documentary combines archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars. Director Ava DuVernay's examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country's history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America. This documentary highlights the importance of anti-racism and anti-discrimination work while showing the intersectionality of all issues. For domestic violence advocates and allies, the documentary serves as a reminder that the social justice movement must always ground its work in anti-racism and anti-oppression. The documentary is available to watch on Youtube for free, to watch click here.
-
Restraining Orders: 101 - Join the WomensLaw’s legal team for a series of Online Information Clinics (OICs), where you can watch a twenty-minute training on restraining orders and chat with a lawyer about any questions you may have about domestic or sexual violence or stalking. Drop in any time between 12 pm – 2 pm ET to view the OIC and to chat with a lawyer who can provide you with legal information and referrals! You can also watch the OIC any time on WomensLaw.org and ask your questions through their Email Hotline.
-
Tribal Resource Tool - The Tribal Resource Tool; Resources for Survivors of Crime and Abuse is a searchable directory of all services available for AI/AN survivors of crime and abuse in Indian Country.
GENERAL RESOURCES
WEBINAR RECORDINGS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
