February has been designated as Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. In the past Congress had designated the first full week of February as a prevention week and this is the first year that a whole month is dedicated to prevention efforts. We have created a resources page to help you with your awareness efforts this month. Please click here for more information and for ways you could do your part.

During the 81st legislative session, the Texas Council on Family Violence championed several successful bills including Senate Bill 82. SB 82, authored by Senator Jane Nelson and sponsored by Representative Joe Moody, provides an increase in funding to family violence programs by making it mandatory for a family violence offender receiving probation to pay a $100 fee that goes to a local family violence center.

By making this fee mandatory, SB 82 significantly increases this funding source for centers and thus increases access to family violence services for victims, while at the same time holding abusers accountable for violent behavior. TCFV has developed a toolkit in order to assist programs with the collection of this fee. Click here for more information.

Prosecutors continue to fight for family violence victims in the courtroom. We particularly thank and appreciate our great partners at the Texas District and County Attorneys Association (TCDAA) for their guidance and expertise in TCFV’s successful effort to make strangulation chargeable as a felony level offense in Texas. Take a look at the following link to a powerful article that Witchita County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Shelly Wilbanks wrote for TDCAA’s publication, The Texas Prosecutor. The article offers important tools, guidance and motivation for fellow prosecutors in charging and trying these important cases.

Tdcaa.com

The Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) Annual Statewide BIPP Conference explores strategies BIPP staff and other professionals (such as Community Supervision and Corrections Department officers, district attorneys, judges, and other law enforcement personnel) can use to hold family violence offenders accountable.

The conference emphasizes the benefits of community collaboration, innovative techniques of facilitation and working together effectively and seamlessly to ensure offenders are held accountable.

The TCFV BIPP Conference is a two-day training for law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, probation officers, BIPP facilitators, coordinators, program directors and licensed professionals who will be/are providing direct services to family violence offenders or who directly supervise staff members who work directly with offenders.  Continue Reading »

The BIPP Educational Series is training curriculum that is replacing TCFV’s BIPP: Dedication. After feedback from various professionals in the BIPP field, CJAD-funded program coordinators and facilitators, attendees from Dedication and the BIPP Annual Conference, TCFV chose to re-organize and expand BIPP training workshops to meet all levels of continuing education for BIPP professionals.

The new educational series will be comprised of two parts. Part one will focus on foundational information that includes beginner-intermediate level topics. Part two will focus on intermediate-advanced level topics. The educational series is comprised of a combination of classroom and self-paced online modules. Each part will guarantee 20 hours of CJAD-approved hours. By attending both parts, attendees will obtain the 40 hours total. Continue Reading »

Four krazy women are walking 41 miles in hopes of raising 1.5 million dollars necessary for building a women’s shelter in Kendall County, Texas. They will leave on January 1 at 12:01 a.m. from Boerne, Texas.  They ask that people donate just $1 per mile ($41). Such a small amount from a large number of individuals can make a great difference. Please visit Krazywomenwalking.com to meet the krazy women, learn more or make a donation to help the cause.

The Criminal Justice Division (CJD) of the Governor’s Office is currently soliciting applications for projects that reduce and prevent violence against women. The purpose of the VAWA Recovery Act Program is to assist in developing and strengthening effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to combat violent crimes against women and to develop and strengthen victim services in such cases.

The minimum grant award is $5,000 and there is no required match. Applications are due before December 21, 2009. TCFV is available to provide technical assistance regarding the issue areas targeted for this funding. Please visit our Grant Applications page for more details and for contact information.

I often reflect and speak about one of my first interactions with a family accessing service at the Center Against Family Violence in El Paso, where I served as an Executive Director. The first time I saw Mary and her four children she was huddled in fear, overwhelmed with the circumstances that brought them into shelter and complexities that were emerging from seeking freedom from her abusive relationship.

Mary and her family soon became an interest to me, perhaps it was that I was so new in my role at the program that I clung onto this family’s story and followed their progress. And what I saw wasn’t quite what I assumed would be the reaction to the trauma that had foreshadowed.

Mary and her family held steadfastly to their faith while trying to comprehend how life could continue. They had lost their home, all their modest possessions, but above all their safety.  Continue Reading »