The Family Place

Since 1978 The Family Place has provided ongoing education about the negative effects of family violence on our community. Through our agency website, social media, speakers' bureau, newsletter, active public relations program, events, and public service announcements, we broadcast the message that safety and solutions are at The Family Place. We network extensively in the community as a valuable participant in numerous collaborative projects and are an active member of the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, which participates in continuum of care planning and works to end homelessness in Dallas County. In 2023, we tracked 87 engagements where staff were visible in the community and publicly advocated for domestic violence awareness. We also interface with the community as the lead nonprofit agency in a collaborative effort called Faith and Liberty's Place that was established in 2003 to provide supervised visitation and monitored exchange for children in Dallas County. Trained professionals supervise visitation with noncustodial parents and provide monitored exchange to divorced parents and their children in this safe, neutral, child-centered environment. Referrals come directly from the Dallas County Family Courts, primarily from child custody cases in which one parent has a history of abusive behaviors toward the other parent and/or child. In 2023, we provided 198 adults and 150 children with 1,165 visits/2,330 visit hours and 293 exchanges/146.5 exchange hours. 98% of participants maintained no contact with the other parent during visits or exchanges. Since 1984 we have provided a Battering Intervention & Prevention Program (BIPP) for abusers working to change their violent behavior. These group counseling services are primarily court ordered and are provided at our BIPP office and groups in Irving, South Dallas, Oak Cliff, and Collin County. BIPP works closely with the criminal justice system, Child Protective Services, and family courts. In 2023, we provided psychoeducational groups to 285 men and 30 women including 583.5 hours of jail group sessions, 6,144 hours of group sessions, 506 hours of intake/orientation sessions and 215 hours of exit sessions. We collaborate with the criminal justice system on the Dallas Domestic Violence High Risk Team to increase victim safety and offender accountability. In 2023, 58 cases successfully closed and 14 new cases were accepted. Since 1999 our Be Project has reached out to youth in area schools teaching them how to stop teen dating violence and sexual assault. The program is called the Be Project to encourage students to Be Safe, Be Kind, Be Courageous, and Be More. The curriculum, which includes a leadership development component, addresses topics including sexual assault, teen dating violence, gender stereotypes, sexual harassment, and healthy versus unhealthy relationships. Individual counseling for survivors of sexual violence is also offered through the Be Project as requested by school counselors and partners and/or by students who make an outcry after receiving classroom education services. Therapeutic groups are conducted with small groups of students to provide a safe, supportive environment for personal sharing and peer support. Professional training is also offered. In 2023, we reached 1,791 students in classroom education, 1,470 students in school special events, 436 participants in parent, teacher, and professional trainings and 1,710 participants in community engagement events. 90% of participants could distinguish between healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviors. The Family Place has provided clients with the use of a staff attorney since 1999. Services are provided in cooperation with Legal Services of NorthWest Texas and include legal support in civil issues such as temporary custody orders, divorce and support (spousal and child), custody and visitation, protective orders, emergency orders, and writs of attachment for survivors of family violence at The Family Place. In 2023, 109 clients received legal services. Dignity at Work is our job readiness program that is available to all clients at multiple agency locations to help them increase income and independence. In 2023, the program served 105 clients. In 1989 we established our first Resale Shop, which raises funds for our programs and provides free clothing, household items, and furniture to clients who often come to us with only what they are wearing. Staffed primarily by volunteers, our Resale Shop accepts donations from the general public. We offer vouchers to all families we serve. The Family Place has been recognized for successfully incorporating volunteers into all aspects of the agency's work. We have an active board of directors of 50+ members, two auxiliaries, corporate and civic volunteers, and individuals who support the agency through volunteer hours and in-kind donations. In 2023, 804 volunteers worked 1,429 hours, positively impacting our programs and fundraising efforts to help us meet the demand for services.

Clients who need services without shelter receive counseling and support at three offices-Central Dallas Counseling Center, Southern Dallas Counseling Center, and Collin County Counseling Center. Our counseling programs provided 15,157 hours of service in 2023. We have provided counseling since 1978 and expanded to additional outreach sites throughout the community beginning in 1982. Our counseling services are free and confidential, which removes the worry of being discovered by the abuser. Counseling helps clients learn how to stay safe and stop hurting. In a group setting, clients learn that they aren't alone and find support from our staff and their peers. The Family Place Latina Outreach Program addresses the specific needs of our Spanish-speaking clients and has received the Community Council of Greater Dallas Award for Excellence in Human Programming. In 2023, our counseling programs served 1,491 women, 427 children and 84 men with 15,157 hours of counseling. 99% report feeling safer after coming to The Family Place for counseling, and 99% improved knowledge of community resources.

The Family Place has operated emergency shelter services since 1978. We have three emergency shelters providing everything clients need to stay safe and escape from their batterers including counseling for adults and children, job, technical, and life skills training for adults, and educational services for children at confidential locations. Currently we have a total of 168 beds at our Safe Campus, Men's Shelter, and Ann Moody Place shelters. All facilities can add cribs as needed. In 2023, the average length of stay was 53 days. Clients enter our emergency shelters by calling our 24-hour hotline, 214-941-1991, which answered 25,966 emergency calls in 2023 and 12,992 information and referral calls. We achieved a 98% answer rate and 110% of crisis callers made a safety plan. In 2023, our shelters served 515 women, 40 men, and 600 children, providing a total of 60,955 days of emergency shelter. The Safe Campus provides onsite medical clinic services, and Ann Moody Place provides onsite medical and dental clinic services. Our medical clinics served a total of 713 clients in 2023 for a total of 1,917 visits, 6,003 hours of medical care by clinic staff and 630 hours of medical care by volunteer staff. 53 adults and 64 children were seen by volunteer dentists Onsite at our Safe Campus, we provide children's education services designed to meet the unique needs of traumatized children, helping them heal, return from developmental delays, and stay on track in school. In 2023, our Child Development Center served 130 children, our K-2 Learning Center served 27 children, our After-School and Summer Program served 60 children and our Mentoring Program served 12 young men. We provided 16,347 hours of childcare. Ann Moody Place provides a kennel allowing families to stay united with their pets rather than leaving them behind to face abuse alone. In 2023, our kennel at Ann Moody Place served 24 dogs, 3 cats and 2 betta fish. The average length of stay was 50 days. 100% of animals that stayed long enough received veterinary care. Clients in our emergency shelters may apply for our Supportive Living Program, established in 1993, which provides a continuation of our supportive programs in 26 extended-stay apartments (109 beds) on our Safe Campus and 6 apartments (18 beds) at our Bluebird facility. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has recognized this program with a Best Practices Award. In 2023, we provided 79 children and 46 women with 20,805 nights of housing. The average length of stay was 179 days. In 2023, we also offered a Rapid Rehousing Program that provided 6 months of rent to 28 households, including 26 women, 20 children and 2 men. The funding for the program concluded in 2023.