Agenda - 06-15-2010 - 3a - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 Other information, obtained from "MEETING SURVIVORS' NEEDS: A MULTI -STATE STUDY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTER EXPERIENCES ", Eleanor Lyon & Shannon Lane, University of Connecticut School of Social Work and Anne Menard, National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, October, 2008, Prepared for National Institute of Justice, Grant #2007- U- CS -K022, and suggestions from Work Group members were also presented and discussed. An Abstract of the Lyon, Lane and Menard Study is included in this report beginning on page 4. The information and suggestions included but were not limited to the following: ➢ ....there are currently (2008) an estimated 1,949 domestic violence programs across the United States. " ➢ if the shelter did not exist the consequences for them [victims of DV] would be dire: homelessness, serious losses including children, continued abuse or death or actions taken in desperation. " ➢ .....primary needs at entry were safety, housing, information, emotional support, and help for their children. " ➢ RE: shelter stay at locations outside North Carolina: `At exit, after a median length of stay of 22 days (27 for mothers) respondents reported a larger number of needs than they had identified at entry. " ➢ ".....domestic violence shelters address compelling needs that survivors cannot meet elsewhere. Shelter programs provide a complex array of services to victims of abuse and their children; most prominent are safety, information, help with children and help with emotional distress. " Following extensive research and discussion(s) by Work Group members, consensus was reached that working to create shelter services in Orange County should proceed on a "tiered" basis. Using this approach would provide for immediate, short term shelter, with necessary ancillary services to be provided by existing Orange County non - profit agencies, while more complex, long -term projects were initiated. Consensus was reached and recommended on the following tiers: ❖ "Virtual' Shelters — hotels /motels within Orange County. 1. FVPC has an existing working relationship with a generous hotelier who provides rooms at no cost if there is a vacancy. The hotelier has made efforts in the past to have other area hotels join in a collaborative to make more rooms available for DV clients. To date he has been unsuccessful. During the first 9 months of 2009 FVPC used this option approximately 9 times. 2. OCRCC currently uses this approach for their clients and it has infrequent use (estimated at no more than 20 times /year). They have a contract with a hotel in Chapel Hill for a discounted rate of approximately 35% less than the standard rate. 3. Discussions between Work Group members (one from FVPC and one from OCRCC) and Laurie Paolicelli, Executive Director of the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau, should be initiated to develop a working collaboration to establish a program involving multiple Orange County hotels to expand the availability of hotel rooms for more than one night. The provision of incentives by Orange County government officials to hotels participating in this important step in the development of a coordinated community response and victim safety could be critical to its success. Note: the current program includes a volunteer accompanying victims /clients to the hotels and remaining available 11 on call" until the client leaves the hotel.