TCFV Updates:

African American Caucus

The mission of the African American Caucus is to bring about awareness of domestic violence within the various African American communities and families throughout Texas. The caucus addresses oppressive social, economic, and institutional issues that perpetuate and encourage domestic violence within African American communities throughout the state of Texas.

The African American Caucus is committed to our warm rich heritage, rejuvenation of spirit and souls, and critically thinking about and improving our roles in ending family violence in Texas for women of color. We welcome all activists of color to join the African American Caucus.

Contact membershipmatters@tcfv.org for information about joining African American Caucus.

What’s all this talk about Primary Prevention?

Please join TCFV’s Prevention Team for a webinar entitled Primary Prevention 101. Renée Gillespy, Manager of Community Education and Training for the Houston Area Women’s Center, will lead the webinar and provide valuable insight about the work to end violence before it starts.

The Primary Prevention 101 Webinar will take place on Thursday, February 16 from 10:30 am to 12:00 noon. You can register for this webinar by clicking here.

Please contact María Limón, Prevention Coordinator, at mlimon@tcfv.org if you have any questions.

Prevention Coaching Group

TCFV’s Prevention team launched the Prevention Coaching Group in 2010 to support prevention efforts around the state by creating a community of practice and offering targeted training and program implementation guidance. The Coaching Group consists of prevention workers from both rural and urban communities who gather twice a year in Austin.  This community of practice teaches and learns from each other’s prevention efforts.  The Group also celebrate successes, share strategies, and solve problems.

Current participants report that the Coaching Group has proved to be a great resource. One participant at the last Coaching Group gathering said “Because of this coaching group my agency was able to retain its prevention funding. This group provides endless information, support and inspiration. I love the coaching group!”

The Prevention team is pleased to announce that the Group is expanding, and interest forms are currently being accepted. Please consider whether your prevention program could benefit from targeted technical assistance, training, and support for your prevention workers. More detailed information about the Prevention Coaching Group is included in the application form, which can be downloaded here. The deadline for applications is February 15, 2012.

Please contact María Limón (mlimon@tcfv.org ), the Prevention team member who is coordinating the Prevention Coaching Group, if you have any questions about the application or participation in the Group.

Loveisrespect.org

On September 27, loveisrespect.org, a collaboration between the National Dating Abuse Helpline and Break the Cycle, announced the nation’s first dating abuse texting service. Teens and 20-somethings can now ask questions about healthy relationships simply by texting “loveis” to 77054 to directly connect to a peer advocate.

Vice President Joe Biden premiered the service on September 26, sending the first text to peer advocate Whitney Laas, thanking loveisrespect.org advocates for their work to end dating abuse.

An additional feature of the brand’s re-launch is the updated website, which contains interactive quizzes, as well as expanded information about LGBTQ dating, legal support and digital abuse. The innovative online chat is still accessible through the website. Young adults are now able to receive services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The re-launch of loveisrespect.org was made possible by the Office on Violence Against Women, Liz Claiborne Inc., Healthy Kids Healthy Families and the Verizon Foundation. To learn more, please visit loveisrespect.org.  Or click here to watch a video about the launch.

Resources for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month

The National Resource Center for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month: http://www.teendvmonth.org/

Break the Cycle and the National Dating Abuse Hotline’s loveisrespect.org : http://www.loveisrespect.org/

Break the Cycle:  http://www.breakthecycle.org/

Love is Not Abuse: http://www.loveisnotabuse.com/

Presidential Proclamation: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/31/presidential-proclamation-national-teen-dating-violence-awareness-and-pr

Resources for Ending Family Violence in the African American Community

African American Domestic Violence Resrouces: www.aardvarc.org

Women of Color Network:  www.womenofcolornetwork.org

Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community: http://www.idvaac.org/

Presidential Proclamation- National African American History Month: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/31/presidential-proclamation-national-african-american-history-month-2012

Survivor-Centered Lawyering: Ethical Considerations (webinar, 1:30-2:40 pm CT) February 13, 2012.  Click here for more information.

CJSRT (Lufkin, TX) February 16, 2012. Click here to register.

CJSRT (Waco, TX) February 24, 2012. Click here to register.

Soul Murder – Understanding the Devastating Effects of Trauma/Abuse (Dallas, TX) February 26-27, 2012.  Click here for more information.

2012 TAASA Annual Conference – 30 years of Working to End Sexual Violence in Texas (San Antonio, TX) February 26-March 1, 2012.  Click here for more information.

2nd World Conference of Women’s Shelters – Creating a United Voice, English, Français and Español, (Washington, D.C.) February 27-March 1, 2012.  Click here for more information.

CJSRT (Abilene, TX) March 7, 2012. More information soon.

Domestic Violence Danger Assessment and Risk Management: A Two-Day Training Conference (San Antonio, TX) March 15-16, 2012.  Click here to register.

2012 Conference on Crimes Against Women (Dallas, TX) March 26-28, 2012. Click here for more information.

The 6th Biennial National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence (San Francisco, CA) March 29-30, 2012. Click here for more information.

2012 Investigating and Prosecuting Domestic Violence Cases (San Antonio, TX) April 11-13, 2012.  Click here for more information.

TCFV 9^th BIPP Statewide Conference (Austin, TX) April 13, 2012. Click here to register.

CJSRT (Amarillo, TX) May 4, 2012. More information soon.

TCFV Statewide Conference (Austin, TX) September 5-6, 2012. More information soon.

February 2012 is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. Now, for the first time, TCFV dedicates the entire issue of The River in observance. Take a look after the jump for information and resources to use in continuing your community activities.

We further our message with the motto Go Purple as a way to reconsider and recast the conversation around family and dating violence. Please see the map on page three of the link below – counties shaded in white show where a young woman was killed; purple counties show no fatalities of young women. It comes down to a simple statement: We want all Texas to Go Purple.

In this issue of The River, we emphatically point to Prevention as a priority. We provide information on serving teen victims as opposed to youth victims: where to draw the line, our approaches in school with the newest legislation, loveisrespect.org, and much more.

The River

• The River
• Youth Activities – Outreach and Education Ideas
• Student Health Advisory Council Toolkit
• TCFV Prevention Efforts
• loveisrespect outreach onepager