Description The interrelationship between trauma exposure, inequality, social disadvantage, health problems, mental health difficulties, and homelessness requires a high level of coordination and collaboration among all services – government and community – to ensure women’s safety and their success in creating violence free lives. Uncoordinated efforts result in the waste of scarce resources, duplication of effort, disillusionment of staff working within systems, unmet public expectations, and, most detrimentally, compromise community and system efforts to keep women safe. A coordinated local approach to domestic violence means working together across disciplines and agencies to encourage an integrated and consistent approach to the victim, the children and the offender. Such an approach includes the justice, health care, child protection, social services, immigrant settlement, and education systems, as well as those services that specifically address the needs of women fleeing domestic violence and of Indigenous and other diverse groups. Major reports on violence against women and children over the past 25 years have confirmed the crucial importance of coordination of all sectors, at all levels, across the entire continuum of the response to domestic violence. Promising Practices ✓ Services operate in a collaborative and supportive manner with and alongside other social services, health, police and justice services; ✓ Shared vision, goals, strategies and an underlying philosophical framework are in place across disciplines and agencies; ✓ Ensures that all the decision-makers are at the table; and that their values align and leverage with the collective; ✓ Women and women serving organizations are placed in the centre and initiatives are designed around their needs; as the collaboratives work to advocate on behalf of women and girls; ✓ Mandatory and multidisciplinary training, engaging social services, health and justice professionals is in place ensuring integrated and consistent approach across sectors and reflecting the voices of women and girls affected by domestic violence; ✓ Policies, procedures and protocols are established to coordinate and standardize the referrals and intervention, guide exchange of information, document roles and responsibilities and guide interagency communication and program decisions on individual cases; those procedures are consistent, known by agency staff, and are communicated clearly to women and girls; ✓ Confidentiality and privacy of victims and survivors when collecting, recording, reporting and sharing their information is protected; ✓ Monitoring, evaluation and accountability supported with a data collection system are in place and enable on-going monitoring and evaluation to help assess the impact of policies and programs on program and policy effectiveness and guide program development; ✓ Employs cross-sectoral response teams that are specialized teams made up of workers representing different service delivery systems engaged in addressing the issue of domestic violence. The teams place emphasis on identifying and providing coordinated multi-disciplinary responses to high priority/high risk domestic violence cases; ✓ Co-locates justice and victim support staff to support information sharing and staff capacity-building; ✓ Backbone organization, separate from community partners or government, provides staff support, facilitation, technology and communication support, data collection and reporting and implements the logistical and administrative tasks. Story: Interagency Case Assessment Team (ICAT) Many interview subjects provided stories to demonstrate the kind of work they are doing to collaborate across sectors. The story below is from the Central Alberta Women’s Shelter Interagency Case Assessment Team, an initiative led by the shelter but involving a range of governmental and non-governmental bodies. Key elements: The work is woman-centered and non-judgemental. Excellent relationships are leverged across multiple sectors to empower the woman to make the best choices for her. Trust is built through honest, respectful and non-judgemental communication. The woman leads the process and goals are achievable for her. Ian Wheeliker Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter One case I dealt with was of a woman in her thirties. She had a six year old child and a long term relationship filled with extreme abuse and she scored very high on the Danger Assessment. Recently this woman had endured a horrific assault which included strangulation, head trauma and lasting medical concerns. Both Police and Child and Family Services were involved as a consequence of that assault. She was alleged to be affiliated to a gang and there were allegations of fraud relating to Alberta Works (so no financial supports). But now she found herself homeless with no family support, no true friends, and with multiple and extreme addictions to street and prescription drugs. She carries trauma from her past and lives with trauma now. She also has a record of providing mis-information to those trying to help her. At first I felt very overwhelmed because I was her only source of support. I have been fortunate to establish excellent working relationships. There isn’t a service in our area (RCMP, CFS, non-profits, the justice system) that I don’t have a direct link to someone who can provide me with support and guidance. I asked the woman if I could call a case management meeting with all of her supports and she gave her consent. This ICAT/Case management meeting allowed us to ask all questions, clarify all misunderstandings, establish clear boundaries and most importantly agree on a collective plan that wouldn’t create false hope and had achievable goals. Most importantly it was run with her direction. At the meetings was a doctor to clarify the impact and future of her trauma and medical circumstances. The medical information allowed her to understand that her housing options were limited so she generated the idea of a room-mate and homecare. She now lives with an older couple she has known for years and has home care in place. She feels safe and well supported. Also present were representatives from two different agencies who support her counselling needs. She now makes appointments with them and they also stay in touch to ensure she doesn’t miss appointments or receive duplicate support. CFS were present and this allowed the woman to build a relationship with them so she no longer fears the CFS investigative worker. They made a joint plan for the safety and wellbeing of the woman’s daughter who is now living with the child’s biological father (not the abuser). CFS, the mother and the father can now openly focus on and communicate about the wellbeing of the child. Alberta Works and I advocated on behalf of this woman and she has been able to open a bank account, which she had difficulty doing on her own. She is now receiving financial support from Alberta Works that is deposited directly into her new account. This provides her with a sense of financial security and empowerment. Because of the collaborative and supportive environment we created she now trusts us and can be honest with us – she no longer feels under threat or needs to be defensive. She is free from a fear of being judged and is relieved by the open communication we established. She had the opportunity to go away for rehabilitation treatment but declined it because she did not want to loose the collaborative and supportive environment she was in. She no longer feels ‘unworthy’. She knows we are working with her not against her. She is experiencing continued support regardless of her choice to use drugs or not; if she chooses to seek treatment or not; if she chooses a harm reduction path or not. Regardless of her choices she no longer feels judged from the collaborative team around her. Right now she is feeling safe, she knows her daughter is safe, she is now receiving financial support regularly, she no longer feels defensive nor does she feel she needs to lie or hide regarding her wants. She has expressed she feels validated, valued and well supported. Organizations Providing Tools / Resources Organization/Region Contact Tools Interview Alberta Works St. Paul Estelle Lafreniere Supervisor estelle.lafreniere@gov.ab.ca Contact organization for information and resources. N/A Brenda Strafford Society Calgary Carrie Field Acting Executive Director 403-270-7240 c.field@brendastraffordsociety.org Contact organization for information and resources. N/A Calgary Domestic Violence Collective Calgary Andrea Silverstone Co-Chair 403-234-7337 andrea@sagesse.org — Kim Ruse Co-Chair 403-290-1552 kimr@cwes.ca Framework for Group Initiatives: Principles and Processes for Working Together Interview Summary Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter Red Deer Tosha Duncan Prevention and Trauma Specialist 403-346-5643 tosha.duncan@cawes.com Step by Step: Tools for Developing a Coordinated Response to Violence Against Women C.A.W.E.S. Interagency Case Assessment Team Referral Form Interview Summary Community Initiatives Against Family Violence Edmonton Nathan Foerger 780-863-7170 nathan@ciafv.com Contact organization for information and resources. N/A Discovery House Calgary Harold Pliszka Manager of Programs & Clinical Services 403-826-1800 hpliszka@discoveryhouse.ca Contact organization for information and resources. N/A Domestic Violence Court and Safe Family Intervention Team Medicine Hat Ramona Robins Crown Prosecutor 403-488-4556 ramona.robins@gov.ab.ca Interview Summary Homefront Calgary Maggie Mackillop Executive Director 403-206-2100 ext 224 maggie@homefrontcalgary.com Information Sharing Agreement Interview Summary Lethbridge Domestic Violence Action Team (DVAT) Lethbridge Bill Kaye Project Coordinator 403-381-3900 bill.kaye@dvat.ca Contact organization for more information and resources. Interview Summary Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter Society Medicine Hat Rose O’Donnell Director of Programs and Services 403-527-8223 roseo@mhwss.ca — Natasha Carvalho Executive Director 403-527-8223 natashac@mhwss.ca Domestic Violence Court Interview for Crown Interview Summary Royal Canadian Mounted Police St. Paul Sgt. James Morton Detachment Commander 780-645-8888 lee.r.brachmann@rcmp-grc.gc.ca Contact organization for information and resources. N/A Siksika Family Violence Initiative Siksika Suzanne McLeod anishinabeikwe@hotmail.com Initiative is no longer operational. Contact Suzanne McLeod for information and resources. N/A St. Paul and District Crisis Association St. Paul Noreen Cotton Executive Director 780-645-5132 director@stpaulcrisiscentre.ca — Amy Bartlett Family Violence Liaison 780-645-9561 amy.bartlett@rcmp-grc.gc.ca Confidential Casework Synopsis Interview Summary The Today Centre Edmonton Cindy Furlong Education Specialist cindy.furlong@thetodaycentre.ca Case Formation The Today Family Violence Help Centre Linking Protocol for Facilitated Referrals N/A Wheatland Shelter Strathmore Wanda McInnis CEO 403-934-6634 wsc.ceo@WCSAB.ca Contact organization for information and resources. Interview Summary YWCA Lethbridge Lethbridge Jennifer Lepko CEO 403-329-0088 CEO@ywcalethbridge.org Memorandum of Understanding Between Lethbridge Regional Police Service, YWCA and SW Child and Family Services Interview Summary YW Calgary Sherriff King Home Calgary Allison McLauchlan Manager, Shelter & Outreach 403-294-3672 amclauchlan@ywcaofcalgary.com Contact organization for information and resources. N/A References Against Violence and Abuse. (2010). The coordinated community response model online toolkit. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved from http://www.ccrm.org.uk/ Allen, N. (2006). An examination of the effectiveness of domestic violence coordinating councils. Violence Against Women, 12(1) 46-67. Also: Becoming a Blueprint Community. http://praxisinternational.org/bp_materials.aspx Ansari, W., Oskrochi, R., and Phillips, C. (2010). One size fits all partnerships? What explains community partnership leadership skills? Health Promotion Practice, July 2010. Australian Women Against Violence Alliance (2016). Jess Aulich. Baker, S. (2011). Effective partnerships: How local governments and nonprofits can work together for large-scale community change. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Winter 2011. Butterfoss, F.D. and Kegler, M.C. (2002) Toward a comprehensive understanding of community coalitions: moving from practice to theory. In DiClemente, R.J., Crosby, R.A. and Kegler, M.C. (eds), Emerging Theories in Health Promotion Practice and Research. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Canadian Observatory on the Justice System’s Response to Intimate Partner Violence (2016). National Framework for Collaborative Police Action on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). University of New Brunswick, Fredericton. Circles of Safety and Support: A Collaborative Safety Planning Process for Women at High Risk for Family Violence (2012). Website. 2008-2012 Justice Options for Women, Prince Edward Island. Duluth Model. (2016). Home of the Duluth Model – Social Change to End Violence Against Women. Website. http://www.theduluthmodel.org/about/research.html Ending Violence Association of BC (2011). Proposed Amendments to the Personal Information Protection Act Related to Information Sharing in Cases of Domestic Violence. Gil de Gibaja, M. (2001). An exploratory study of administrative practice in collaboratives. Administration in Social Work, 25(2). Greater Newburyport (2011). Greater Newburyport Domestic Violence High Risk Team. Safety and Accountability Report, 2005-2011. Hanleybrown, F., Kania, J. & Kramer, M. (2012). Channeling change: making collective impact work. Stanford Social Innovation Review. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/channeling_change_making_collective_impact_work Kayser, T. (2011). Six ingredients for collaborative partnerships. Executive Forum: Leader to Leader. Macdonald, B., Rust, C., Thrift, C., and Swanson, D. (2012). Measuring the Performance and Impact of Community Indicators Systems: Insights on Frameworks and Examples of Key Performance Indicators. Prepared for Peg: A community indicator system for Winnipeg. Marriner, S. (2013). Bridging Services for Women: Coordinating a Community Response to Violence Against women and Sexual and Reproductive Health. Funding from the Community Foundation of Ottawa (CFO). Mizrahi, T. and Rosenthal, T. (2001). Complexities of coalition building: leaders’ successes, strategies, struggles, and solutions. Social Work, 46(1). Nilson, C. (2015). Measuring Change: A Framework to Support Evaluation of Collaborative Risk-Driven Community Safety and Well-Being in Ontario. Delivered to the Ontario Working Group on Collaborative Risk-Driven Community Safety. Prince Albert, SK: Living Skies Centre for Social Inquiry. Nilson, C. (2016). Collaborative Risk-Driven Intervention. A study of Samspon Cree Nation’s Application of the Hub Model. Research Report: 2016-R001. Written for Public Safety Canada. Nowell B. & Harrison, M. (2010) Leading Change Through Collaborative Partnerships: A Profile of Leadership and Capacity Among Local Public Health Leaders. Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 39:1, 19-34. Peel Institute on Violence Prevention. (2014). Strengthening Violence Prevention through Increased Service Collaboration and Coordination. A Preliminary Literature Review. Post, L., Klevens, J., Maxwell, C., Shelley, G., & Ingram, E. (2010). An examination of whether coordinated community responses affect intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25(1): 75-93. Post, L., Klevens, J., Maxwell, C., Shelley, G., and Ingram, E. (2009). An examination of whether coordinated community responses affect intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/early/2009/02/05/0886260508329125 Praxis International (2011). Social change advocacy: Core principles. The Advocacy Learning Centre. Website. Praxis International (2015). Blueprint for Safety. Website. Public Prosecution Service. Community Services (2004). High Risk Case Coordination Protocol Framework. Spousal/Intimate Partner Violence. Nova Scotia. Ruebsaat, G. and Hamilton, D. (2015). Best Practices: Working Together to Reduce the Risk of Domestic Violence. Ending Violence Association of BC. Singer, V. (2012). Tensions I the dominant domestic violence discourse and the high risk coordination protocol. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Dalhousie University. UN Women (2016). Developing coordinated community responses. Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence Against Women and girls. Website. http://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/319-developing-coordinated-community-responses-.html Unknown author and year. Characteristics of and Effective Coordinated Community Response. Obtained at http://www.ncdsv.org/images/CharacteristicsCCR.pdf Victim Services and Crime Prevention Division (2010). Domestic Violence Response: A Community Framework for Maximizing Women’s Safety. British Columbia. White, P. (2016). La Loche studied, rejected crime-prevention model. The Globe and Mail (Alberta Edition), 1 February, 2016. Wolff, T. (2016). Voices from the field: 10 places where collective impact gets it wrong. Nonprofit Quarterly. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2016/04/28/voices-from-the-field-10-places-where-collective-impact-gets-it-wrong/ Zakocs, R., and Edwards, E. (2006). What explains community coalition effectiveness? A review of literature. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30(4): 351-361. Zakocs, R., and Guckenburg, S. (2007). What coalition factors foster community capacity? Leassons Learned from the fighting back initiative. Health Education & Behavior, 34(2):354-375. UN Women (2016). Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence. Core Elements and Quality Guidelines. http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2015/12/essential-services-package-for-women-and-girls-subject-to-violence
