Each April since 1981, Office for Victims of Crime has facilitated the annual observances of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW) by promoting victims’ rights and honoring crime victims and those who advocate on their behalf.

To the founders of the victims’ rights movement, justice meant that all victims — regardless of geography, demographics, or financial status —would have the rights and services they need in the aftermath of a crime. This year’s theme “Extending the Vision: Reaching Every Victim” recommits to this ideal.

While many local communities observe Crime Victims’ Rights Week in various ways, Texas organizations working at the state level have collaborated to hold an event in Austin for the last several years. Please join us Thursday, April 26 for the statewide observance of NCVRW.

This year’s event will feature keynote speaker Representative Mark Strama and will recognize survivors who have overcome victimization and celebrate the services that provide many victims with hope for healing. Please read below for more details.

Please join us:

When: Thursday, April 26, 2012, 7 PM
Where: The Great Hall
Family Life Center
1300 Lavaca Street
Austin, TX

A food reception will follow.

Dear Members,

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and National Child Abuse Prevention Month a time to recognize that we each can play a part in promoting the social and emotional well-being of children. For many of us working in the movement to end violence against women, protecting children has often meant protecting mothers. The intersection between child abuse and domestic violence is well-documented and is recognized as a complex and multi-dimensional social problem requiring an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to improving outcomes for families in Texas.

I am pleased to be a part of just that kind of collaboration through my participation, along with TCFV, CPS and many others, in Senate Bill 434′s Task Force to Address the Relationship between Domestic Violence and Child Abuse and Neglect, made possible through the legislative leadership of Senator Jane Nelson. April marks an important milestone in the work of the Task Force as we gather over two days to share the findings of the various committees and work together to craft our recommendations to improve policy, practice and partnership among the child protection system and family violence service providers. It is fitting our work will culminate in this month set aside to honor those efforts intended to protect children.

Sincerely,

Donna Bloom
Director of Advocacy and Legal Services
Denton County Friends of the Family
Category I Member

Faith and Liberty’s Place Family Center, a project of The Family Place, Dallas

The Family Place received a grant from the Department of Justice and in October 2002 established the visitation center, Faith and Liberty’s Place (FLP) Family Center.   FLP Family Center provides supervised visitations in a child-friendly environment that emphasizes parent and child safety.  The potential for revictimizing the children or the protective parent is increased dramatically during separations, divorce and court ordered visitations.

Faith and Liberty’s Place was named in memory of 6-year-old Liberty Battaglia and 9-year-old Faith Battaglia.  Liberty and Faith’s father, who had a  history of domestic violence, shot and killed his daughters while he was being prosecuted for violating terms of a domestic violence case settlement that barred him from contacting his wife, the girls’ mother. The FLP is a safe haven that provides the community with supervised visitation, including on-site, one-on-one monitoring and observation of parenting time by trained professionals.

The Family Place is a Category 1 member.  For more information, click here.

Houston Area Women’s Center, Houston

The Houston Area Women’s Center (HAWC) hosted the first of two TCFV One in the Movement regional trainings on March 7, 2012.  Twenty-six area advocates attended the training on documentation and confidentiality and empowerment-based advocacy.

One advocate said, “This training was extremely informative – it will help me to better serve my clients in shelter.  It helped me realize that, when working as an advocate, it’s easy to put my personal values/beliefs/morals before the clients’ needs. This training reminded me to remain client-centered in my approach.”

HAWC is a Category 1 member.  For more information, click here.

Noah Projec, Abilene

Noah Project hosted a recent TCFV criminal justice system response training multi-disciplinary seminar on domestic violence in Abilene, TX on March 7, 2012.  The training offered 8 CEU hours, and 8 hours of credit for CJAD, TCLEOSE and CLE.

More than 60 people from law enforcement, Child Protective Services, area domestic violence providers and the faith community attended the training. Four knowledgeable speakers presented at this event: Barbie Brashear addressed understanding coalition building; Tracy Grinstead-Everly spoke on Texas laws affecting victims of family violence; Edna Yang shared information concerning immigration law and family violence; and Lt. Keith Shackleford delivered a presentation on family violence and stalking.

The presentations provided important information on Texas laws regarding victims of domestic violence, while also addressing the value of coordinated responses from service providers and assisting agencies.  The staff at Noah Project appreciated the opportunity to host the seminar this spring.  If your program is interested in hosting a criminal justice system response training in the future, please contact Nikhita Ved at nved@tcfv.org and be on the lookout for the May application.

Noah Project is a Category 1 member.  For more information, click here.

Coaching Boys into Men, Houston

Northwest Assistance Ministries (NAM) is a nonprofit, community-based, multi-program social service agency that strives to supply basic needs through neighbors helping neighbors. The Family Violence Center is one of the programs NAM offers to support their community in time of need. Recently Family Violence Center Youth Educator, Melanie Jackman, has worked with coaches to help them deliver a violence prevention message to their student athletes. Melanie has enlisted four coaches to participate in the Coaching Boys into Men program this year.

Coaching Boys into Men^SM is a coaches leadership program that partners with athletic coaches to help young male athletes practice respect toward themselves and others (http://coachescorner.org/.) The program addresses root causes of gender-based violence by helping athletes question the underlying beliefs that condone it and motivates them to take action when sexual harassment and other forms of violence against women are taking place. Additionally, because young athletes are leaders within their schools, they have the unique opportunity to model positive and respectful behavior toward girls to other students..

“We are raising a generation of boys who do not have good male role models so they look to athletes and artists to be those role models in their lives,” states Jackman. “At times, these individuals are not sending positive messages about masculinity. Instead, their message is about making money and getting together with a lot of women.”

During her initial outreach to coaches, Melanie discovered that she shares this concern with coaches who have been looking for a platform to discuss the issue of what it means to be an upstanding man in their community. The Coaching Boys into Men program provides them with that platform as well as structured lessons they can draw on to deliver their message.

Jackman states, “Historically, the violence against women movement has been about women helping women. What I have learned from Jackson Katz and others is that we need to talk to men and boys to increase their knowledge about respect. Men and boys play an important role in ending this form of violence, and we need to approach them as allies.  t is important that we let them know we are here because we consider them leaders who people look up to and want to emulate.”

Jackman sees her role in the community as empowering youth and providing them with knowledge and skills to have healthy and successful lives. She hopes that this program will grow in the schools in which she is currently working and possibly move into middle school in years to come.

Allies to Survivors with Disabilities

Allies to Survivors with Disabilities (ASD) is one of seven TCFV caucus networks and allies. This year, ASD members are redesigning their brochure and contacted VSA Texas—The State Organization on Arts and Disability. ASD wanted an artist with a disability to design the cover of their new brochure. With a registry of almost 500 Texas artists with disabilities, it was no surprise that 11 artists responded. ASD selected three art pieces and asked various constituents and members on TCFV listservs to vote for the final cover art. The winner was Naomi Rosen’s piece Defiant (on left).

Naomi described her piece Defiant as a self-portrait. “I create a self-portrait yearly never knowing what will appear. A new and unfamiliar strength derived of love and acceptance emerged.”  Naomi studied in Israel and New York. She worked as a potter in Italy and England. Naomi now lives in Texas with her beloved Bob and their dog Max, the great wise one.

Runner-up Carolyn Oliver (artwork on right) says, “Art is a very big part of my life.  In 2005, I sustained physically disabling injuries in a car accident.  My strong desire to create my art gave me the will to recover.”

Learn more about VSA Texas at the website www.vsatx.org.

Actress Marlee Matlin to Speak at Honoring Women in Our Lives luncheon

Please join us for Honoring Women in Our Lives, a special luncheon to raise awareness of domestic violence in Texas, to be hosted on May 3, at 12:00 pm at the Four Seasons hotel in Austin. Our special guest speaker is Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Marlee Matlin.

Marlee Matlin received worldwide critical acclaim for her motion picture debut in Children of a Lesser God, and has been praised for her work on West Wing, The L Word, Spin City, Desperate Housewives, ER, Judging Amy, CSI: New York and other well-loved TV shows. Matlin has received four Emmy award nominations for her guest turns on Picket Fences, The Practice, Seinfeld and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She serves on the celebrity board of the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Honoring Women in our Lives will pay tribute to individuals, corporations, and others for their outstanding commitment to empowering women and ending domestic violence. The event celebrates women who touch our lives and affect our character forever.

To register, please visit bit.ly/HonoringWomen.

Individual Members: Get Involved!

In April, many programs host Sexual Assault Awareness Month events.  Visit our online service directory  to find the family violence program in your community.  Check their website or give them a call to see if they are hosting SAAM events.