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1985-1986 ANNUAL REPORT
Sexual & Physical Abuse Resource Center (SPARC)
I. HistgorofSPARC
The Sexual and Physical Abuse Resource Center (SPARC)
has its origins in the Rape Information and Counseling
Service (RICS) begun in 1974. RICS established a rape
hotline in 1974 and soon began receiving phone calls from
battered women. As media coverage of spouse abuse
increased, so did numbers of calls RICS received from
victims of battering. In 1976, RICS began to expand its
services to include battered women, providing many of the
services to these victims that were available to rape
victims. It became obvious, however, that victims of
battering needed more than crisis counseling or occasional
shelter in a volunteer's home.
In March, 1977, RICS gained three positions through the
Comprehensive Employment & Training Act (CETA) for a
one-year project on domestic violence. The project
provided counseling, information, referrals, victim
advocacy, and community education. Victims were referred
to local agencies for shelter (Pleasant House, Salvation
Army). However, these were unsuitable for several reasons:
Victims could stay for only three to four days, they did
not offer counseling or a supportive atmosphere for
women, they housed transients who created an unhealthy
environment for children.
In September, 1977, a spouse abuse hotline, 377-TALK,
was added and RICS changed its name to the Sexual and
Physical Abuse Resource Center (SPARC) to reflect the
organization's broader mission. SPARC applied for its
present shelter site through the Regional Utilities Board
and was chosen over several other applicants in January,
1978. SPARC's acceptance was facilitated by active display
of community support spearheaded by present board member,
Lynda Dekold and her husband Don. The first victim was
admitted March 11. The shelter was officially opened on
March 30, 1978 with a dedication and ribbon-cutting
ceremony. SPARC became a charter member of the Refuge
Information Network (RIN) and was selected to send a
delegate to represent the Southeastern region on the
steering committee of the National Coalition Against
Domestic Violence (NCADV).
In 1979, SPARC was granted state funding. As a result,
SPARC was certified to provide services to the sixteen
counties of HRS District III. At present, we receive
funds from United Way in two counties, Victims of Crime
Act (VOCA), and the Marriage License Fee Trust Fund and are
mandated to serve eleven counties (Alachua, Bradford,
Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy,
Putnam, Suwannee, and Union).
II. Victims Served
During the fiscal year 1985-1986 SPARC served 121
women, 158 children and two dependent adults in its
emergency shelter, for a total of 4,077 resident days.
During the same period 1,273 units of case management, 322
units of individual counseling, 183 units of group
counseling, 431 units of co-op, 150 units of emergency
food, and 174 units of transportation were provided to
shelter residents. Out of shelter, 91 women and 26 men
were seen in individual, group, and/or couples counseling
for a total of 690 hours of counseling being offered.
Through SPARC's hotline, phone counseling was provided
711 times during fiscal year 1985-1986. In addition,
information and referral was provided 1719 times.
Community education and training sessions were provided
69 times during the course of fiscal 1985-1986. Volunteer
training was provided four times during the year, for a
total of eighty hours. (Each session included twenty hours
of training).
III. UngueNeeds Being _Met
SPARC is the only program in the Department of Health
and Rehabilitative Services Sub-District A whose primary
concern and purpose is to deal with the issues and problems
of family violence. SPARC is a grassroots organization
founded by community residents who were concerned about the
lack of resources for victims of family violence. SPARC
plays an important role in the community by identifying the
needs of battered women and their families. Without
advocacy by SPARC, victims of family violence would
continue to be ignored by their communities. SPARC brings
the problem of battering out of the closet and places the
issue of family violence in its proper perspective:
victims of family violence are a concern for the greater
society which generates and dictates acceptable forms of
behavior. SPARC makes a major effort to reassess and
change the social values which perpetuate such violence and
continues to develop the educational and preventive
components of its programs.
IV. Operational Procedures
The shelter and emergency hotline are covered on a
24-hour basis by trained paid and volunteer staff. From
8:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. trained, paid and volunteer staff
cover the phones and are available to families in
residence. At 10:00 p.m. the emergency hotline is call
forwarded to the home of a trained volunteer who has a paid
staff person available to her as a back-up. The Resident
Manager or Weekend Shelter Aide are responsible for
responding to any emergencies that may arise at the shelter
between 10:00 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and
throughout the weekend.
Admissions to the shelter are carefully screened to
determine risk, history or threat of abuse, availability of
alternative resources in friends and family, and functional
level. Victims must be ambulatory, able to care for
themselves and their dependents, and must not have a
serious alcohol or drug problem which would cause a medical
emergency. In most cases of intoxication, victims are
referred for detox prior to being admitted to the shelter.
In every case, the victim herself is screened directly by
phone.
The shelter's location is confidential and victims are
transported from a neutral location to the shelter upon
admission. Under no circumstances will a staff person
visit a victim's home to intervene in a battering incident.
SPARC will contact the appropriate law enforcement
department in response to "abuse in process" at the
victim's request.
Upon arrival at the shelter, victims are afforded time
to settle in, rest, and in severe cases, recuperate from
injuries. Basic paperwork is completed at admission (often
a time of crisis,) including a release of liability and
vital demographics. Once the victim has had a chance to
become acclimated, within 48 hours, a comprehensive intake
is completed and a case advocate assigned. The advocate's
goal is to assist the woman in developing her plan. The
advocate is knowledgeable about community systems and acts
as an enabler for the woman to attain her own goals
regarding employment, child care, legal needs, housing,
etc.
The support group is the primary counseling vehicle in
the shelter. Group counseling is especially effective with
battered women due to their extreme isolation and tendency
to assume responsibility for the battering. Peer support
breaks down the deep seated feelings of guilt and
powerlessness experienced by victims.
Residents are expected to share in housekeeping
responsibilities, negotiated weekly at house meetings.
They are also encouraged to actively participate in
overall shelter operation, and their input is considered
important in the policy formation process.
A victim's length of stay is determined by her case
plan, which is reviewed weekly by the shelter staff. At
departure, a follow-up appointment is arranged, and ongoing
contact through individual, group, or family counseling
encouraged.
Out-of-shelter victims are referred to the Counseling
Services Coordinator and seen on a first come-first served
basis at SPARC's outreach office. Because. SPARC employs
only one full-time therapist who is unable to
accommodate the demand for services, victims often wait to
be seen in counseling for several weeks. SPARC maintains
an average waiting list of 15 victims.
SPARC views group as the best treatment modality
because groups are efficient and they counter the battered
woman's guilt, isolation, and self-blame. Couples who
request dyadic counseling are typically seen individually
until they develop the skills to safely begin marital
counsel ing.
SPARC offers a "drop-in" group for battered women in
the evening. SPARC also offers a weekly morning time for
individual victims who "drop-in".
V. Detailed Descrietion of Services Provided
SPARC serves battered women and their families by
developing programs and services designed to alleviate
battering and the cycle of violence. SPARC's overall
mission is to move beyond crisis intervention and into the
realm of social change. Societal attitudes are deeply
ingrained and tacitly condone violence in the family and
violent behavior toward women. By challenging these
attitudes, which appear in legal, financial, educational,
and health care arenas, SPARC hopes to eliminate family
violence.
In light of SPARC's mission, the following services are
provided:
1. Twenty-four hour hotline staffed by a combination
of trained paid and volunteer staff who provide
crisis intervention, counseling, information and
referral;
2. Fifteen-bed emergency residential facility for
functional adult women and their dependent
children;
3. Individual counseling for in-shelter and out-of-
shelter victims;
4. Group counseling for both in-shelter and out-of-
shelter victims;
5. Couples and family counseling;
6. Case advocacy, management, and follow-up;
7. Emergency transportation;
8. Emergency food;
9. Cooperative child care program for residents of
the shelter. This includes a parenting group
for mothers as well as developmental play,
counseling, and advocacy for children;
10. Community education to professional groups,
community organizations, and academic classes;
11. In-service training to other community agencies
dealing with the problems of family violence; and
12. Volunteer training in the theories, issues, and
dynamics of family violence as well as in skilled
assistance with all above-mentioned services.
VI. Staffing
At the end of the fiscal year, SPARC's staff consisted
of ten paid positions. Four were full-time and included
the Executive Director, the Counseling Services
Coordinator, the Shelter Services Coordinator and the
Six part-time positions included the
Children's Coordinator, the Administrative Assistant, a
Case Advocate, the Weekend Shelter Aide, and two
Victim Advocates. In addition, SPARC has maintained a
roster of 20-25 active volunteers throughout the year.
VII. Program Needs and Goals
In keeping with the overall mission to move beyond
crisis intervention into the realm of social change,
SPARC's objectives for 1985-1986 included the following:
1. To expand out-of-shelter counseling program to
establish a program for batterers. There is an
on-going need for a program which serves
batterers. In addition, requests for individual
counseling through our out-of-shelter program have
increased until we have stopped taking names for
our waiting list.
2. To explore the possibility of purchasing or
building a new shelter. SPARC has been in the
same location for eight years. There is
discussion of developing the area where the
shelter is located into a public park which
would make our location inappropriate for a
shelter. In addition, there is a need for more
comfortable and more private space for victims.
Staff has increased and office space is
inadequate.
3. To continue to develop our fledging victim
advocacy program in both the hospital and court
setting.
4. To provide better coordination, training and
support of volunteers. Volunteers have been
coordinated by a volunteer. Although this has
worked well in the past, increased need for
training and use of volunteers in new areas of
our program requires the regular attention of a
paid staff person.
Resident Manager.
VIII. Summary
1. Through the receipt of a small grant of $3,000.00 SPARC
began to establish its Violence Intervention Project.
We hired an individual to provide a small number of
hours of counseling and program development. However,
it became apparent that the needs of the program
required considerably more hours for development and
coordination with the criminal justice system than we
had expected. The amount of funding provided by the
grant was insufficient.
Instead, we have had contact with a doctoral student
who wishes to develop a batterer's program for the
first year as part of her dissertation. We are working
in close consultation with her. Batterer's groups are
now being held weekly. We will continue to consult
with this program and assist in locating funding for
the year to assure the program's continuation.
2. The Junior Women's Club has taken on SPARC as its main
project for the next two years. We are currently
proposing a challenge to this well established
organization to work towards the purchase or
construction of a shelter. This will be a long term
project which will probably take several years.
3. The Victim Advocacy project has begun by providing
training in two hospital systems. This training will
be developed to assist hospitals in formulating a
protocol which provides support and information to
battered women in the hospital setting.
In the court setting we will be developing training for
courtroom personnel as well as direct advocacy for
victims in the court setting. We expect to increase
volunteer involvement in these areas as well as
incorporate law students as advocates for battered
women in the courtroom. Volunteers have already begun
to accompany victims through the court system.
4. Through reorganizing job descriptions of present staff,
SPARC has created a half-time Volunteer Coordinator
position to provide better recruitment, training and
support for volunteers.
I
ChiIden
Dependet Adults
1985-1986 x II lSE
VICTIMS SERVED
150-
10-
1981985
Total Resident Days
"''V
WHM iHM 2I l
VICTIMS SERVED
5000-
400--
2881000-
l1os -
to
158
SamutI
588
1259
9B
759-
- 258
1984-!985 1985-1986 X I RI SE
SHELTER SERVICES
WoMen
Men
69-
48
.8 .
28
1984-1985 19851986 AINClSE
OUT-OF-SHELTER COUNSELING
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