COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

DATE:

July 16, 2008

BOARD MEETING DATE:

August 5, 2008

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Supervisor Mark Church and the

San Mateo County Domestic Violence Council

SUBJECT:

Strategic Plan to improve domestic violence outreach to diverse communities in San Mateo County.

RECOMMENDATION:

Approve this strategic plan to improve culturally competent domestic violence outreach efforts in San Mateo County.

BACKGROUND:

In February of this year, the San Mateo County Domestic Violence Council reported to the Board that the Domestic Violence Council and Human Services Agency, in cooperation with the Board of Supervisors, would develop a strategic plan predicated upon the recommendations from the San Mateo County Domestic Violence Conference: “Improving Outreach in Our Diverse Community,” held in October 2007.

Supervisor Mark Church’s office, in partnership with CORA (Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse), the Domestic Violence Council and Human Services Agency, coordinated the conference. Several County departments and community organizations sponsored the event. Dr. Sujata Warrier, a nationally recognized expert on domestic violence, was the keynote speaker and discussed the critical components of culturally competent prevention and intervention services. A panel discussion with representatives from underserved communities also provided conference attendees different perspectives on how to effectively reach out to traditionally underserved populations. Conference attendees then split into workgroups and were tasked with forming recommendations for improving domestic violence outreach for the Domestic Violence Council and ultimately the Board of Supervisors. The workgroups included community based service providers, county departments and members of traditionally underserved communities.

Attendees expressed a collective desire for enhanced domestic violence outreach and education from a cultural competency perspective, and to improve collaboration among agencies and county departments that provide domestic violence prevention and intervention services.

DISCUSSION:

The San Mateo County Domestic Violence Council formed a Development Committee that initially included representatives from the Human Services Agency, a member of the Board of Supervisors and the Commission on the Status of Women. Additional members are currently being recruited. The purpose of the Development Committee is to work with community groups and the Domestic Violence Council sub-committees to develop a plan to better serve all domestic violence survivors predicated upon the strategies recommended by the workgroups at the conference. Over the last four months, the Development Committee has been working on how to best address the conference workgroup’s recommendations.

The resulting recommendations and implementation strategies are listed below. As discussed in the previous update to the Board, implementation will be phased-in with milestones at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. Additionally, the Domestic Violence Council Development Committee will work to develop measurable outcomes for each of the six recommendations and implementation strategies.

Recommendation One: Increase awareness and understanding for survivors of domestic violence about the dynamics of domestic violence, safety planning, and available resources, particularly for members of traditionally under-represented populations (e.g. undocumented immigrants, LGBTQ, male victims, disabled, pregnant women and elders) and those who, because of misinformation might be disinclined to access services.

Implementation Strategy: The Domestic Violence Council is currently working on a San Mateo County Domestic Violence Council webpage in coordination with the County Manager’s Office. This webpage will be a dedicated source of information and referral services that will be easily accessible for a variety of groups and individuals. It will also aim to enhance awareness among the population at large of various domestic violence related issues and events as they arise and serve as a forum for experts across the county to respond to concerns of the community. (Estimated target date: 6 months).

Recommendation Two: Increase public awareness of resources for youth who have been exposed to violence or are engaged in violent behavior and increase public awareness of youth related resources.

Implementation Strategy: The Domestic Violence Council is developing an informational brochure that will include information about relevant youth related programs and services that are easy to find and understand. A special effort will be made to make these brochures available to groups serving youth, such as the Youth Commission and high school peer counselors. (Estimated target date: 12 months).

Recommendation Three: Prepare information about domestic violence related resources in multiple languages.

Implementation Strategy: The feedback from the Domestic Violence Conference workgroups highlighted that it is essential to provide all domestic violence materials in several languages. In order to reach out to all of San Mateo County, materials such as the Domestic Violence Resource and Referral publication (draft attached) will be available in Spanish, Tongan/Samoan, Tagalog and Chinese. The County Manager’s Office has made funds available to translate domestic violence informational materials into multiple languages for both print material and on the web page. (Estimated target date: 6 months).

Recommendation Four: Enhance cultural awareness of health care professionals and law enforcement.

Implementation Strategy: The Coordinated Response Committee to the Domestic Violence Council is currently working in collaboration with CORA to design and implement trainings for law enforcement about how to effectively respond to domestic violence calls, especially those that involve the need for translation. (Estimated Target Date: 6 months).

To address the health care community, the Development Committee is exploring the idea of creating an educational brochure for medical practitioners, separate from the general domestic violence material, which is aimed specifically at the health care community. Potential issues that a health care community brochure might address are identification of signs that would indicate a domestic violence situation, or information on existing resources for health care professionals. (Estimated target date: 18 to 24 months).

Recommendation Five: Demystify Court and Legal System's Process

Implementation Strategy: The Domestic Violence Legal Process Committee is currently working on an update of the Domestic Violence Resource and Referral Handbook (the draft is attached for your review). The handbook provides information regarding the path domestic violence related cases take through the court system. This information will be put on the County’s Domestic Violence Website, and distributed to appropriate locations, such as family court, law enforcement agencies, libraries, etc. (Estimated target date: 6 months).

Recommendation Six: Improve collaboration among domestic violence service and resource providers.

Implementation Strategy: Domestic Violence Council Committees are continuing to work on strategies to increase collaboration between county departments and local service agencies. The Development Committee has discussed improving collaboration by identifying a domestic violence contact person in each county department that can help victims and community members navigate their specific department for domestic violence services. The Domestic Violence Council believes more work needs to be done to create a strategic plan for improving collaboration, and will continue to work on this in the coming months. (Estimated target date: 18 months).

FISCAL IMPACT:

None in relation to acceptance of the recommended plans, though there may be future minimal costs associated with the implementation of some of these plans.