Domestic Violence Community Resource Council October 10th Meeting Highlights
*On September 28, 2000, the Community Liaison Workers visited the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.The Workers had an opportunity to observe family violence cases being heard by the Court and were briefed on domestic violence service provided to individual and families through the Office of Court Services.The Council reviewed a new domestic violence video entitled "The Troubling Cycle" created for use in the Vietnamese community. The video is recorded in Vietnamese with English subtitles. The Council felt the video effectively porttrayed many of cultural aspects that play a role in abusive relationships, decision-making processes and the ability of individuals and families to access services. The video effectively defined emotional and physical abuse, provided legal and immigration information, reviewed safety planning, economic concerns and decision points victims of abuse need to address.The Council recommended that the video be used as part of a discussion on domestic violence along with a facilitator to provide local resource and legal information to participants. Kim Viet Ngo, Community Liaison Worker with Boat People SOS is exploring development of a domestic violence video utilizing local Vietnamese cable television resources. The video will address strategies families can use when coping with violenceand provide information on available domestic violence resource and services. A survey is being developed to gather feedback form Domestic Violence Community Resource Council members. Responses to the survey questions will be used to evaluate the pilot project. Maritza Rodriquez, Human Services Intern will be contacting all Council members and asking them questions about their experience participating as a member of the Council during the first year of the project. Council members were asked to complete a brief questionnaire to gather perspectives on how culture plays role in the provision and receipt of services to our language minority communities.

Information exchange

October and November Training Session Updates
The Community Liaison Worker continue their work to support the Human Services Domestic Violence Pilot Project, Region II through media events, training and education of services providers and community outreach efforts.On December 12, 2000, Ada Troncoso from Hispanic Committee of Virginia and Kim Viet Ngo of Boat People SOS organized and facilitated a workshop on cultural, demographic and historical perspectives on Vietnam and Central and South America. They discussed cultural sensitivities and shared perspectives on family violence and barriers to accessing services in their communities. Discussion with workshop participants included suggestions on ways that public and private service providers could work more effectively with Vietnamese and Hispanic families. Service providers from the Police Department, Department of Health, Women's Shelter, and Northern Virginia Legal Services attended the workshop. Workshop evaluations indicated information about the political history, inherent stress associated with assimilation into American culture were very beneficial to workshop participants. Ada Troncoso and Francisco Duvua, from the Hispanic Committee of Virginia are into their eighth week of work with the women's support group that began as an outgrowth of the Human Services Domestic Violence Pilot Project.During initial meetings, this group created their own work plan that included a list of topics and issues of concern the members wanted to work on together. The group decided that a priority for all the members was to enhance their feelings of self-esteem. During two recent meetings, the support group participated in exercises designed to help them more accurately describe how they perceived themselves. The group spent time describing their positive attributes and strengths, and learning ways to reallistically asscess their weaknesses. Ms. Troncoso commented that some of the women had a difficult time listing their positive attributes and strengths but where more open to this exercise during the second session.Future topics for the support group will focus on appropriate and healthy ways to discipline children. Ms. Troncoso and Mr. Duvua have scheduled speakers and developed exercises to help build effective parenting skills. plans are underway to work with the children of the support group members affected by family violence.The Hispanic Committee of Virginia continues their media outreach efforts. Public Service Announcements aboutthe Human Services Pilot Project and work of the Committee and Boat People SOS continue to be published in El Tiempo Latino and El Pergonero community newspapers.On February 16, Ada Troncoso, from the Hispanic Committee of Virginia was a guest speaker on Channel 21, the El Tiempo Latino program and discussed domestic violence issues and services avaiable to famillies. Kim Viet Ngo, from Boat People SOS has conducted eight talk show on Vietnamese Public Radio. She invited guest speaker Ms. Hai Nguyen of the Houston Area Women's Center to co-host the talk show. Ms Nguyen discussed domestic issues, described the services provided by several organizations to families impacted by domestic violence, and answered questions from listeners. Outreach efforts to the Vietnamese community included an essay contest held in October. Members of the community were invited to write an essay on " What do you think about domestic violence in the Vietnamese community" or " What are your suggestions to prevent domestic violence in the Vietnamese family". Ten essays were submitted and two where chosen to be published in the BPSOS national and local newsletters. Additionally, BPSOS published articles focused on the differences between ancient and modern Vietnamese culture and the influence of these differences on family violence. The Korean Community Service Center of Greater Washington, (KCSC) continues its efforts to provide education, training, and prevention and case management in their community. Their media campaign includes information on domestic violence broadcast on Korean Cable TV and distribution of 1700 copies of their second community newsletter. Four articles on family violence and information on available resources were published in the Korean Times. The Korean Community Service Center held two workshops on family violence. A " Successful Immigrant's Life in the USA" attracted 53 participants and the " Korean Culture and Domestic Violence" had 30 members of the Korean community attend. Two training sessions for Community Liaison Workers were held on October 14 and November 8. On October 14th, Lisa Madron, LCSW conducted a six-hour domestic violence training for the Community Liaison Workers. Topics included the dynamics of power and control in abusive relationships, myths and societal beliefs about violence and abuse, the impact of family violence on children, and legal aspects of domestic violence. Ten Community Liaison Workers and the staff from Boat People SOS, Hispanic Committee and Korean Community Services Center attended this session. On November 8th, Anne Van Ryzin, Program Coordinator with the Fairfax Falls Church Community Services Boards provided a history of Fairfax County domestic violence services and an overview of resources available through Victim Assistance Network (VAN). Twelve Community Liaison Workers attended the workshop that included the workshop that included a domestic violence video and discussion on effective strategies to use when working with individuals and families struggling with domestic abuse. Feedback from the workshop was positive and the participants felt it provided an excellent overview of VAN and how to utilize these services. Participants suggested that additional training sessions on the impact of domestic violence on children, legal services, emotional abuse and perpetrators of domestic violence be planned in the future. Please remember that all members are welcome to participate in any these training sessions for more information contact Martiza Rodriguez at (703)533-5750

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Web Site