Public Awareness

OPDV Bulletin:
Sowing the Seeds, Reaping the Harvest
by Ursula Forem


For many long months, the ten counties participating in the NYS Rural Grant Project have been working hard to complete their community needs assessment, as the precursor to policy development. For most counties, this has meant conducting community agency surveys, victim experience surveys and a community forum or some other opportunity for private citizens to give input and gain awareness of the project. The project was designed to be an eight-step process with the information gathered from the needs assessment guiding the policy development phase. Each county organized a planning committee of 4 to 6 task force members, which included the local domestic violence provider, to oversee the project.


The Rural Team (a collaboration between OPDV and the NYSCADV) designed two survey instruments: a community agency survey and a victim experience survey, for counties to use or to adapt to meet their local needs.


Results from the agency surveys provided the planning committee with a clearer picture of how criminal justice and non-criminal justice agencies are currently responding to domestic violence in their county. Agency information gathered included: whether there were screening tools in place to identify domestic violence and policy or protocols to guide their work, whether these were formal or informal policies, types of referrals made, etc. Additionally, the information gathered provided the opportunity to create or update a service directory that would be a comprehensive, countywide product used to better assist domestic violence victims.


The victim experience survey created the opportunity for victims to have their voices heard and share how they perceived their experiences with a variety of response systems that they turned to for help. Input by battered women is crucial for the creation of effective policies and protocols based on a victim-centered approach.


The next step of the project was to analyze existing policies and/or develop policies where none existed. A policy development workshop was offered to each county to assist in this process. Using the guidelines and recommendations from the NYS Model Domestic Violence Policy for Counties and the local information gathered, response systems are able to review policies from the perspective of victim safety, offender accountability and system responsibility. Once policies are reviewed and enhanced to meet these guidelines, the next steps are creating an implementation, training, monitoring and evaluation plan. And, last but not least, is the need for Memorandums of Understanding between participating agencies that clarify each agency's role and how they will work together. Memorandums of Understanding can create community accountability and allow agencies to coordinate and maximize their efforts.


Sounds like a lot of work? Well, it is. Each community is working along at its own pace, which is dictated by the time and resources available. Some counties are working on hospital or health and human services policies, others are concentrating on criminal justice response systems. As policies are developed, the goal is to share them with the other communities participating in the project and with rural counties across New York State.


Comments or questions regarding the Rural Project should be directed to Mary Walsh at (518) 457-5925.