Domestic Violence Community Advocacy

Consejo's Domestic Violence Program provides one-on-one client advocacy, in which the advocate will work in partnership with the survivor to identify and address a wide variety of needs.

For some clients, services will take the form of emergency assistance, as an advocate assists them in obtaining emergency shelter, transportation, or food during a crisis situation. Other clients may need assistance accessing longer-term self-sufficiency resources, such as housing, medical services, ESL-classes or vocational training. Still other clients may be too fearful to take any definitive action at the moment, but need a safe, confidential place where they can ask questions about domestic violence, find out about their legal rights, weigh their options, and explore the possible consequences of any actions they may be thinking of taking in the future.

Accordingly, Community Advocacy services are individualistic, client-centered, and depend entirely on each survivor's stated needs and goals at the time they come to the program. These services may include, but are not limited to:

• Performing individual advocacy-based counseling sessions with domestic violence survivors;

• Providing crisis intervention and stabilization for survivors in emergency situations;

• Assisting survivors in identifying needs and barriers, and in developing an action plan;

• Partnering with survivors to design personalized safety plans;

• Facilitating survivors' education on the dynamics of abusive relationships;

• Providing systems-based advocacy for immigrant survivors with cultural and language barriers, to ensure access to services within other agencies;

• Interpreting and translating for Spanish-speaking domestic violence survivors; and

• Facilitating survivors' education about community resources and providing appropriate referrals.

Community advocacy services are tailored to meet the individual client's needs, and continue for as long as needed.