I am sharing the following good news from Colleen Coble, the Executive Director of the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
“To: MCADSV Members
From: Colleen Coble, CEO
Date: January 28, 2013
Re: Governor Jay Nixon proposes $1.9 million increase in funding for domestic violence services in his Fiscal Year 2014 state budget
Governor Nixon proposes $1.9 million increase in funding for domestic violence services in his Fiscal Year 2014 state budget proposal
The state Fiscal Year 2014 budget proposal released Monday night, 1-28-13, by Governor Jay Nixon allocates $1.6 million in federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funding and an additional $300,000 in other federal funds for domestic violence services through the Department of Social Services. This use of TANF funding for domestic violence services has been done in many other states, but Gov. Nixon’s proposal is the first for Missouri. Surveys by MCADSV of its member programs consistently show that about 75 percent of domestic violence service recipients receive or are eligible for TANF.
The total FY14 funding proposed by the Governor for domestic violence services is $8,466,524. The current funding level is $6.5 million, of which $4.75 million is state funding.
Governor receives standing ovation for comments on domestic violence in State of the State speech
In Governor Nixon’s State of the State speech, he received a bipartisan standing ovation when he spoke forcefully and poignantly about the obligation to ensure that “courageous” battered women and their children are not turned away from shelters and services that are full.
Here are the Governor’s comments:
“Each day in our state and across the country, tragedies occur that don’t make headlines, and often don’t get reported at all. I am talking about domestic violence. Last year, our network of shelters for victims of domestic violence provided safe haven for thousands of women and children. But thousands of others were turned away because the shelters were full.
“We know that battered women are at greatest risk when they make the courageous decision to leave an abusive partner. Finding shelter can literally make the difference between life and death for these women and for their children.
“That is why my budget includes a 29 percent increase in funds to provide more beds, more treatment, more safety at domestic violence shelters throughout our state. No child – no mother – who has been the victim of domestic violence should ever be turned away and left to fend for themselves during these moments of crisis.”
This is an exciting beginning to our work with the 2013 General Assembly as advocates who can, and do, shape public policy to prevent and end sexual and domestic violence.
Onward!
Colleen
Colleen Coble
Chief Executive Officer
Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
217 Oscar Drive, Suite A
Jefferson City, MO 65101
573-634-4161 ext. 103
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Said it a million times before…. but if you haven’t joined MCADSV– YOU SHOULD. They’ll keep you up to date w/ good news like this… And let you know how you can help. Plus give you all kinds of great trainings, etc. JOIN UP AND GIVE THEM YOUR SUPPORT, HEALTHCARE PPL!
When women present in health care settings, we have a critically important, possibly life-saving chance to talk to them about violence. New guidelines from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) underscore the importance of this opportunity and the duty of those of us in women’s health care settings in particular to follow through and do right by our patients.
From the introduction (excerpt):
“Over the past two decades, a growing body of research has recognized the connection between relationship violence and poor reproductive health care outcomes for women. More hidden and often undetected forms of victimization involving coercive behaviors that interfere with reproductive health have emerged from this research.
Health care visits provide a window of opportunity to address IPV and coercive behaviors related to patients’ reproductive health. The goal of this resource is to reframe the way in which health care systems respond to IPV and reproductive and sexual coercion. The health care provider is the hub of a wheel in a trauma-informed, coordinated health care response that includes universal education and prevention.
This guide highlights research that demonstrates how a brief intervention using a safety card to educate female patients about reproductive and sexual coercion can improve reproductive health outcomes and promote healthy, safe, and consensual relationships. Safety cards and other resources for integrating and sustaining a trauma-informed, coordinated response to IPV and reproductive and sexual coercion are included in this publication.
In 2011, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued guidelines for preventive health services for women that recommend routine domestic violence (intimate partner violence) screening. The guidelines endorsed by Department of Health and Human Services require that new health insurance plans cover domestic violence screening as part of women’s preventive services.
Under the Affordable Care Act, new health plans must reimburse domestic violence screening and counseling as part of preventive health care services at no additional cost. Addressing Intimate Partner Violence Reproductive and Sexual Coercion Guide expands the scope of routine screening for IPV to include assessment for reproductive and sexual coercion. A trauma-informed, comprehensive approach to relationship violence that includes behaviors that interfere with patients’ reproductive health can improve the quality of care and reproductive health outcomes including higher contraceptive compliance, fewer unintended pregnancies, preventing coerced and repeat abortions, and reducing sexually transmitted infections (STIs)/HIV and associated risk behaviors.”
You can get a copy of the new guidelines free at http://www.acog.org/About%20ACOG/ACOG%20Departments/Health%20Care%20for%20Underserved%20Women/~/media/Departments/Violence%20Against%20Women/Reproguidelines.pdf.
It’s time to do right by abused women in healthcare settings — time to lift the shade and let the sunlight in. Women may not always choose to disclose — or to do what we (who know very little of their situation) deem to be the “right thing” to do (i.e. leave) but just conveying that the healthcare provider can offer caring, ongoing unconditional support, and a nonjudgmental attitude is a tremendous intervention. Connecting women with resources for help and safety planning can go even further. Get your guidelines today and start things moving in your workplace!
Please note this course is face-to-face– Not available in a distance format at this point. If you are in Columbia, it would be a great course for healthcare providers and future providers. We can vouch for Dr. French– she’s quite amazing. Read on….
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COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT: Violence Against Women and Children
Fall 2012 Mondays from 1:00 – 3:45pm.
Graduate students: ESC_PS 7087-15 #40950 – Undergraduate Students ESC_PS 4087-22 #40949 .
According to various U.S. national studies, 30-40% of girls and 13% of boys will experience sexual abuse in childhood, around 18% of women and 11% of adolescents will experience rape, and 30% of women will experience intimate partner violence. Given these high prevalence rates, the likelihood that you will work with a someone through your teaching, counseling, mentoring or advising with a history of sexual, physical, or psychological trauma is likely. By taking the Violence Against Women and Children course, you will learn the sociopolitical framework of gender based and family violence, common psychological sequelae related to such trauma, prevention and policy implications, and become introduced to empirically validated and best practices treatment with sexual abuse, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence survivors. Students will learn about vicarious trauma and tools for self-care, while also hearing from a series of local guest experts in treatment for survivors of gender-based or family violence.
Here’s a note from Dr. French: I am excited to teach this course again as it serves as an important foundation for counseling and psychotherapy training. Given the sensitive and challenging nature of the course, instructor approval is required. Please contact me if you are interested or have questions frenchbr@missouri.edu.
Warmly,
Bryana French
Bryana H. French, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Black Studies Program
Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Department
University of Missouri at Columbia
frenchbr@missouri.edu
ESCP (573) 882-3084; BSP (573) 882-0646