Okaloosa County BOCC — October 18, 2016 — Exhibit B FY 2016 OVW Project Narrative — reading text

EXHIBIT B Okaloosa County FY 2016 OVW JUSTICE FOR FAMILIES PROJECT NARRATIVE A. PURPOSE OF APPLICATION Purpose Areas to be Addressed Purpose Area 1: Supervised visitation and safe exchange: Purpose Area 3: Training for court-based and court-related personnel: Problem to Be Addressed for Purpose Area 1: Victims of domestic violence and their children 1 have a dramatically increased risk of re- victimization if their batterer is allowed contact with her in seeing their shared children. Despite this increased risk 2, women are required to comply with court-ordered visitation or exchanges of the children with the battering parent. In order to assure the safety of both mother and child in the case of visitation with non-custodial parents who batter, Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange programs are needed. Previous funding through the Safe Havens for Supervised Visitation Grant, allowed for the development of a second site to serve the largely rural, poor northern tier of Okaloosa County. The need is for these valuable safe supervised visitation and safe exchange services to broaden to meet all victim needs. In addition to the Development Site, there is a need to relocate the current site in the south end of the County into a space which will also meet OVW standards for the highest level of site safety. This move and continued funding are needed to assure that all victims of domestic violence, dating violence, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, 1 Studies show that child abuse occurs in 30-60% of family violence cases that involve families with children. Source: "The overlap between child maltreatment and woman battering." J.L. Edleson, Violence Against Women, February, 1999 2 Battered women seek medical attention for injuries sustained as a consequence of domestic violence significantly more often after separation than during cohabitation; about 75% of the visits to emergency rooms by battered women occur after separation (Stark and Flitcraft, 1988). 1  Okaloosa County or stalking in Okaloosa County are provided the standards and practices needed to be brought fully in line with the Six Guiding Principles. Problem to Be Addressed for Purpose Area 3: Judges make decisions that affect the lives of the victim, the batterer, the children and, potentially, other family members. The judicial system can help protect victims and their families, ensure that perpetrators are held accountable and prevent further domestic violence. 3 “Judges need training because many may be unaware of the effects of domestic violence as well as barriers in the legal system that impede victims.” 4 There is need for additional training for Court-based and court-related personnel. Although Florida does have minimum mandated domestic violence training for the judiciary, there is little provision to provide for accessible and in-depth training opportunities which create the type of social and systematic changes necessary to increase safety and decrease systematic abuse of domestic violence victims and their children. Gaps in Service Sufficient funding is not available locally to continue offering visitation services to under-served communities, specifically isolated, rural, and Limited-English proficient Mexican laborors in Okaloosa County, where travel distance and transportation are both barriers to service. Because without continued OVW funding, the services would only be provided based on a sliding fee scale in order to allow the local programs enough revenue to operate and supervised visitation and safe exchange services would not be a viable option for many economically disadvantaged victims. The site in the southern tier of the county is in donated space and must also be moved to a safer location in order to provide for the separation of victims of abuse and 3 Judicial Responses to Domestic Violence, http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/svaw/svaw/domestic/link/judge2.htm; 4 https://marybyronproject.wordpress.com/ 2  Okaloosa County their children by providing separate parking, entrances and waiting areas. And in general, without OVW funding, many families in the service area would find it difficult and dangerous to carry out court-ordered visitation scenarios. This funding will compliment efforts previously made during the Safe Havens Development Grant. In the first year, the funding will provide for the continuation of services at the Northern Okaloosa County, OVW Development site, and allow for the program to move the current Southern Okaloosa County site to a more suitable location that meets the necessary safety and accessibility provisions for victims and their children. Tremendous progress to address problems was made during the Safe Havens Development and Implementation Project: 2011-CW-AX-K021. This project led to a new site with the goal of addressing the needs in this rural community with the target population of a large influx of young military families with high levels of domestic violence. A Consulting Committee was developed consisting of representatives of experts in the fields of child abuse and neglect, advocacy for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, services for underserved and diverse communities, and civil legal service providers, among others, including representatives of underserved communities. Formal referral relationships were developed with member organizations of the Consulting Committee to provide additional options and resources to families accessing visitation center services. The Consulting Committee also identified additional outreach service needs of underserved populations in the county, included Limited- English proficient Mexican laborers, isolated, rural and low income residents, many of whom are young veterans. New visitation center policies and protocols in accordance with the Six Guiding Principles were developed and implemented in the new site and the existing site. 3  Okaloosa County It became clear that our site in the southern tier of the county did not rise to this level of necessary safety and it is our intention to correct this move this site to a new location. This new Southern County site will be modeled after the OVW Safe Havens Northern Okaloosa County which includes a site designed for safety from any potential victim contact by a batterer. The new location will include separate entrances, parking, waiting areas and bathrooms as well as thoughtful provisions that ensure no line of sight or ability to overhear conversation. Policies and procedures which account for safety in all areas and are consistent with the Six Guiding Principles were developed during the Safe Havens Development Grant and will continue to be instituted at both sites. Another compliment to progress made will be to move forward with the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council’s (DVCC) identified need to implement in-depth training opportunities for court-based, court-related and court-appointed personnel on the dynamics of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, including information on perpetrator behavior, evidence-based risk factors for domestic and dating violence homicide, and on issues relating to the needs of victims, including safety, security, privacy, and confidentiality. The intention will be for the project to meet this need by coordinating a three year plan with OVW approved technical assistance providers to include: the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, The Family Violence and Domestic Relations Program and the Supervised Visitation Initiative (SVI) of the Vera Institute of Justice. 4  Okaloosa County B. WHAT WILL BE DONE Area 1: Addressing Safety Needs through Safe and Accessible Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange: It is the intention of this project to assure the safety of both mothers and children in Okaloosa County when there is need for visitation with non-custodial parents who batter, with the service provider Safe Connections (previously called Judge Ben Gordon, Jr. Family Visitation Center), a qualified, safe Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange program. Safe Connections (SC) has been operating for nineteen years and has been an OVW Safe Havens provider for ten. During this entire period SC has had the same director lead them from a program founded for child welfare into one that avails equal regard for the emotional and physical safety of each victim and child. During the most recent Safe Havens Development Grant, the program had the benefit of spending time and gaining intensive training and valuable feedback in the review and rewriting of all policies and procedures. These policies and procedures have been thoroughly vetted and approved by OVW and are fully integrated into practice. This grant also allowed for the opportunity to meet the needs of un-served families in North Okaloosa County with a new site developed entirely through the lens of safety and with the guidance and supervision of OVW. This new site offers safety features which have not been viable in our Southern Okaloosa County site. It is our intention to use this funding to move this southern site out of its long-time donated space and into a space that offers the potential to become another model of safe and accessible supervised visitation services. Barriers to Overcome: Sufficient funding has not been available locally to make visitation services available to under-served communities, specifically isolated, rural families in the northern tier of the county 5  Okaloosa County and the where travel distance and transportation are both barriers to service. The southern coastal portions of the service area has a population of nonwhite immigrant workers – primarily undocumented Mexican workers - attracted by tourism’s service industry jobs. This typically hardworking population of victims is often Limited-English proficient, underpaid and suffering from isolation and fear of unknown safety options. The funding from this grant will allow for regionally accessible and culturally sensitive services to be provided at no cost, which is the only option for many economically, disadvantaged victims. And in general, many families in the service area would be left with frightening, difficult and dangerous court-ordered visitation scenarios. Space in South Okaloosa County is donated upstairs in a Church and lacks the accessibility and opportunities to provide for optimum safety protocols but is without adequate