Domestic and Sexual Violence in Virginia - Virginia Attorney General

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In 2007, sexual violence service providers in 39 sexualassault crisis centers across the Commonwealth respondedto 12,535 crisis situations and provided 2,703 adult andchild victims with 42,108 hours of advocacy services inan effort to ease the emotional trauma to victims and tofacilitate the reporting process. 40 Of the children whoreceived services in local crisis centers, the majority (60%)were under the age of twelve. 41 (Figure 9)In addition to domestic violence and sexual assaultprograms, local and state victim-witness programs providedirect services to victims of crime, including victims ofdomestic and sexual violence. Victim-witness programsprovide information and referrals, support throughoutthe criminal justice process, assistance with victims’compensation claims from the Criminal Injuries CompensationFund, and personal advocacy. The Departmentof Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) administers grantfunding to 102 local victim-witness programs and fourstate-level victim-witness programs.In 2007, victim-witness programs provided servicesto 71,247 crime victims across the Commonwealth,including 19,025 victims of domestic violence. 42 Theseprograms also provided services to 1,705 adult victimsand 2,989 child victims of sexual assault. 43Services to Children Who WitnessDomestic ViolenceProviding services to children who witness domesticviolence in the home is critical due to the lifelong effectthat domestic violence may have on a child. Fifty-threepercent (53%) of the children who received servicesfrom local domestic violence programs in 2007 directlywitnessed violence in the home. In addition, 21% ofchildren had been emotionally abused or neglected, 14%had been physically abused, and 6% had been sexuallyabused. 44In 2006, a statewide “needs assessment” was conductedby the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence ActionAlliance (VSDVAA) and the Department of SocialServices (DSS), Office of Family Violence. Data fromthe needs assessment indicated a gap in services for youthexposed to domestic violence and a lack of sufficientservices offered to youth in community settings. As aresult, VSDVAA developed a curriculum for domesticviolence advocates on effective advocacy services for6
children and youth and made increased training availableto advocates statewide. 45Despite an increased awareness of the need for additionallocal services to youth and children, local programscontinue to struggle with funding to provide comprehensiveservices to children and youth. In 2008, DSSoffered a one-time opportunity for currently funded localprograms to increase their capacity to provide services tochildren and youth exposed to domestic violence. Despitean overall reduction in grant funding to local programsin 2008, DSS allocated $986,000 in reverted fundingfrom the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act(FVPSA), that otherwise would have been returned tothe U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,to fund one-time projects on a local level. Local programshave designated the funds for a variety of projects,including providing training for staff; institutingmentoring programs for children; purchasing childfriendlymaterials for program use; and providing a higherlevel of children’s advocacy. Unfortunately, this fundingsource will not continue beyond the one-year grant. Asa result, additional resources will be required to addressservices for children and youth in the future. 467
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Page 6 and 7: ExecutiveSummaryOn a daily basis, d
Page 9 and 10: Domestic andSexual Violencein Virgi
Page 11 and 12: Table 1: Children Present During Fa
Page 13: Source: Domestic Violence Services
Page 17 and 18: Source: Virginia Department of Crim
Page 19 and 20: for the prevention of family violen
Page 21 and 22: Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violen
Page 23 and 24: tims of domestic violence who have
Page 25 and 26: developed pursuant to Senate Bill 2
Page 27 and 28: improve the functioning and effecti
Page 29 and 30: Virginia Department of Health,Divis
Page 31 and 32: grant assists homeless families in
Page 33 and 34: To accomplish its mission, VSDVAA r
Page 35 and 36: COLLABORATIVE EFFORTSIn addition to
Page 37 and 38: 2008 LegislativeUpdateDuring the 20
Page 39: FutureRecommendationsAs evidenced i
Page 42 and 43: 5Virginia Sexual and Domestic Viole
Page 44: Appendix A36
Page 48 and 49: Domestic Violenceand Sexual Assault
Page 50 and 51: Carroll CountyFamily Resource Cente
Page 52 and 53: Greene CountySexual Assault Resourc
Page 54 and 55: Mecklenburg CountyMadeline’s Hous
Page 56 and 57: Total Action Against PovertyWomen
Page 58 and 59: Crisis CenterP.O. Box 642Bristol, V
Page 60 and 61: Local FatalityReview TeamsChesterfi
Page 64:
The design and printing of this Ann
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