DOMESTIC ABUSE PROJECT
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Domestic violence impacts one in three people, is prevalent in family systems, and causes intergenerational trauma if it is not holistically addressed through a trauma informed approach. Domestic Abuse Project aims to build communities free from violence by providing holistic healing for every member of the family. As a result of this work, we envision communities free of domestic abuse where families experience healthy, safe and equal relationships.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
DAP Advocates
DAP advocates know the ins-and-outs of the criminal justice system, but unlike police or prosecutors, they don’t work for the system. That means that our team is focused only on the client in front of them—no one else.
Advocates provide immediate assistance and support to victim/survivors of domestic violence to increase safety for themselves and their families. For families who are in fear, our advocacy team can provide life-saving interventions. Advocates are located at four locations in Minneapolis and provide the following services:
Criminal and Legal Advocacy
Advocates help victim/survivors of domestic violence navigate the criminal and civil legal systems by providing information about the court processes associated with any ongoing criminal or civil domestic abuse cases. Advocates also assist in writing Orders of Protection and accompany individuals to any subsequent hearings for those Orders. In addition, advocates review and follow up with victim/survivors on any domestic assault-related police report in the city of Minneapolis, whether there is an arrest made or not. Advocates who attend criminal court work as an independent support to victim/survivors of misdemeanor domestic assault cases and are bound by confidentiality. These advocates track defendant criminal court activity throughout the course of their criminal case.
Community Advocacy and Outreach
Advocates provide crisis support and outreach, safety planning, resource referrals, and access to services such as food, safe housing, and transportation to communities impacted by domestic violence.
Hot Spots
Staff conduct follow-up visits on 911 domestic assault calls, in which either a police report was not made at the initial call or a police report was made but no criminal charge has been filed yet. Advocates offer support and services for families during these visits.
24-Hour Crisis Line
Advocates and volunteers reach out to victim/survivors immediately following referral from a police officer about a domestic violence incident. They offer safety planning, information about next steps, and resource options for victim/survivors.
DAP Men's Program
DAP’s Men’s Team serves adult male perpetrators of domestic violence with group and individual therapy. Our program is one of few in the area that meets the state requirements for perpetrator intervention, and it is the only program to incorporate trauma theory and treatment techniques in its work with men who have used abusive behavior in intimate relationships. The program combines education with cognitive-behavioral therapy approaches, all in a trauma-informed setting. While the role of anger in relationships and abuse is discussed, DAP’s program is not an anger management program. It is much more.
And it works. Since the program’s inception, DAP has conducted follow-up research on client recidivism, and consistently we find that over 90% of men’s program clients had zero domestic abuse arrests within one year of successfully completing the program.
The majority of male participants attend a 24-week program that includes both large-group educational sessions and small-group process sessions. Therapists in education groups work to frame the issues of domestic violence relative to the larger and more systemic context. Process groups include a facilitator and encourage peer-to-peer education and accountability, something that can’t be found through individual treatment. In the course of the program, men work to accept responsibility for their violent actions and give presentations on their plan for building and maintaining equal and interdependent relationships.
DAP Women's Program
DAP’s Women’s Team works with adult female survivors of domestic violence to help them understand abuse as part of a larger systemic issue and to heal from abuse. Our therapists address mental health issues that result from experiencing domestic abuse, which often include anxiety, depression, PTSD, suicidal thoughts, sleep disturbances, and emotional detachment.
Individual therapy is available for survivors, but our Women’s Group is the cornerstone of DAP’s program. The typical group is small—about 10 participants—and 16 weeks long, with childcare included. Each session is led by trained professionals, is organized topically, and is psycho-educational, incorporating both traditional educational styles and processing opportunities. This is in contrast to other programs for survivors, which can offer the support of a community of survivors but not the healing that comes from therapeutic intervention.
DAP Children's Program
In 1981, DAP began offering therapy programs for youth who have witnessed domestic violence, since we know that they face lifelong challenges to their physical, psychological, and social development. Children—from infants to adolescents—experience so much emotional stress when they witness domestic violence that it can affect the development of their brains. This can lead to behavioral changes, including intense anxiety and irritability, depression, problems with sleeping and incontinence, and trouble in school.
We also know that children who witness or experience domestic violence are much more likely to use violence later in life, in their own intimate relationships. And they face an increased likelihood of substance abuse, juvenile pregnancy, and social isolation.
DAP offers both individual and group therapy services for youth who have experienced or witnessed domestic violence in their homes. The Children’s Group is the cornerstone of the program. A parallel parent group with dinner and childcare is also provided to make the program as accessible as possible. The group is for children ages 5 – 12 and free of charge. For ages 5 – 18, there are three paths available for individual therapy, with focuses on relationship building and healing; skills to cope and feel safe; and crisis intervention.
DAP also works with adolescents who have witnessed abuse in their homes and have begun to use violence with family members or in their dating relationships. Currently, all adolescent programming is handled in individual sessions, which are free of charge.
DAP Change Step Veteran's Program
In 2012, DAP launched its newest program, CHANGE STEP. CHANGE STEP is for men who currently serve or have served in the military and who have used abuse in intimate relationships. This program is built on the provencurriculum of the traditional men’s group, but it incorporates the language and tenor of military culture to better respond to the needs of veterans. The program addresses the specific issues that are faced by the veteran community–military culture, deployments, and PTSD– and is built on a thorough understanding of the effects of trauma and violence on a person’s health and well-being. The group meets weekly for 24 weeks and includes both educational topics and group process.
DAP External Training Program
Supporting the broader community in addressing issues of domestic violence and intergenerational cycles of abuse.
Where we work
External reviews
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
DAP promotes safe and healthy family relationships by stopping domestic violence as it occurs and working to prevent it in the future. To achieve this mission, we provide counseling, education, and advocacy to families affected by domestic abuse to give them the tools to transform their lives. On a larger scale, we work to strengthen our community's response to domestic violence by educating and influencing public policy makers and community members.
The Domestic Abuse Project's overall goals include interrupting the cycle of violence, providing men, women, and children with essential tools needed to eliminate violence in their lives, raising community awareness of domestic violence, and educating decision makers about effective methods of reducing violence in our community. The Men's Group at DAP targets assisting men in ending abusive and violent behaviors while the Women's Group assists in developing relevant self-care and protection strategies, and achieve self-sufficiency. The Youth Program's goal is to intervene to heal children who have been affected by abuse in order to stop the cycle of intergenerational domestic abuse. Our Advocacy Program seeks to be accessible and available to provide crisis intervention services to all domestic abuse victims in need in our community.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Domestic Abuse Project promotes safe and healthy family relationships by stopping domestic violence as it occurs and working to prevent it in the future. To achieve this mission, we provide counseling, education and advocacy to families affected by domestic abuse to give them the tools to transform their lives. On a larger scale, we work to strengthen our community's response to domestic violence by educating and influencing public policy makers and community members.
DAP's services fall into two categories: advocacy and therapy.
ADVOCACY
DAP employs four advocates who serve survivors of domestic violence in the midst of crisis. Unlike our Therapy team—who generally work with clients who have experienced (or perpetrated) violence, and have already begun the lengthy process of recovery—the advocates see clients at the height of chaos. Their work is emotionally demanding, fast-paced, and sometimes dangerous. Advocates support survivors of violence in navigating the criminal and civil court system, making critical community referrals, and providing emergency food, clothing, and shelter. Their work takes them to Hennepin County domestic court, the Minneapolis Police Department, and in community offices in downtown Minneapolis, Northpoint, and Little Earth. In FY15 our team of advocates provided services to 2,964 victims of domestic abuse.
THERAPY
Domestic Abuse Project is the only agency in the area offering trauma-informed therapy for all family members affected by domestic violence. Our ongoing program evaluation proves that our therapy programs—for men who have used abusive behavior, women who have been victims of violence, adolescents and children who have witnessed or experienced abuse—can help to heal the effects of the intergenerational cycle of violence. DAP Therapists make up three teams – Men's Team, Women's Team, and Children's Team. All therapy staff are trained to understand the effects of trauma on the brain, and to treat clients with techniques that will address and mitigate these effects. Almost all therapists have a master's level degree or higher.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Domestic Abuse Project (DAP) began offering services to residents of Minneapolis and Hennepin County in 1979. DAP was one of the first domestic violence agencies in the nation and has always focused on serving every member of the family through a unique mix of services – we use counseling, crisis intervention and community outreach to provide families with the tools they need to end the abuse, build healthy relationships, and transform their lives. In the last 35 years DAP has served more than 210,000 people with trauma-treatment therapy, advocacy, and education services aimed at ending domestic violence. We have seen consistent, positive outcomes from our work. 90% of men who complete our men's program do not reoffend within the following year. 96% of women and children who receive services participate in safety planning, a key protective factor in avoiding domestic abuse in the future. Our advocates each have personal experiences of domestic violence and significant training in the criminal justice system. And almost all of our therapists have a master's level degree of higher in their field, as well as significant training in various healing modalities.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In the past several years, our programs have consistently met the outcomes listed above. We believe that meeting these outcomes is effectively ending domestic violence in the families we work with.
Clients, therapists, and DAP leadership are all involved in the evaluation of our work. Furthermore, DAP's reputation as a center of research and leader in program evaluation has been enhanced by our affiliation with Dr. Jeffrey L. Edleson, a renowned family violence researcher and scholar and author of the DAP manual, Evaluating Domestic Violence Programs. We periodically have partnerships with the University of Minnesota, as well, to complete research studies on the work of our programs. Recently, these studies have included the use of mind-body techniques in our women's program, and the efficacy of our youth program.
Most of the new program initiatives at DAP are a result of client input collected at follow-up or a clear community need for services. We continually monitor our evaluation results to identify successes and challenges in our work and to adjust our programming accordingly, as we are currently doing with our curriculum improvements.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
DOMESTIC ABUSE PROJECT
Board of directorsas of 05/09/2019
Martha Ginder
Piper Jaffray & Co.
Term: 2017 - 2020
Tim Gluszak
Jessica Wiley
Jaime Stilson
Darrell Ellsworth
Carrie Ackerman
Mary Albachten
Christin Crabtree
Molly Drew
July Vang
Rebecca Waggoner
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes