Over the years, the Domestic Violence Movement has seen tremendous growth and change in the services designed to support the safety of people who are or have been victimized by an intimate partner, as well as holding offenders and systems accountable. Amid the maze of reports and paperwork, advocates are challenged with maintaining the core, survivor-centered, trauma-informed philosophies and practices in which this movement is rooted. Over the years, multiple forces have pulled focus from the survivor-centered view of the movement. Though well intentioned and valid in concept, practices have developed under the pressures of expectations from and assumptions by system partners, funders, and community stakeholders  defining the role of “the advocates..” This often creates  internal organizational pressures that canresult in domestic violence services that are “service driven” rather than trauma-informed and survivor-centered.  Drawing upon the collective experiences of survivors of intimate partner domestic and sexual violence and forty years of movement building and best practice, this training provides a practical, principled framework for ensuring that the safety and concerns of victims of intimate partner domestic and sexual violence are always in the forefront. 

Topics include:

• Nature & Dynamics of Domestic Violence, designed to expand on our basic understanding of domestic violence.  This section focuses on identifying the context in which tactics used by abusers establish and maintain coercive control over their partners and the variety of consequences that may be experienced. 
• Understanding Trauma from the Perspective of Domestic Violence Advocates provides participants with a basic understanding of what trauma is, its impact on our program participants and on ourselves as advocates, and the role that advocates play in helping people recover from trauma.
• Promoting Resilience in Children Exposed to Abuse and Abuser’s Tactics discusses working with survivors and their children to mitigate the effects of being exposed to an abuser’s tactics and proposes guidelines and best practices.
• The Role of the Advocate will help participants understand their advocacy work within the context of state mandated services and help strategize ways to help advocates maintain their focus on survivor-centered, trauma-informed advocacy.

Food and drink will NOT be provided during this training. Please tend to your food and drink needs before arriving and bring along any snacks you prefer. Participants will have a one hour break for lunch.  

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

In the event, this training reaches it's maximum capacity, registration will be prioritized in the following order: 

• 2019 NYSCADV Member Program staff & volunteers

• Date and time of registration

If your organization has not yet applied for 2019 NYSCADV Membership, you can do so using this link to our Membership Description page.

If you are unsure of your organization's membership status with NYSCADV, please email Jennifer Clark at jclark@nyscadv.org.