Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance

Action Priorities

2005-2007

Note: **= Items that must be accomplished as part of the continued coalition transformation.

SDVAAs=Sexual and/or Domestic Violence Action Agencies (commonly referred to as Sexual Assault Crisis Centers and Domestic Violence Programs)

Links to the topic below:

Raising Public Awareness of Sexual and Domestic Violence
Preventing Sexual and Domestic Violence
Public Policy to Improve the Community Response to Sexual and Domestic Violence
Supporting Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Agencies
Professional Resources to Support Effective Sexual and Domestic Violence Services
Training Advocates and Allied Professionals
Building the Capacity of the VSDV Action Alliance to carry out our mission

Raising Public Awareness of Sexual and Domestic Violence:

1. Public awareness materials developed for victims and survivors of sexual and domestic violence will be written at an accessible reading level, and produced in alternative formats (for example, multiple languages, Braille, audio-tape) as appropriate for the intended audiences and for SDVAAs.
2. Develop a set of VSDV Action Alliance public awareness materials to promote name recognition, logo recognition, awareness of the Action Alliance mission and philosophy and to raise public awareness of sexual and domestic violence including membership materials and an equal number of priority sexual violence and domestic violence materials (such as brochures, posters, fact sheets, static cling stickers, magnets, emery boards and balloons).**
3. Develop and conduct a major statewide sexual violence public awareness campaign, similar to the Silent Witness or Clothesline Projects that is highly visible and can be used at both the local community and statewide levels to raise awareness of both the extent and the impact of sexual violence in our communities.
4. Plan a new VSDV Action Alliance awards event and establish this event as an annual recognition of the important work that is being done to end sexual and domestic violence.**
5. Develop and deliver a prevention focused public awareness campaign with an emphasis on reaching men and boys.
6. Support the VSDV Action Alliance’s Task Forces and Caucuses in the development of public awareness materials, specifically supporting the Social Justice Task Force in the development of materials that promote understanding of the intersection of oppression and the LGBT Task Force in the development of materials that raise awareness of sexual and domestic violence within the LGBT community.
7. Maintain the “Break the Silence” campaign as both a public awareness and community organizing campaign focused on African-American faith communities and ensure that intimate partner sexual violence is effectively addressed as a part of this campaign. Consider the development of a comparable public awareness and community organizing campaign related to sexual violence.
8. Continue to work with the Office of the Attorney General to promote public awareness of sexual and domestic violence, partnering on projects such as the Verizon Hopeline project, Good Cuts for a Good Cause and booths as public events such as the Southern Women’s Show.
9. Recognize both Sexual Violence Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month by obtaining Governor’s Proclamations and through special awareness activities focused on the general public and allied professionals. **

Preventing Sexual and Domestic Violence:

1. Maintain and expand the DELTA collaboration through a statewide conference linking intimate partner prevention and rape prevention education efforts and through the development of a plan to sustain primary prevention focused on both sexual and domestic violence as part of a coordinated community response.
2. Adopt a position paper that addresses “protective factors” for children, youth and adults related to sexual and domestic violence victimization and perpetration and act on the positions adopted by establishing new partnerships and alliances (for example, with schools, child abuse prevention programs and others).
3. Adopt a position on marriage promotion as a sexual and intimate partner prevention strategy and then develop a resource on sexual and domestic violence to be distributed by Court Clerks as marriage licenses are issued.
4. Adopt a position on affirmative consent and the prevention of sexual violence and then develop a plan to incorporate this position into training, resources, public awareness materials and public policy.
5. Support the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in the development of a statewide intimate partner fatality review and corresponding policy and practice recommendations.
6. Support the development of a Youth Advocacy Task Force within the coalition to provide leadership to prevention and intervention work focused on youth.

Public Policy to Improve the Community Response to Sexual and Domestic Violence:

1. 1. Develop and implement a 5-year plan of public policy initiatives that will move the VSDV Action Alliance into a pro-active leadership position on the response to sexual and domestic violence in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
2. 2. Create and support a Public Policy Committee to develop and implement a structure for member involvement in public policy activities including communication, individual participation, and assisting local SDVAAs to develop an infrastructure to respond to policy alerts.**
3. 3. Actively participate in monitoring federal legislation through the national organizations, the National Network to End Domestic Violence and the National Alliance Against Sexual Assault, and communicate federal issues to local SDVAAs.
4. 4. Conduct voter registration drives and provide SDVAAs the resources to conduct voter registration drives to encourage all of those affected by sexual and domestic violence to make their voices heard in the democratic process.
5. 5. Maintain the highest priority on securing adequate funding for sexual and domestic violence intervention and prevention services throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.
6. Actively participate in legislative studies related to sexual and domestic violence and ensure that the study recommendations are communicated to SDVAAs and are implemented on behalf of sexual and domestic violence survivors.

Supporting Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Agencies:

1. Develop resources for employees and community members about non-profits, including non-profit employee rights and responsibilities, and how to propose ideas, request information and/or address grievances.
2. Continue to promote quality services throughout the state through the continued evolution of standards and certification for SDVAAs including the possibility of combining the SACC and DVP processes, ensuring that training requirements adequately support the VSDV Action Alliance principles, and developing a protocol to address concerns that standards can not or are not being met.**
3. Develop outcome measures and tools to support outcome measurement in collaboration with the primary state funders of sexual and domestic violence services for use by SDVAAs.
4. Develop and implement a plan for site visits with new SDVAA Directors to introduce the resources available through the VSDV Action Alliance, including training, technical assistance and resources, and to encourage the participation of diverse staff in the Alliance.**
5. Expand VAdata participation to 100% of the SDVAAs and add the campus centers as funding allows.**
6. Explore the benefits and drawbacks of forming an “Employee Association” to address insurance and other collective benefit issues.
7. Conduct a bi-annual survey of salaries and benefits in SDVAAs and distribute the results to all member SDVAAs.
8. Use technology to link the coalition and SDVAAs (including a toll-free technical assistance number, list serves, bulletin boards and other tools) and provide training to each SDVAA on the effective use of this technology.
9. Focus on technical assistance to rural communities through the addition of a Rural Outreach Coordinator who will organize regional meetings of rural SDVAA service providers, coordinate with the statewide rural initiatives (for example, the current grant for rural domestic violence and child victimization services), and facilitate technology to link rural service providers.
10. Continue the development of the disability project with an emphasis on mental health related disabilities, supporting access to services through training, resources and technical assistance for service providers.
11. Explore the resources available to make SDVAA facilities and services accessible to people with disabilities, seeking statewide support for local community access wherever possible.
12. Continue to work with statewide initiatives such as the Hispanic Outreach Forums to improve services to Virginians of Hispanic descent, with a focus on outreach to Spanish-speaking, recent immigrant and migrant populations who may have difficulty accessing services.
13. Develop a discussion paper on SDVAAs serving male survivors of child sexual abuse addressing the scope of the violence, the needs of survivors and providing guidance to service providers on the range of services to be offered for children, youth and adults who are male and who are survivors of child sexual abuse.

Professional Resources to Support Effective Sexual and Domestic Violence Services:

1. Develop and implement a plan for the publication of regular VSDV Action Alliance resources (for example, bulletins, newsletters, reports, fact sheets) in a variety of formats to meet the needs of the membership and allied professionals.**
2. Maintain an up-to-date on-line Directory of SDVAAs for use by professionals and the general public that includes crisis intervention as well as business contact information.**
3. Develop and distribute resources to assist SDVAAs in providing services to military members and military families, including the differences between military and civilian laws, procedures, services and rights.
4. Develop and distribute a resource packet for service providers on how to work with survivors on credit issues.
5. Survey member SDVAAs regarding their interest in providing parent education and if more than 50% indicate an interest, work to develop a curriculum that meets the required standards of the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court (OES) for use by SDVAAs.
6. Maintain and expand the lending Resource Library.
7. Operate a 24-hour toll-free Hotline for victims and survivors, family and friends, and professionals who need support, information and referrals related to sexual and domestic violence.
8. Maintain the 24-hour Hotline as a resource for SDVAAs that need back up in providing 24-hour access to services, language interpretation and/or emergency coverage at a reasonable cost.

Training Advocates and Allied Professionals:

1. Provide regional and statewide trainings in a variety of formats, for a variety of professionals and on a variety of topics to promote effective intervention and prevention responses to sexual and domestic violence.
2. Expand the Training Institute to include a faculty qualified to deliver sexual violence training as well as a faculty that is diverse and includes persons with disabilities and offer both sexual and domestic violence related trainings to meet the needs of SDVAAs.
3. Explore the possibilities for delivering basic advocacy training to every SDVAA new employee within 6 months of hire and work with the SDVAAs to test a model for training delivery.
4. Establish a mentorship project within the VSDV Action Alliance to provide leadership training and promote leadership development amongst new members, particularly people of color.
5. Conduct a bi-annual training needs assessment of SDVAAs to guide the Training Committee in the development of annual training plans.
6. Based on current training needs that have been identified, prioritize the following training topics for 2005-2006 (in addition to those mentioned elsewhere in the action priorities):

a. training for trainers in both domestic violence and sexual violence;

b. anti-oppression training, including training that builds cultural competence, particularly related to race and lgbtqi issues;

c. cross training on domestic violence/sexual violence/ child sexual abuse;

d. training on working with elderly victims of sexual and domestic violence and the new APS guidelines;

e. training that promotes collaboration at the local level between Child Protective Services and SDVAAs;

f. training on facilitating support groups at both the basic and experienced levels;

g. training on immigration issues and sexual and domestic violence, including the issue of trafficking;

h. training on working with women who have been criminally charged and women who are incarcerated;

i. training on issues of substance abuse and prescription drug abuse for survivors of sexual and domestic violence;

j. training on effectively using fatality review to understand and address the community response to sexual and domestic violence;

k. training that builds the capacity of SDVAAs, including training on fundraising, grant writing, technology safety and legislative advocacy; and

l. training that supports the staff of SDVAAs in their work, addressing issues of re-victimization, staff burnout, safety and self-care.

Building the Capacity of the VSDV Action Alliance to carry out our mission:

1. Increase the VSDV Action Alliance capacity to deliver technical assistance related to sexual violence issues.
2. Participate in statewide interagency work representing the interests of SDVAAs and sexual and domestic violence survivors including, but not limited to, the V-STOP State Action Team, the VDSS Domestic Violence Action Team, the VDH Sexual Violence Prevention Advisory Group, the Batterer Intervention Certification Board, the Virginia Interagency Council for the Homeless, the Campus Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the I-CAN Advisory Group for the OES and partnerships on a variety of projects with allies such as the OAG, DCJS, VDSS, VDH, VHCD, VCCJA, PCAV, VCPEA, VPLC, the FNE association and others.
3. Actively promote the participation of diverse members in the VSDV Action Alliance, developing membership materials, leadership development initiatives, and information for survivors on becoming involved in the VSDV Action Alliance as well as the local and state political process.**
4. Create a fund development plan to support the operation of the VSDV Action Alliance as well as a statewide fund to support the work of SDVAAs.**
5. Continue to provide staff and financial support for the work of Task Forces, Caucuses and membership Committees.
6. Reach out to campuses across the Commonwealth to encourage participation in the VSDV Action Alliance and to support the maintenance and expansion of effective support services to students attending colleges and universities.
7. Continue to produce the National Sexual Assault Crisis Center Directory and assess the costs and benefits to the coalition to determine if this should be a continuing priority for the VSDV Action Alliance.
8. Explore marketing the successful products/projects of the VSDV Action Alliance (for example, Breaking the Silence, VAdata, Training for Trainers) as a revenue source to support our continued work.

For more information E-mail Info@vsdvalliance.org. E-mail is not a secure form of communication. To ensure confidentiality please call the Family Violence & Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.838.8238 (V/TTY).