Job Summary:  Answer calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline; using database of referrals, make appropriate referrals and provide information and crisis intervention to victims of domestic violence.  Offer advocacy as needed to victims and concerned friends and family members; act as phone liaison between callers and nationwide service providers.  40 hours of paid job training required.  $10.41/HR; Shift and bilingual Spanish differential paid.

Experience Required:  Basic literacy.  Must have either six months experience in direct services to victims of domestic violence or similar human services programs, or six months experience in crisis intervention, or an undergraduate degree in social work, psychology or similar field. Individual should be able to type a minimum of 35 words per minute.  Experience/familiarity with computers, and previous experience in documentation of services preferred.

To Apply: Visit www.tcfv.org and fill out an application. A resume is not an acceptable application. Mail (see address on website) or Fax to 512-306-9887 or email to jfarrell@tcfv.org

FLSA Status: Full Time/Exempt

 General Position Purpose Statement

The Family Violence Services Coordinator reports to the Family Violence Services Manager and will be responsible for supervising contract Trainers. 

 Using TCFV’s strategic plan as a guide, this position is responsible for strengthening and expanding the capacity of family violence service providers.

 The Family Violence Services Coordinator is responsible for establishing and maintaining positive working relationships with family violence service providers, BIPPs and others within the assigned region as well as for responding to requests for training, technical assistance and other requests from programs within these regions.

 Essential Responsibilities/Duties

• Collaborates with the TCFV staff in developing, establishing, implementing and evaluating operational initiatives, follows operational and strategic changes to best meet the needs of the organization and its constituents, particularly the family violence service providers and BIPPs.

• Ensures the alignment of staff and resources to fulfill agency objectives.
• Plans, develops, implements, oversees and evaluates programs that enhance support to family violence service providers, constituents and/or other program initiatives.
• Plans, develops, implements and evaluates programs to enhance family violence programs and allies capacity to provide quality services to meet their community’s needs.
• Plans, develops, leads and evaluates advocacy with statewide family violence services providers.
• Builds, cultivates and maintains networking opportunities and advocacy with programs that intersect with those offered by family violence service providers.
• Plans, develops, leads and evaluates the implementation of training and technical assistance and capacity building options for statewide family violence programs.
• Builds, cultivates and maintains networking opportunities and advocacy with those who have the capacity to enhance and/or increase program services available for survivors of domestic violence and their families.
• Identifies local, regional and statewide programmatic needs and trends and makes recommendations for program and strategy changes and/or improvements.
• Researches, collects and produces materials to meet the family violence service providers and batterer intervention program needs.
• Plans and implements trainings e.g. TCFV Annual Conference and New Workers Institute, including assisting in developing conference budget, coordinating specific staff assignments, and workshop solicitations, development of written materials, presenter liaison and on site support as required.
• Utilizes effective, current, innovative methods to strengthen and expand the capacity of family violence service providers and batterer intervention programs.
• Stays informed on current events in each region and makes proactive calls to family violence service providers.
• Ensures that calls and requests for technical assistance are responded in a supportive, timely manner.
• Represents TCFV and promotes TCFV through presentations and trainings.
• Leads and facilitates activities to strengthen internal and cross-team management and team building.
• Ensures timely and accurate reporting of grant activities, including contributing information for agency’s funding applications.
• Ensures timely and accurate submission of evaluations, reports and other required or requested documentation.
• Assists in ensuring compliance with all TCFV contracts.
• Other projects and responsibilities may be added and/or changed. 

 Job Requirements and Responsibilities

• Strong team building and leadership skills to effectively manage Coalition activities through vision, strategic planning and expertise.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills to elicit commitment to and advancement of TCFV’s mission and vision both internally and externally.
• Must possess strong presentation skills and public speaking experience.
• Communication skills suitable for presentation and written publication, for internal and external distribution.
• Effective leadership and management skills to guide the Coalition’s response to changing environments and to develop the cultural climate required to implement new models of operation.
• Critical analytical skills to understand the political, social , financial and external issues affecting service providers; to foresee and interpret trends and the dynamic changing needs of TCFV members and; to develop process and resources to respond effectively and in a timely manner.
• Thorough knowledge of domestic violence issues and circumstances faced by those experiencing domestic violence.
• Demonstrated ability to multi-task and work under tight and/or changing timelines; strong time management skills to coordinate and prioritized own and others’ activities, evaluate progress and provide feedback; and to relocate resources to complete activities with set deadlines.
• Working knowledge of Windows Operating Systems and Microsoft Office applications.
• A minimum of two years experience (three preferred) in domestic violence programs, which includes providing direct services to survivors and knowledge of BIPP.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Social Services, Human Services or Business, or related field. Administration or related field or any combination of related education and experience with a documented record of the ability to perform duties and responsibilities of the position.

 Other Requirements/Working Conditions

• Ability to read, write and converse in English; Spanish a plus.
• Availability to travel overnight extensively.
• Must have emotional and physical stamina to tolerate prolonged sitting or standing to deal with a variety of stressful situations, including responses to complaints, difficult requests from programs and individuals in crisis, and internal and external interactions, to effectively work long and at times odd hours, while maintaining a sense of humor.
• Works in a normal office environment, except while traveling, with minimum exposure to dust, noise, or temperature extremes.  Requires bending, stooping, lifting and carrying objects up to 25 pounds, with or without accommodations. 

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and minimum level of work being performed.  They are not intended to be construed as exhaustive of all duties, responsibilities and skills required for the position.  The employee will be required to perform any other job-related duties as required by the job objectives, the president, vice president and mission and philosophy of TCFV.  This description does not modify any employee’s at-will-status and is not a contract for continued employment of any duration.

To Apply: Visit www.tcfv.org and fill out an application and mail (see address on website) or fax to 512-306-9887 or email to jfarrell@tcfv.org.   A resume is not a substitute for an application.

For six months now, I have held the first-ever White House position dedicated to combating violence and sexual assault against women and continuing the important work of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

Every morning when I’ve walked into the White House, I’ve brought with me the stories of the many survivors I have worked with over the years.

I’ve focused on raising the profile of violence against women issues across Federal Agencies, states, tribal communities, and localities; coordinating interagency collaboration on these issues; implementing victim assistance programs; and integrating these issues into Administration-wide programs such as the White House Fatherhood Initiative, the White House Council on Women and Girls, HUD’s fight against homelessness, and the Justice Department’s recent effort to better combat disproportionate violence in tribal communities.

Thegovmonitor.com

More and more large corporations making a stand against domestic violence.  These companies deserve more recognition for what they are doing.  Here are 3 that are doing amazing things through various programs.

Verizon Wireless has their Hopeline program of donated phones for victims giving them a lifeline to the outside world. HopeLine has grown significantly and is now a multifaceted program that includes a successful phone recycling and re-use effort, financial support for local and national domestic violence organizations, community and corporate awareness programs, and partnerships with law enforcement agencies, professional sports teams, educational institutions and corporations nationwide.

Avon Company has their Women’s Empowerment Campaign. The Avon Foundation has funded an educational DVD available free of charge that helps viewers recognize signs of abuse and respond appropriately with critical referral information. PSAs and millions of free Domestic Violence Resource Guides are also distributed to raise lifesaving awareness. support of this mission, proceeds from the Women’s Empowerment Bracelet launched the Avon Empowerment Fund, which contributed $1 million to the UNIFEM-managed UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and funded local UNIFEM projects in 13 countries.

Examiner.com

“I finally decided to get help after he pushed me down the stairs and I said I’m not going to wait for him to kill me.”

That’s the story of an undocumented Mexican immigrant and mother of four. She trekked through the desert for a month to cross the border hoping for a better life in the U.S. However, her new life in Pilsen was not filled with hope. It was filled with physical and verbal abuse from her partner. The woman now has a restraining order against her abuser, but she still lives in fear.

“I can’t live a normal life,” she said. “His friends spy on me.”

She is one of many Latina women whose struggles to leave an abusive partner are hindered by language barriers, a lack of knowledge about the legal system, and in some cases, their undocumented status.

News.medill.northwestern.edu

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.

By DALE LEZON HOUSTON CHRONICLE

The pastor of a Houston-area church as been accused of domestic violence.

James Wallace Dixon, 47, is charged with assault on a family member, a misdemeanor.

Dixon, who is pastor at Community of Faith Church in north Houston and was a Metro board member from 2004 to 2009, is free in on $50,000 bail.

Officials said the charge stems from an altercation Jan. 25 between Dixon and his estranged wife, whose name has not been released. The couple has been separated for about 9 months, officials said.

Investigators said that Dixon went to his wife’s home in the 5000 block of Bridge Valley Drive to drop off the couple’s children. His wife let him inside the home briefly but then asked him to leave.

Dixon allegedly pushed her, picked up their youngest child and went outside, officials said.

Chron.com

According to the ASPCA, half of all of domestic violence victims delay seeking help for the sake of their pets. Their fears are not unfounded: More than 70 percent of women entering shelters report that their abusers had also threatened, injured, or killed family pets.

Victims of domestic abuse who have pets are put in a tough spot. They not only have good reason to worry about their pets, but they often rely on their companion animals as a source of comfort and support. Yet, most shelters won’t accept pets. In early 2008, American Humane knew of only four shelters that provided on-site housing for animals. They created the Pets and Women’s Shelters Program to give shelters the tools to include refuge for animal victims of domestic violence to stay with their families.

Animalwelfare.change.org

(UPI) – Women and teenage girls face efforts by some male partners to sabotage birth control or coerce pregnancy, including damaging condoms, U.S. researchers say.
The study, published in the journal Contraception, found 35 percent of women who reported partner violence also reported either pregnancy coercion or birth control sabotage including damaging condoms and destroying contraceptives.

The team of researchers led by University of California, Davis, found approximately one in five young women said they experienced pregnancy coercion — and 15 percent said they experienced birth control sabotage. In addition, 53 percent said they had experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner.

Kfbk.com