Domestic Abuse Law Cracks Down on Strangulation
February 15, 2012

MASON CITY, IA-Laws are tightening up when it comes to domestic abuse situations.

Governor Terry Branstad signed a law that makes penalties tougher for cases that involve strangulation, but not killing someone.

We Can’t Afford to Undo Progress on Domestic Violence
February 15, 2012

On Jan. 17, the results of an evaluation study of the Nampa Family Justice Center were presented to the Nampa City Council. The evaluation revealed that the Family Justice Center here in Nampa is one of the top five centers in the United States.

The report showed a cohesive effort on the part of the partners involved in the center. Such cohesiveness is not common in the criminal justice field.

The report also showed that 67 percent of clients (read “victims of family violence”) are from Nampa, 25 percent from Canyon County and 8 percent from outlying areas.

After the report was made, a question of whether or not those other counties give the center money was asked by Councilman Henry. Director Lovelace responded that there had been discussion in the works on that topic.

I believe there are only three ways that the homicide rates in a community can be affected by law enforcement: drug trafficking enforcement, gang enforcement and domestic violence enforcement and intervention.

I would implore politicians to certainly protect taxpayer money. But please do not undo all of the partnerships and progress made in domestic violence prevention and intervention in the name of rubbing two pennies together.

Domestic violence is a disease which infects our society, ruins lives and ends lives. Yes, work toward parity in cost sharing, but should that fail, please, at all costs, don’t abandon or cut a program that is a crown jewel in our area.

Generations of kids who see family violence daily depend on this type of help. Don’t believe it? Seek out a survivor, have her tell her story. If at the end you still think that money is an overriding factor, good luck. Our community will need it.

Family Justice Center to Apply for Grant
February 12, 2012

The Wellspring will seek funding from the U.S. Department of Justice for continued support of Ouachita Parish’s Family Justice Center, which serves local victims of domestic violence.

Wellspring CEO Judy Bell said the grant proposal will be submitted to the Justice Department’s Office of Violence Against Women. The funding request will be in the amount of $400,000 to continue operations at the Family Justice Center.

The core purpose of the Family Justice Center is to provide one place where victims of domestic violence can go to get access to multiple services from counseling to assistance from law enforcement agencies.

Fayetteville Family Justice Center Set to Open to Victims of Domestic Violence, Sex Crimes
February 10, 2012

The Fayetteville Family Justice Center will open its doors to victims of domestic violence and sex crimes Monday, at a time officials say the need for services is growing fast.

Numbers released by Fayetteville police Thursday during an opening ceremony at the facility in the historic Beldon-Horne House show reports of domestic violence more than doubled from 806 cases in 2010 to 1,693 cases in 2011.

"If there was ever a time and a need and a place, this is it," Police Chief Tom Bergamine said during the ceremony. "The suspects, they need to go to jail. But we tend to forget about the victims. We will not forget about the victims."

The reasons for the increase are not clear. Lt. Tracey Bass-Caine, who supervises several FPD units including the special victims unit, said the number of cases has increased "tremendously," possibly for several reasons.

"We've been having a lot of soldiers coming back," Bass-Caine said. "Not only that, but we've had more enforcement when it comes to the strangulation laws, and I think that the community now knows that we do have a special victims unit, and they're utilizing it. We didn't have one back in 2010."

The purpose of the Family Justice Center is to give victims of domestic violence and sexual assaults a "one-stop shop" for victims' services, she said. It isn't a shelter, but it can help victims find one.

The center will also offer police services, provide access to counseling and direct victims in need to social services and other resources, Bass-Caine said.

"A lot of victims get lost in the cracks of having to go to multiple areas in order to see a case through, or to get charges or to get protective orders," said Kristine Thomas, chairwoman of the center's board. "They can come here and they will have access to detectives to help them with paperwork. We will have a direct line to the magistrate's office for protective orders and advocates here that can get victims plugged in to services throughout the city."

Tom Hill, the Family Advocacy Program Manager on Fort Bragg, said his organization will be supplying victim advocates from post to help victims wanting to get out of a relationship or just wanting a safe place navigate the military and civilian services. He said he hopes the facility will hopefully allow victims to learn about services that they otherwise didn't know were available.

"We've got the largest military post, as far as population, anywhere," Hill said. "The bigger the post, the more the situation, so with this one we really need that kind of resource here."

The center had been slated for an opening in late summer, but it was delayed because of a funding shortfall, Bass-Caine said. Furniture and product donations worth $3,600 from Lowe's Home Improvement stores as well as a $3,000 donation from the Florence Rogers Charitable Trust to get carpeting installed cleared the way for the center to open, she said.

Among the center's partners are Fayetteville city and police officials, Spring Lake police, Army Community Services and the Criminal Investigation Command, the Cumberland County Department of Social Services and the court system.

The center, located at 519 Ramsey St., will be open to provide victims' services from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Anyone interested in volunteering at the center or offering donations is asked to call Bass-Caine at 433-1861.

Safe Families: Justice Center Hires Full-Time Director
February 9, 2012

Vicki Bourus, former director of the S.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, has been named the first full-time, paid executive director of the Georgetown County Family Justice Center.

She’ll begin her new role on Feb. 23, replacing Joan Meacham, who served as interim director on a volunteer basis. Meacham will continue to be involved with the center as a volunteer.

Bourus, 64, retired to Georgetown County with her husband, Howard Waddell, just last year and signed on as a center advisory board member. However, she has been involved with the center in other capacities since the idea was introduced.

She was working with the coalition about five years ago when she got a call from Carol Winans of Georgetown, one of those who led the effort to make the center a reality.

Winans told Bourus about the plans for the center and asked her to come down and offer some input.

“I was thrilled because the Family Justice Center is a national, cutting edge model,” Bourus said. “It’s a very new and effective way of handling domestic violence. I was so happy to hear something like this was happening in South Carolina.”

She met with a small task force and from that point on has had regular contact with the center.

Then when she retired, she and her husband built a house on the Black River. They had vacationed for years at Pawleys Island and Litchfield and said the county was a natural fit. But she didn’t plan on taking another job.

Yet when Meacham approached her, she realized she wanted to play a bigger part in the center.

“I wouldn’t have assumed this role if I hadn’t already loved this center, this part of the world, the people in this community and this work,” she said.

Bourus has long been devoted to aiding victims of domestic violence and working to end the intergenerational pattern of domestic violence.

Meacham, the board and the staff at the center have done an excellent job of “laying a wonderful foundation” already, she said.

“What I want to do is build on that – to continue to seek resources to stabilize the center with funding sources and in-kind donations, build community awareness and help people understand how devastating and important this issue is,” Bourus said.

“We need to encourage healthy families because from domestic violence emerges almost every major social problem we deal with, whether it’s teen pregnancy, runaways or alcohol and drug addition. The list just goes on and on, and we as a state, pay the price in not attending to these families early and often.”