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Comfort during the darkest of times: Coalition gives care and support for abuse victims
By Phyllis Sides
The damage done by family violence, or any violence against another person, can't be wished away. But it can be eased by the response of the people who come to their aid.
This is where the Racine County Family Violence Community Coalition comes in. On Jan. 12 the group will hold a training session for community professionals to educate and support them in their efforts to deal with family violence at the Wingspread Conference Center.
The group was established in May of 2000 in an effort to coordinate and improve the services of local organizations and individuals who work with abuse survivors, said Terri DeWalt, a steering committee
member.
The Coalition has two branches; one that addresses the needs and concerns of abuse victims in the eastern half of Racine County and one that addresses the needs of abuse victims on the western half of the county, DeWalt said. It is composed of approximately 40 agencies and individuals who are concerned about, and want to take actions to prevent, violence in Racine County.
Karen Carnabucci, another steering committee member, joined shortly after moving to Racine in 2000. She started out, Carnabucci said, "as an interested member, wanting to get to know the community. One of my specialties is trauma abuse and I really wanted to join forces with the coalition."
Why was the coalition formed? DeWalt: The Coalition was formed in an effort to develop sensitive and effective responses to abuse survivors, to promote and develop practices that hold perpetrators accountable for their actions, to increase community awareness of abuse and violence issues and to provide opportunities for collaboration between service providers.
Who are its members? Carnabucci: It is everyone from the district attorney's office to the United Way to Human Services Department to Umos, which is a Hispanic aid group. All Saints was one of the original founders. The police department is represented and many agencies both government and private, profit and non-profit. People like me - private practitioners. I am one of several therapists who are involved, There are a couple of volunteers from the community, good people who are interested in the problem of family violence.
Why is the training being held? Carnabucci: Well, the Coalition has published this booklet, which we are very proud of, "Practical Guidelines to System Responses." It was published this year. We had a number of agencies in the community sign off on it - meaning that they endorsed this booklet and the recommendations contained in it as best practices for dealing with family violence. As they did, it became really clear that there was a need for not just giving people the booklet and saying here's the booklet, goodbye. But to actually offer some training for individuals connected with these agencies, so they would understand more clearly why the recommendations and suggestions are being made about how to work with survivors of family violence, elder abuse and so forth. These are very complicated issues in working with survivors of trauma.
Who developed the guidelines? DeWalt: The Guidelines were developed through the Systems' Response subcommittee of the Racine County Family Violence Community Coalition. They were developed with extensive input, guidance and feedback from multiple representatives of the various systems addressed in the Guidelines.
Can you tell me how they were developed? Did you have specific criteria that were laid out or things you thought should be included? Carnabucci: One of the principal features is to develop sensitivity among the professionals working with family violence victims. Sometimes the victims call the police again and again and again. Sometimes they are seen as not as serious cases as they might be.
Individuals, who are new to the social service community or who are new to the system they work in, may not have a lot of training in how to deal with family violence victims. They may not know why victims act like they act. Sometimes this happens with the Police Department. It also happens in the court of law. It even happens in the therapy room. Sometimes individuals can't quite remember all the details of the situations where they were violated.
Individuals, who are new to their work or haven't had training, may think the person might be lying or be making it up. Or maybe it didn't happen quite this way. However, it's important for people to know when people are traumatized, they often have a very difficult time remembering exactly what happened. That's actually part of the profile. This is very important for everyone involved in the process to know so they can treat the victim with more sensitivity and awareness. Understand that just because a person can't remember all the details doesn't mean the person is lying.
Another example is when people who are not aware of the realities of family violence tend to blame the victim. They might say that the victim instigated the incident by doing thus and so. And you know the truth is that nobody ever deserves to be beaten or abused. Even if they may have done something that may have contributed to the situation.
The Jan. 12 training session is called "Practical Guidelines for System Responses." What are
system responses? DeWalt: The term "System Responses" refers to the services provided by various systems that work with sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and elder abuse victims. There are six systems that are specifically addressed in the Practical Guidelines. They are the human services department, social service/ mental health system, the healthcare system, law enforcement, the judicial and legal system and the educational system.
Carnabucci: When we think of a system we think of various professionals, who are working in a particular profession. For instance, the legal system includes individuals who may be attorneys, court commissioners, prosecutors, public defenders, judges, or others involved in the court. They are acting in a particular way according to their professional values and training. They may know a lot about the law. But, they may not know because it hasn't been the focus of their work. They may not know a lot about family violence from a social service point of view - from a therapeutic point of view. Our idea in creating the guidelines is to share knowledge among different systems.
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