the essential guide - Texas Council on Family Violence

The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, <strong>the</strong> Beginning of <strong>the</strong> National Network to End DomesticViolence and <strong>the</strong> passage of <strong>the</strong> of <strong>the</strong> Violence Against Women ActFrom our experience in <strong>Texas</strong>, we knew howeffective it was to work towards establishingdesignated funding for <strong>the</strong> state domesticviolence coalition within <strong>the</strong> statute supportingfunding for direct services. This led to ouradvocacy to include a similar set-aside forfunding of state-level work at <strong>the</strong> federal level.When <strong>the</strong> Family Violence Prevention andServices Act (FVPSA) was first passed in 1984 weincluded a set-aside of 2.5% of whatever Congress appropriated to <strong>the</strong> U.S. Department of Health andHuman Services Administration for Children and Families to support <strong>the</strong> entire program to specificallyfund state domestic violence coalitions divided equally among all states and territories. There were fiveof us involved in this effort and we got it done in one week! At <strong>the</strong> time of creating <strong>the</strong> set-aside forstate coalition funding in FVPSA only half of <strong>the</strong> STDVCs had established an office to perform state-levelwork and coordination. By <strong>the</strong> time we came toge<strong>the</strong>r to form <strong>the</strong> National Network to End DomesticViolence (NNEDV), almost every state had an office for <strong>the</strong>ir state coalition. As founding Chair of <strong>the</strong>National Network, it was a priority to assist that handful of remaining states to establish coalition officesas well as to begin outreach to <strong>the</strong> territorial and Native Coalitions.In 1989 TCFV advocated for <strong>the</strong> establishment of <strong>the</strong> Battering Interventionand Prevention Project (BIPP) and secured <strong>the</strong> initial allocation of $400,000to provide funding for 14 programs working with men committing violenceagainst family and household members. This was one of <strong>the</strong> first, if not <strong>the</strong>very first, state funding of civilian programs for intervention with offenders.There were some remarkable people involved in this effort including TobyMyers who were directing <strong>the</strong> battering intervention program at Aid toVictims of Domestic Abuse. In addition, national organizations andstakeholders such as Men Stopping Violence, Emerge and Dr. EdwardGondolf advised TCFV in <strong>the</strong> development of <strong>the</strong> legislation and <strong>the</strong> programstandards. Dr. Gondolf and a remarkable TCFV Committee workedcooperatively with <strong>the</strong> <strong>Texas</strong> Department of Criminal Justice, CommunityJustice Assistance Division to devise <strong>the</strong> policies governing <strong>the</strong> BIPP programand set <strong>guide</strong>lines for local programs engaged in battering intervention andprevention. This is also important work for TCFV and will continue to developas we learn more about how to intervene more effectively in family violence.Christina WalshNNEDV led <strong>the</strong> effort to develop <strong>the</strong> Violence Against Women Act (VAWA),initially passed in 1994, with only about a dozen of us writing and workingwith o<strong>the</strong>r national groups, state domestic violence coalitions (SDVC) and Rhonda Gersonstate sexual assault coalitions (SSAC) to get it passed. We got to work closelywith Vice President, <strong>the</strong>n Senator Joe Biden as well as House co-sponsor Senator, <strong>the</strong>n RepresentativeCharles Schumer and Representative Patricia Schroeder to write <strong>the</strong> legislation. One of <strong>the</strong> all-time beststories related to <strong>the</strong> passage of VAWA concerns Representative Jack Brooks of Beaumont, <strong>Texas</strong> whoTHE ESSENTIAL GUIDE: AN INTRODUCTION TO ADVOCATING FOR SURVIVORS OF FAMILY VIOLENCE6 | P a g e