Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence - Essay Example

Proposal to Provide Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence. Summary of Proposal WomenCare Groups is a charitable organization whose goal is to offer safe shelter for women who are victims of domestic abuse. The organization was established out of the need to offer intervention services following the gap of an effective approach of dealing with domestic violence in Rio Grande Valley in Texas. The primary focus of the WomenCare program is to reduce the negative impacts and long term suffering of women who have suffered domestic abuse by offering them safe accommodation, counselling, life skills and equipping them with the skills and knowledge that allows them to live independently in the community after completion of the intervention period. The WomenCare program seeks to operate with an emergency bed capacity of 50 women as well as their children. The women will be involved in the program for a period of 12 months and then they will be assessed for the efficiency of the program in equipping them with the ability to leave and engage in healthy relationships. The expectation of the program is that 90% of the rehabilitated women who have received shelter, participation in support groups and case management will show signs of increased self-esteem, engage in healthy and safe relationships, obtain secure housing and employment and see a decrease in depression. 2. List of Potential Funders The identification of potential funders was conducted through a university database. The resources of the Foundation Center were utilized to identify prospective funding. The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) website was also significant in providing information on federal grants that offer support for victims of domestic violence. Based on our grant needs, the major potential funding source of our program is a federal grant from the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). The Transitional Housing Assistance Grants for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Stalking, or Sexual Assault Programs from the federal grant have principles that are in alignment with our goals to prevent violence against all women, protect and restore the economic security of victims of domestic violence, provide programs to underserved communities and address the issue of sexual assault against women. YWCA Texas is also a potential funder of this program alongside Maryland Small Grants Program. 3. Project 3.1 Problem Statement Domestic violence or intimate partner violence (IPV) are synonymous terms that are used to refer to a pattern of abusive acts used by one partner in an intimate relationship to exercise control and power over the other. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC; 2006) describes domestic violence as a growing epidemic that is preventable but very serious in the United States as it affects millions of people. Annually, an estimated 7 million of American women go through domestic abuse through the hands of the people close to them such as a partner, spouse of ex-partner. 24% of women in the United States are affected by this menace and have been a victim of physical abuse at a point in their life from acts perpetrated by their intimate partners (WHO, 2011). 3.2 Project Narrative Data on victims of domestic violence will be collected from the CDC’s reports on the challenges that are faced by victims of domestic violence, other programs that have been set forth to assist them and some of the intervention measures that have worked in the past. To gain more insights and ensure success of the program, surveys were conducted on the focus group of women who have survived through the problem through an intervention program and have been able to transition successfully. The proposed WomenCare program has identified its target population as women who have suffered domestic abuse and living in the Rio Grande Valley. The women to be sheltered are those exiting domestic violence shelter program and are ready to start independent living. The purpose of the program is to ensure that the women are integrated successfully into the society and are able to undertake constructive economic activities to support themselves. Most of the women who go through abuse in relationships do not report the ills to authorities or nay other bodies that can help them. According to CDC (2011), 30% of women in abuse relationships worldwide do not report battery, abuse or sexual assault. There are risk factors associated with domestic violence: the practice can be transmitted to the children after witnessing the incidences at home as well as victims turning to drug abuse to survive. 3.3 Project Goal and Objective WomenCare seeks to address the issue of domestic violence by taking in women exiting rehabilitation centers so that they have the means to start their lives in a healthy way. The project seeks to enhance self-sufficiency in women in order to empower them emotionally, socially and economically. Research shows that domestic violence is in high prevalence among the uneducated, poor and women of color (Agazie, 2011). It is therefore prudent that this project is implemented in Rio Grande Valley as it has the largest population of the area fit the criteria and thus, they need the agency services the most. 3.4 Significance of the Project According to Cole, Logan, & Shannon (2008), there is a great likelihood of decline in the level of re-victimization for victims of domestic abuse who go reactive safe shelter, receive counseling and get access to support groups as they exit rehabilitation and shelter environment. Providing shelter and support services to affected women and children equips them with personal empowerment that they need to reestablish their lives in a healthy relationships. Domestic abuse affects women across the globe and it has a direct bearing on the field of social work. The success of this program will not only be the success of the abused women of Rio Grande Valley, but will give hope to all the affected women in the world. 4. Program 4.1 Program Goals and Objectives The WomenCare program will run for one year. The ultimate goal of the program is to ensure follow-up activities that will enable the survivors of domestic abuse to leave the life of victimization and violence and embrace independent living so that they can reject any form of violence in their future relationships and in their lives. With a budget of $4,500, the program’s goal is to empower 50 women get integrated into the community by offering them the assistance they need to gain self-sufficiency and enhance their independent skills. The women will also benefit from support from each other. Apart from providing them with shelter, the program seeks to equip them with skills and knowledge that will enable them reject any form of relationship that is abusive and also avoid re-victimization. The program aims to achieve the following objectives: Provide case management for assistance of both shelter and jobs. Offer personal counseling services to heal the physiological trauma associated with domestic abuse and victimization. Facilitate support for the abused women by organization of support groups. Facilitate therapy and counselling support for emotional healing so that the victims can be empowered individually. 4.2 Project Activities WomenCare program is committed to eradication of domestic abuse against women by providing them with safe housing, jobs, supportive children’s programs, counselling, financial literacy training, employment support and legal assistance to enable them live independently in Rio Grande Valley. The primary focus of the program at its inception will be to provide the women and their children with services that meet their urgent and basic needs such as safe shelter, food, healthcare and clothing. The program seeks to work with a number of volunteers who will be directly and indirectly involved in offering services and material goods for the rehabilitating women. WomenCare program is alive to the fact that proper and effective management of the situation should include community participation in order to detect most cases of unreported abuse, enhance early intervention thereby preventing women in abusive relationships from suffering further abuse. As such, this program seeks to accomplish its goals by undertaking activities that focus on both perpetrator rehabilitation and community outreach. Even though the program is not providing shelter for men, the program proposes the development of unique intervention measures that are tailor-made to address men who abuse their women with a view of improving the safety of women in relationship. This comes in the wake of a realization that most cases of domestic violence are never reported and therefore, educating men can help improve the situation for women who suffer in silence. The community outreach program seeks to create awareness about the vice of domestic abuse in the society by working with different people such as counselors, teachers, nurses and social workers. 4.3 Program Evaluation WomenCare program acknowledges the importance of program evaluation as a measure of effectiveness. A pretest and posttest assessment will be used to evaluate the program. During the initial phases of program inception, a pretest will be administered. The posttest assessment will take the form of a survey and will be administered following the completion of the 12 month period. The same set of survey questions will be used in both tests. The overarching expected results from the program is that 90% of the rehabilitated women who have received shelter, participation in support groups and case management will show signs of increased self-esteem, engage in healthy and safe relationships, obtain secure housing and employment and see a decrease in depression. The support system offered by the program will engage in follow-up phone calls activities between the 6th and 12th month following the completion of the program. The follow-up will be part of the evaluation process as the caller will assess the efficacy of the services provided to the survivors of abusive relationship. Indicators of success will include whether the women are living more stable lives, have more self-confidence or can provide decent livelihoods to their children among others, all which are attributed to the aftercare program. Read More