Women's Center of Montgomery County

Counseling services: the wcmc provided crisis and ongoing counseling services to 3,978 unduplicated victims. We believe that this is a conservative number, since, in the case of hotline callers who prefer anonymity, where we do not have the full name or adequate identification for a caller, we err on the side of being conservative and list them as a repeat (continuing) client rather than new.we provided 5,372.25 individual counseling hours and 393.75 group counseling hours to these program participants.we offer three support group opportunities, with each group led by two co-facilitators. Our groups continue to be virtual, since we have found this option is more convenient and accessible for members as opposed to in-person sessions. Virtual group sessions mitigate the challenges of child-care, transportation and safety concerns for many of our group participants. Each group is comprised of approximately 8 to 10 survivors.as part of our strategic planning goals, we are also working to increase our peer counseling services, as well as expand the number of trained volunteer peer counselors available to provide this service. The wcmc defines peer counseling as ongoing counseling sessions with an individual once they are beyond crisis in which we focus on long-term stability and goal planning. In order to connect with survivors and to recruit volunteers, we employed various community education and prevention education strategies. Those efforts included 52 adult programs reaching 2,987 people along with 112 primary prevention programs in schools, reaching 4,154 students.we also conducted 3 new counselor/advocate trainings (jars-based), with 28 individuals completing the training, 11 skill-building workshops and in-services for our staff and volunteers, and 30 systems training for law enforcement and 36 for healthcare providers.through expanded efforts at social media, we had 196 postings on our facebook, linked in and instagram platforms, with each site having in excess of 1,100 followers.

Medical advocacy: during fy 2022/2023 our medical advocates provided 470.5 hours of direct services through 511 contacts with survivors identified through the hospital site.additionally, they conducted 36 trainings, reaching 549 providers. Through these trainings and medical advocacy efforts, our objectives are to: expand healthcare provider outreach and training to include new healthcare audiences urgent care, pharmacies, specialty physicians(such as chiropractors and optometrists); create and distribute more than 500 information packets to these providers. Create and distribute a quarterly newsletter that features articles on traumatic brain injury (tbi), strangulation, improved practices for universal screening and referral protocols for ipv cases; develop new relationships with healthcare partners as mergers affect our community; conduct training and outreach to senior centers. Review and update emergency room protocols for ipv screening create training curriculum and materials on strangulation and tbi; conduct trainings on these topics in healthcare settings.the most significant short-term outcome of these efforts has been an increase in prompt referrals to our program, as well as a diversification of training audiences for our medical advocates. In addition to hospital-based trainings, our medical advocates have conducted trainings this year for urgent care centers, ambulance companies/ems workers, chiropractors, optometrists, cvs minute clinics, several other pharmacies and other medically related venues.not only has this resulted in an increase in the number of prompt and efficient medical referrals, but it has led to additional requests from other providers, in part due to the favorable recommendations from individuals who participate in our training.these interactions with providers outside of the mainstream healthcare systems have enabled our staff to identify issues and challenges confronted by survivors of which we were previously unaware, such as the widespread 'senior bullying' that exists in many of our County's assisted living facilities. The knowledge that we acquired resulted in the creation of a training curriculum by our medical advocates to assist in creating a response. This training has been requested by a number of organizations to be conducted in the second half of 2023.other unanticipated outcomes include the creation of a formal/written protocol within our program to assist with bedside pfas, for survivors who are hospitalized but in immediate need of a protection order to prevent their offender from contact or further harm to the victim and their children.our medical advocates have also created a quarterly newsletter, sent via email and fax to more than 1700 each quarter. The newsletter focuses on topics such as birth advocacy, tbi and strangulation, and serves as an introduction to healthcare providers on the value of our trainings and services, while also serving as an important education and awareness tool.another accomplishment in 2022/2023 has been the development of an extensive birth advocacy training curriculum. With the us national maternal mortality rate exponentially high compared to other industrialized countries--and domestic violence homicide the leading cause of all pregnancy related deaths, affecting many of the most crucial, vulnerable, and time sensitive processes in child development. Developing resources and training protocols for birth workers (obgyns, midwives, doulas) and domestic violence advocates was the imperative that we chose to address with this funding.through developing a relationship and partnership with birth workers and birthing people in the larger community, we recognized that we could interrupt more incidents of abuse before they've escalated to affect the attachment stage of the next generation, or even worse, threaten crisis levels of lethality. We can provide survivors of past abuse the tools and relationship they need to approach their birth with autonomy and power and educate their providers on how to do the same.the training curriculum that we developed and implemented under this grant utilizes evidence-based, peer reviewed data and practices to help screen and assist pregnant survivors. In addition, we developed protocols to assist advocates in safety planning and assessing escalating risk.after completing the curriculum, we began by training our own counselors and advocates using the materials. We are now in the process of bringing the program to birth workers and integrating into our medical advocacy trainings in all healthcare settings. During 2022/2023 we also performed prevention and outreach activities to assist elderly victims of domestic violence. Our outreach efforts have included establishing a database of 123 age 55+ communities in our County and initiating outreach to schedule training and provide resources. This has led to request to provide staff training to facilities, such as sunrise senior care, Montgomery County senior adult activities Center, suburban geriatrics (a practice that is connected to 52 senior facilities in Montgomery County and eldernet and to participate in five senior fairs hosted by our state representatives in spring 2023.as part of our outreach work, one of our medical advocate was asked to join our County's elder justice roundtable, which has enabled us to connect with other assisted living facilities and senior centers, along with our Montgomery County office aging and adult services.these trainings and presentations have already resulted in victim referrals to our program, with the wcmc serving 418 survivors self-identifying as over the age of 60.

During this period we provided 2,884 court accompaniment sessions broken down as: 59 emergency/after-hours pfa accompaniments 510 temporary pfa filings 1,991 final orders 241 criminal and icc hearings 83 defiant trespass assists (in situations in which the relationship did not meet the pfa filing standards) our legal advocacy and options counseling includes onsite assistance at the courthouse with completing the pfa petition. Additionally, as part of these services, we have been designated by our court administration as a resource to pfa petitioners to provide pre-court orientation for them in preparation for their hearing. Each week, our counselors receive a list of upcoming pfa hearings and are charged with contacting those individuals not represented by legal counsel to confirm their hearing dates, provide information about the hearing process and reassurance about the opportunity to be accompanied by our legal advocates at the hearing. Safety planning and additional support resources are also discussed.to address challenges faced by survivors seeking an after-hours pfa, our legal services coordinator revised our after hours/emergency pfa process and information form, directing advocates to take a more active role in assisting hotline callers in need of support as they navigate the challenges and complexities of the after-hours process. This has resulted in more effective interactions with survivors seeking these orders and allowed us to interact more effectively with the police and district justices to help address their confusion about their roles in the process.since we do not have a staff attorney, we have responded to the civil legal needs of survivors by increasing our ability to access comprehensive legal resources and identify potential external private/public interest attorneys to provide affordable legal representation.our court advocates have been very successful in their efforts to develop stronger professional relationships with attorneys representing survivors in court. With so many of the pfa cases in which our advocates assist, these cases are entangled with custody, divorce, and eviction issues and more victims are appearing in court with representation. Recognizing the need to become a part of the survivor's journey (providing counseling, resources, etc. To supplement their legal needs)and assist their attorneys (many of whom are new to the pfa court process), our advocates proactively and positively introduced themselves to the legal counsel as a resource when needed. The result over the past year has been many attorneys seeking assistance from our advocates in navigating the pfa process and referring their clients for supportive services to complement their legal needs.through these contacts with survivors, we are able to provide supportive services beyond assistance with pfa's and criminal court accompaniment that include:procedures and support resources for addressing child custody matters and implementing safety measures during custody exchangesprocedures and resources for securing support and divorce as appropriate processes for accessing public benefits and healthcare, with special consideration for disabilities, age or lgbtq status.access to available safe and affordable housing, including emergency hotel stays and relocation assistance.referrals to appropriate agencies for survivors facing immigration concerns. Provide information about victim's compensation, pa-savin and address confidentiality.during our 'recovery' from prolonged covid closures at our courthouse, our advocates adapted to video conferencing for temporary orders, new procedures implemented by court administration that includes changes to the rotation of and the ongoing construction of a new justice complex, which is expected to be completed within the next two to three years. Our staff provides coverage now at two distinct locations for the initial filing of a temporary orders in fiscal year 2022-2023, we assisted with 37 emergency pfa contacts, 417 temporary pfa accompaniments, 1,280 final orders and 280 criminal court accompaniments, included indirect criminal contempt (icc) hearings for violations of pfa orders.to meet the increasing need for legal services and the alarming severity and intensity of these cases over the past year, we expanded staffing in our courthouse location to include a third paid staff member, working with our trained volunteers. Our legal advocates worked directly with court administration, the prothonotary's office, and our judges to streamline and enhance services to keep the focus on survivors trauma informed and inclusive.