Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence

The Shelter Next Door provides a safe, home-like environment for female victims of intimate partner violence and their children who are escaping or have been displaced by abuse. It is open/staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Victims who have been displaced or have fled their home receive a safe and supportive environment with services that help reduce their, and their children’s, feelings of isolation, depression and anxiety. Residents receive safe respite from potentially life-threatening abuse, food, personal care products, and same day assistance obtaining necessary medications. Residents receive risk assessment and safety planning from themselves and any children; needs assessment and case management, assistance with housing searches and identification of resources, financial literacy screening, and assistance with keeping children enrolled in school, age-appropriate activities, and homework assistance. Male survivors, and any of their children, are provided safe shelter via hoteling, with services provided by a mobile Advocate or virtually (phone, email, video chat).

The 24/7 Hotline provides crisis counseling, risk assessment and safely planning, and information and referrals.

Shelter and Hotline staff are bilingual English/Spanish, and have access to a third party contractor that can provide assistance with additional language needs. All staff are trained and certified Domestic Violence Peer Counselors (California Evidence Code Section §1037.2), with additional training in Survivor-Defined Advocacy, Trauma Informed Care, Client-Centered Intensive Case Management, Motivational Interviewing, Cultural Responsiveness, and restraining orders/filing, court systems; and skills in advocacy, resource identification, and referrals. NDS’ service model is based on the Survivor-Defined Advocacy model that builds a partnership between the Advocate and client, who ultimately defines the advocacy and help they need.

• 90% of clients engaged in shelter services achieve one or more needs identified on the Needs Assessment by the time of discharge

• Therapeutic counseling for survivors, their children, and/or as a family; to address the emotional and psychological trauma of children and teens due to expose to IPV.

• Youth & Family Advocate –provides individual support, peer-counseling, and appropriate learning to children, youth, and families - providing emotional and practical support to the children/youth and their parent. The YFA provides case management services; assists families with school related requests and supplies; assists the parenting survivors with parenting questions, resources, and provide one to one educational parenting sessions as appropriate; and provides advocacy, information and referrals, and crisis intervention services as needed.

• Kids Club positive play for youth, provides engaging individual and group activities in a safe, inviting, and consistent environment. Facilitators use a variety of educational resources, i.e. A Window Between Worlds curriculum which is evidenced-based and assists youth, through art, in reducing overwhelming emotions associated with emotional trauma.

• Parent and Child Healing After Violence - a parenting workshop presented over six 2-hour group sessions - to teach, support, and empower parents in addressing the impact to their children by exposure to violence by providing the parent (survivor) with practical skills based on proven principles; provided by a trained Family Wellness instructor with extensive experience in dealing with families affected by IPV; offered in English and in Spanish and participants are provided handouts and material for the class.

Support Groups are available in English and Spanish and include groups male survivors, and LGBTQAIP, and teens. Support Groups provide a larger circle of support; victims become survivors as they reduce isolation and increase connections to others by talking with their peers about the abuse – and in understanding that the abuse is not their fault. Clients will report they are able to identify at least one person in their family or community who supports them; and are better able to manage stress when it occurs.

Services are free of charge and at-will. Advocates are trained/certified DV Peer Counselors (State of California Evidence Code: Section 1037-1037.8) - establishing confidentiality; with additional training in Survivor-Defined Advocacy, Trauma Informed Care, Client-Centered Case Management, Motivational Interviewing, and Cultural Responsiveness. Advocates are bilingual-bicultural English/Spanish and additional language assistance is through a third-party contractor.

• 85% of clients engaged in support groups are better able to manage stress with it occurs

Self-Sufficiency Case Management is based on the Eight Domains of Self-Sufficiency framework, focusing on the life domains of Food, Income, Housing, Employment, Education, Healthcare, Wellness, and Intimate Partner Violence (abuse/safety). Workshops are available on financial literacy, computer skills, GED, and ESL. Case Management services help survivors gain/regain stability and self-reliance during and after abuse, and is incorporated into other Next Door Solutions core service. Clients focusing on employment can meet and work towards their goals with the Employment specialist.

Advocates work with clients in incrementally overcoming barriers impacting self-sufficiency gains; setting goals and addressing barriers to achieving those goals. Working together, they identify resources (i.e., housing, child care) that will support stated goals. Mutually agreed upon meetings are established to review plans and monitor progress, address barriers hampering gains, identify additional resources, and make goal adjustments. Workshops increase client’s knowledge and skills in areas of finance, education and career. The program goal is for the client to need less assistance overtime as they gain the skills and resources to self-advocate.

Advocates/Case Managers are bilingual English/Spanish and Domestic Violence Peer Counselor trained/certified (State of California Evidence Code: Section 1037-1037.8).

• 75% of clients engaged in self-sufficiency case management are able to maintain or increase their level of self-sufficiency

Through Domestic Violence Housing First services, adult survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) receive comprehensive case management and other support services to assist them, and their families, in increasing access to and retention of safe permanent housing. Support services tailored to the client’s needs help eliminate “lack of safe housing” as a barrier to leaving an abusive relationship; and assist those at risk of homelessness due to their IPV situation in remaining housed. Services include one-on-one and mobile advocacy and targeted case management services, including short-term financial assistance, to assist the client in achieving long-term goals, with a primary focus on reducing/eliminating homelessness and/or barriers to obtaining/maintaining permanent housing; and support service that address other needs impacting housing stability.

On average, after one year from exiting the program, 93% of clients remained housed.

As part of NDS’ Theory of Change, the agency is advancing promising practices and strategies in addressing systemic issues that perpetuate domestic abuse, and in changing community norms through collaborative work and three key prevention initiatives:
1). Intimate Partner Violence and Healthcare Initiative –
• Outreach and education of DV’s impact on health and well-being, with increased focus on underserved communities, including recruitment and training of volunteers as Promotores and as Peacemakers. Through collaboration with Stanford School of Medicine, and engagement from NDS’ survivor volunteer group, El Comité, NAS has developed a Promotores “train the trainer” curriculum and conducts community trainings and mini-conferences. There is growing awareness and need in the healthcare sector to effectively identify and refer individuals living with IPV.
• Promoting the practice of providing universal education to all patients who come to healthcare providers/clinics, beyond just screening for disclosure; and providing information and trainings on CUES (Confidentiality; Universal Education and Empowerment; and Support) for healthcare practitioners in the clinical setting. NDS continues to engage both community health clinics and major healthcare systems (Kaiser, SCC Health and Hospital System, and Stanford Medical Center) in training and technical assistance.
• Stanford School of Medicine collaborative initiatives:
a). Health Access and Education Programming for IPV Survivors and Their Families: A Community-Based Initiative partnership with Stanford School of Medicine which provided survivors access to a series of workshops on various health topics such as Parent-Teen Communications, Healthy Relationships, Partnering with Your Healthcare Provider, and Reading with Your children. It was one of the first (documented) health education curricula designed and evaluated by DV survivors.
b). “Ask a Pediatrician” seminars presented for NDS clients; on-going. And brief “DV 101” trainings by NDS to the pediatricians
c). Community-Based Needs Assessment of Parents and Children as Survivors of IPV: to assess survivors’ perception of effects of DV on children, to describe survivors’ experience with communicating about DV with children, and identify desired support services. Information from this study is informing NDS on the development of new and expanded children’s aligned services

2). Men, Boys, & Gender-Based Violence Initiative: a Community-Based Prevention Initiative. NDS has identified three distinct groups of men in our work that we must consider in order to effectively reduce domestic/intimate partner violence: Men as Survivors; Men as Perpetrators; and Men as Allies.
a). Men as Survivors: a weekly support group for male survivors
b). Men as Allies - “Coaching Boys Into Men”, a violence prevention program from Futures Without Violence, leveraging coach and young school athletes’ relationships, focusing on respect for themselves and others - particularly women and girls. Feedback showed the need for this type of programming, as well as need for programming for female student athletes; NDS has added the Athletes As Leaders component. Surveys showed that youth increased their understanding of a healthy relationships and after the training are more likely to intervene if they see abusive behavior among their peers. NDS also conducts virtual youth symposiums based on the CBIM curriculum, Rooted In Resilience. NDS has identified a need to address both perpetration and victimization among youth and is currently engaging in collaboration to develop programs and services to meet this need.
c). Men as Perpetrators - in collaboration with A Turning Point (counseling services), is a voluntary support group, specifically for men (with families) who perpetrate abuse and are not yet systems involved. This pilot is in response to input from our clients (survivors) who are seeking resources to keep their families intact. It is an IPV intervention process with the goal of guiding men towards family harmony and healing. NDS provides support services to the survivors and children; A Turning Point provides services to the abuser.