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Category: Press Release

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Press Release

VITAL ARPA FUNDING PROVIDES THE HARRIS COUNTY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COORDINATING COUNCIL WITH LIFE-SAVING RESOURCES

Media Contact:
Amy Smith
281-660-7608
amysmith@hcdvcc.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 16th, 2023

VITAL ARPA FUNDING PROVIDES THE HARRIS COUNTY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COORDINATING COUNCIL WITH LIFE-SAVING RESOURCES

(Harris County, TX) – March 17, 2023 — Judge Lina Hidalgo and Harris County Commissioners made a historic commitment to fund agencies who are serving families suffering the trauma of domestic violence with the award of $4.7 million to the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council.  Last week marked the second anniversary of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) being signed into law.  This law has created the opportunity to provide critical and life-saving funding to those experiencing the trauma of domestic violence, and the law paved the way for Harris County to be able to dedicate funds specifically for Domestic Violence.  

“Domestic Violence is connected to a third of the homicides in Harris County. The Domestic Violence Assistance Fund’s combination of flexible wraparound services to assist survivors in combination with targeted interventions by the High Risk Team has been proven to make a difference. We’re thrilled to partner with HCDVCC and these twenty nonprofits to help keep families safe,” said Leah Barton, Harris County’s Director of Strategic Initiatives.

With this award, the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (HCDVCC) created a process to grant 20 community organizations this much-needed critical capital.  These flexible funds will serve more than 3,000 families with over 6,600 individuals. Flexible funding means people can receive direct financial assistance to support their immediate needs such as rental and utility assistance, safe hotel stays, moving assistance, car repairs, basic needs, childcare, mental health services, and legal services.

HCDVCC is honored to partner with the following 20 agencies that are recipients of the Domestic Violence Assistance Funds:

Organization Award
Northwest Assistance Ministries
Fort Bend Women's Center
Daya
Katy Christian Ministries
The Landing
Family Ties
Families to Freedom
Galveston-Houston Immigration Representation Project
FamilyTime
An Nisa Hope Center
YMCA
Justice for all Immigrants
Bay Area Turning Point
BakerRipley
Houston Area Women's Center
Bethel's Family Center
Asians Against Domestic Abuse
Catholic Charities
Fresh Spirit Wellness, Inc
The Bridge Over Troubled Waters
$22,000.00
$50,000.00
$55,000.00
$92,345.00
$94,440.00
$100,000.00
$123,594.05
$152,476.75
$156,750.00
$165,000.00
$175,000.00
$183,187.31
$193,206.60
$200,000.00
$227,500.00
$227,500.00
$227,500.00
$227,500.00
$227,500.00
$227,500.00

A recent study (https://www.hcdvcc.org/resourcematerials/)  conducted by Dr. Leila Wood from the Center for Violence Prevention at The University of Texas Medical Branch found that not only did domestic violence increase because of the pandemic, but also it increased in severity.  Additionally, mental health needs increased, and access to services and support systems has decreased.  These results directly support the need for this critical funding to remain available to families.  Other recommendations from the report include:

  • Prioritize cash assistance and housing vouchers,
  • Continuously offer free and/or affordable childcare for work, school, and health respite,
  • Center racial justice in domestic violence and sexual assault work,
  • Invest in health and mental health,
  • Increase service access by enhancing domestic violence and sexual assault agency capacity,
  • Use technology to increase access to community support and criminal justice remedies.

Harris County’s investment in the Domestic Violence Assistance Fund will ensure that these recommendations can be implemented and increase access to safety and services for those suffering from the trauma of domestic violence. 

To Download the Press Release click on the image below.
To learn more about the partner agencies, click the image below.
Categories
DVAM Op-eds Press Release Uncategorized

Statement to KPRC 2

Statement to KPRC 2

By: Barbie Brashear and Amy Smith

The blatant disregard for the safety of the victim in the Aubrey Taylor case is just another concern in the long line of issues relating to how Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is addressed in Harris County. Harris County consistently leads our State in IPV homicides. The Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council and our Community Partners have numerous programs in place to assist victims of IPV but without the support of the entire Community and especially all involved within the Criminal Justice System, we will keep leading the State in IPV homicides.

There are many barriers to leaving an abusive situation, one including increased violence and risk for homicide when making the decision to leave. How will the victim be safe from their abuser? For a victim, knowing her offender is in custody gives her the ability to develop and employ a safety plan for when and if the perpetrator is released. This respite has increasingly become even shorter with the bond conditions that are being assigned case after case.

One can only imagine the depth of terror felt by the victim while being held by the offender over several days. The abuse the victim suffered at his hands is unfathomable. While we know an offender is innocent until proven guilty, his previous convictions lead us to believe that he perhaps is not going to follow the law, that committing further violence in the future is more than possible, and our system will not hold him accountable. The intimate partner violence field has tools and knowledge that can be used by criminal justice systems to assess for risk for intimate partner violence and the likelihood of homicide to occur. These tools can be used by law enforcement as well as the judicial response to assist in decision making including the assignment of appropriate bonds – WHY ARE WE NOT USING THEM? Harris County is the 3rd largest county in the United State and we lag far behind in dedicating resources to ensuring that our systems and first responders are using the most up to date tools and technology. Additionally, we lag behind in ensuring that all of our systems are looking at the same information related to cases. What is happening that Judges aren’t looking at the totality of the case or of the history – why is our county not using evidence-based risk assessment tools to make consistent and informed decisions? Assigning bonds should require the use of the most reliable and validated tools that can ensure that these decisions are informed by information rather than personal speculation. In the case at hand, the assigning of a low bond – $1 – sends the message to the alleged offender that acts of violence against a loved one are really no big deal and the system will not be holding you accountable for the violence. The message the victim receives is that her life and the lives of all those suffering from IPV are not important and again, the system will not create a way to hold the person using violence accountable, nor afford her the time to increase her safety.

IPV has deadly consequences that can be seen every day. It is a crime that requires serious and thoughtful actions throughout the responding systems to ensure that victims are believed, supported, and protected. Harris County needs to step up and support victims and not treat the abuse they suffer as a family problem. It is a community problem requiring a coordinated community response.

Categories
Community Share Op-eds Press Release

HCDVCC’s Supplemental Safety Planning Tools Project Goes Statewide!

HCDVCC’s Supplemental Safety Planning Tools Project Goes Statewide!

In early 2020, when COVID first hit, HCDVCC began purchasing RING cameras for high-risk survivors who were identified by our Domestic Violence High Risk Team (DVHRT). The cameras were an inexpensive way to provide an additional layer of safety to a survivor when resources were stretched thin. The camera was incorporated into a survivor’s safety plan and quickly became “an extra set of eyes” and a powerful tool in providing additional security to a survivor’s home. It also validated any harassment, stalking or violent incidents she/he/they may have experienced if a survivor chose to pursue legal/criminal justice options.

When advocates heard back from survivors that the RING camera was a helpful tool for them, advocacy specialist, Susan Hickey, with HCDVCC, decided to reach out to the RING camera company to see if they might be interested in donating a few cameras to help HCDVCC with their efforts. Her outreach to the RING corporation proved to be extremely successful. Not only did the RING corporation respond enthusiastically to Susan’s request by providing a donation of 500 cameras to HCDVCC, they also donated free lifetime subscriptions to the program.

Thanks to this fantastic donation from RING, HCDVCC was able to reach out to other local DV providers to include them in this generous offer as well. In April, HCDVCC partnered with several other DV agencies in the community and launched The Supplemental Safety Planning Tools Project. It is a program designed to increase safety for survivors by including a camera into a survivor’s personalized safety plan.

Since the program’s launch in April 2021, nine domestic violence agencies in the Harris and surrounding counties have partnered with HCDVCC to participate in the project. And thanks to the work of these nine different agencies, 601 individuals have benefited from this camera donation.

Susan’s efforts and success with this project in Harris County provided a solid foundation to introduce RING to other partners like the Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) to see if there was an interest and an opportunity to take this program to survivors throughout our state. After months of planning and consultation, a press conference was held at HCDVCC’s offices on Monday, December 13, 2021 where RING executives, Gloria Terry, TCFV’s executive director, and U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee announced thrilling news. The RING partnership is going statewide! Soon high-risk survivors in Ft. Bend County, Grayson County and El Paso County will also benefit from this amazing tool and service. HCDVCC is tremendously proud of Susan Hickey’s hard work to make this program possible, and to the dedication of the RING camera company to ensuring that all survivors of domestic violence have access to this powerful tool. HCDVCC looks forward to our continued collaboration with RING, TCFV and other dv agencies to ensure survivors receive this type of technology that may help bring some valuable peace of mind.

For more information about this project, or to become a partner, please contact Susan or go to the SSPT site.

About the Author

Alicia N is the Director of Harris County DVHRT Initiative
Categories
Press Release

3rd Annual Impossible2Possible PR

Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council to Host Domestic Violence Awareness Month Activities Through October

The Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council is set to host their 3rd Annual Impossible2Possible event to spread awareness of the dangers and reality of domestic violence.

Houston, Harris County, Texas — Domestic violence is a scary reality for approximately 10 million women and men each year. Unfortunately, nearly 67% of survivors of domestic violence suffer in silence and never report the abuse they are receiving from those that should be considered their safe space.

What makes domestic violence even worse is that a vast majority of those suffering believe there is simply no way out of the situation, whether it be fear of losing (or harm being inflicted on) children or having no place to call home.

The good news? There are resources to help these survivors, and while these resources are available upon request, the month of October helps bring further awareness to the situation and connect survivors with the necessary help – all thanks to Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Domestic Violence Awareness Month was first established in October 1987 and has been a welcome method of spreading awareness ever since.
In Harris County, TX, the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (HCDVCC) takes pride in the work they do to not only spread awareness, but help survivors in whatever way they can.

Whether working with local law enforcement agencies, advocacy organizations, victim support services, policymakers, or the community itself, HCDVCC strives to ensure that victims of domestic violence in Harris County, Texas are served by the people and resources they so desperately need.” says Executive Director, Barbie Brashear.

Harris County has several educational events planned throughout October, including the 3rd annual Summit Event – Impossible2Possible: Be the Catalyst for Survivors with Disabilities. Topics that will be covered include how to make programs accessible to those with disabilities, how to create an inclusive space for survivors of domestic violence and their families, as well as ableism and accessibility.
This year’s speakers will include:

  • Heidi Lersch: Disability Services Educator and Training Coordinator
  • Sashi Nisankarao: Licensed Texas Attorney & ADA Specialist
  • Marilyn Gilbreath: MS, Family Studies/Counseling
  • Heather Daley: Hotline Advocate – National Deaf Domestic Violence Hotline

 

About Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council: With a vision of a community where all persons have relationships that are safe, healthy, and free from domestic violence, HCDVCC leads efforts to build collaborative systems and innovative programs that help increase access to services and safety for those suffering from domestic violence.

Contact: To learn more about Domestic Violence Awareness Month or Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, please direct all questions to Thecia Jenkins at theciajenkins@hcdvcc.org or by phone at (281) 400-3680.

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Our Mission:
To improve Harris County’s response to domestic violence, we lead efforts to build collaborative systems and innovative programs that increase access to services and safety.
Our Vision:
We envision a community where all persons have relationships that are safe, healthy, and free from domestic violence.
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