Program areas at CASA
Casa provides a wide variety of trauma informed emergency, restorative and prevention services for adult and child survivors of domestic violence and co-occurring complications, as well as Community education and prevention.casa's residential services include the emergency shelter that provides a safe refuge, crisis intervention and advocacy when home is not a safe place. Shelter participants receive food, clothing, and personal items, with the shelter providing sanctuary to over 500 survivors annually with approximately 41% of those being children. A total of 23,990 bed nights were provided for survivors. Crisis hotline advocates answered 5,862 calls. (continued on schedule o)in addition to shelter services, casa outreach services reached over 1,340 survivors during fiscal year 2021-22 through its various programs providing safety planning basic living needs, advocacy, counseling, assistance and support to survivors and their families. Casa also provides specialized housing services to survivors of domestic violence and their children. Over 400 individuals received time-limited financial assistance and case management to obtain independent housing in the Community. An additional 99 individuals were served through transitional and permanent supportive housing, where families can stay with reduced rent and wrap-around case management to overcome significant barriers to their independence and safety. Casa works closely with the pinellas county sheriff's office child protection investigation division (cpid) to increase the safety of adult and child victims of domestic violence and helps to reduce the number of out-of-home child placements due to domestic violence through the cpid program. During fy 2022, cpi staff provided 855 safety plans and there were 319 assists to apply for victim compensation . Over 24,000 services were provided in courthouse locations by justice advocates. The Florida bar association attorneys in the injunction for protection program received 534 referrals. The peacemaker program provides holistic peace education to more than 2,000 preschoolers, elementary and middle school children in a wide variety of classrooms and schools throughout pinellas county, nurturing a sense of peace and justice during critical times in child development. Peacemakers also provide resources for teachers to continue the program in classrooms.services are available to all survivors of domestic violence and their families, regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, marital status, disability, immigration status, education, employment status, residency, legal history, or socio-economic status. This includes male and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and questioning (lgbtq+) persons. About 95% of the persons served report coming from pinellas county.casa works collectively to develop a coordinated Community response to domestic violence by collaborating with other service providers, public agencies, planning groups and funding bodies to promote Community education, prevention, and awareness on the subject of domestic and sexual violence and human trafficking. Over 1,300 persons in the Community received training regarding domestic and/ or dating violence. Casa also conducts on-going research and evaluation in the areas of domestic and sexual violence and human trafficking to ensure a high quality of service to our program participants as described above.