Recent News Items

In 2006, Texas Family Violence Interagency Collaborative (TFVIC) was developed to serve as a tool to build communication, to create strategies, and enhance collaboration among Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV), Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), and the Department of Family and Protective Services (CPS & APS). The ultimate goal is to improve services for family violence victims and their children. This statewide collaborative began in FY00 and developed a training curriculum, a liaison system and a Memorandum of Understanding template to be used between family violence programs and regional CPS/APS offices. TFVIC was formed in FY06 as a revitalization of this original workgroup to continue the dialogue about how we can best serve victims of family violence.

TFVIC understands when there is both domestic violence and child abuse in families often approached as separate problems, and in many cases the abused parent may lose custody. There are also unique challenges for victims of family violence who have disabilities or are elderly both in accessing services at family violence programs and within APS. These are sentiments that are also heard from many other states. Continue Reading »

We are excited to announce that the Executive Directors’ Conference will be held on January 22-23, 2008 at the Omni Austin Hotel @ Southpark in Austin. The Executive Directors’ Conference will be 1-1/2 days of networking with peers, will include coaching sessions, breakout table discussions, a networking reception, a networking dinner, two keynote speakers, a General Membership Meeting, and a panel presentation with key funders. Based on the executive directors’ survey, we have invited expert speakers to address key issues. The conference will cover topics such as Human Resources, Legal Issues, Fundraising, and much more! We are thrilled to inform you that TCFV has secured a funder to pay for your lodging and registration fee. Registration is limited to ONE Executive Director (or designee) from a Family Violence Organization that is a TCFV Category I or II member or is funded by HHSC as a 24 Hour Family Violence Shelter Center or as a Family Violence non-Residential Center. For more information and to register for the conference, visit www.regonline.com/ED08. For lodging, reserve your hotel room by January 8. If you have questions about lodging or problems with regonline, please contact our event planner, Beth Plater at bethplater@mac.com . We look forward to seeing you at the conference.

This report summarizes some of the important legislative developments relating to family violence from the most recent Texas legislative session. It is worth noting that almost 1,500 bills were passed by the Legislature, and TCFV is unable to review and analyze them all. We are reporting on the legislation with the most significant impact on family violence issues, but there certainly may be other legislation that is of interest to individual victims, their families or family violence service providers.

The 1,500 bills that were passed are only a small fraction of the more than 6,000 bills that were filed this session. In light of those statistics and the fact that the legislative process is designed to make it difficult for new legislation to pass, we are very pleased with the fact that five of TCFV’s six legislative priority items did indeed pass AND that funding for family violence and BIPP services has been maintained or increased.

No matter what the results of any legislative session, the process requires considerable efforts by many people. TCFV is very, very grateful to the efforts of its Board of Directors, its Public Policy Committee and to the many family violence advocates and survivors who took time out of their lives to participate in the legislative process. We could not do our work without you. Thank you! Download the Report

Continue Reading »

Fathers – and father figures – can protect young people from domestic violence. The vast majority of fathers do not commit domestic violence. But fathers and father figures can do even more to prevent the long-term harm that domestic violence causes in the lives of young people. This Father’s Day, the Office of the Attorney General has joined with TCFV to encourage fathers to take a stand against domestic violence.

You can listen to coverage of the press conference announcing this initiative, with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and TCFV Chief Executive Officer Sheryl Cates, by clicking here.

Continue Reading »