Workgroups comprised of Advisory Committee members, Illinois Family Violence Coordinating Council staff, Local Council Coordinators and local Family Violence Coordinating Council members reviewed the protocols, updated statutes, person-first language and developed new resources for these protocols.
The purpose of this protocol is to effectively guide prosecutor in responding to people with disabilities and older adults who experience domestic violence, sexual assault, abuse, neglect or exploitation through model guidelines, investigative procedures, and legal considerations. Implementation of the protocol will allow for successful partnering with law enforcement, advocates, and others in the criminal justice system in the response to victims who are older adults or those with disabilities. Additionally, implementation supports alignment with legal mandates as well as current best practices. Prosecutor response is critical to ensuring that victims who are older adults, or those with disabilities, have equal access to the criminal justice system in a compassionate, proactive, individualized manner. Use of this protocol will promote a more coordinated community response with prosecutor by bringing together health care, social service and adult protective services in serving older adults and people with disabilities who are victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation.
The Illinois Family Violence Coordinating Council (FVCC) Steering Committee will meet on Friday, November 2, 2018 at 9am to 11am at the offices of the ICJIA/FVCC Office at 607 E. Adams, Rm 906, Springfield, Illinois. Call-in: 1-888-494-4032 Passcode 5989681313
Meeting Materials:
Featuring Rich Wistocki
BeSure Consulting, Training for Law Enforcement, Schools, Parents and Children
Monday June 4, 9 AM to 4 PM
Sponsored by: The 7th Judicial Circuit Family Violence Coordinating Council: Hon. John W. Belz, Presiding Judge, Hon. Jennifer Ascher, Assoc. Judge
In 2011, the Illinois Family Violence Coordinating Council received a U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women Arrest grant. The focus of the grant was development of an Integrated Protocol Initiative. The scope of the initiative included updating the domestic violence and elder abuse protocols for law enforcement and prosecutors and to create protocols to address violence against people with disabilities. Upon completion of the protocols, in 2013, IFVCC and its partners conducted training of trainers across the state to facilitate local implementation. As a part of the statewide roll-out, the protocols for responding to violence against people with disabilities and older adults were jointly trained. Based upon this experience, it was determined that, though there are differences between older adults and people with disabilities, there are enough similarities in victimology and support requirements between the two populations that merging the protocols will allow a more cohesive response and provide ease of use for law enforcement and prosecutors.
In 2016, in preparation for the merger of the protocols, almost 80 interviews were conducted with law enforcement, people with disabilities, and older adults. Information obtained from law enforcement officers includes the need for more training for working with people with disabilities. The greatest challenge noted by officers is the lack of resources or lack of knowledge about resources. Additionally, spending time with people with disabilities, particularly family members, was suggested as the most helpful experience to increase comfort with people with disabilities.
Interviews with older adults and people with disabilities highlighting their experiences in working with police and their advice for a better response for law enforcement is included in this guide. Information from older adults and people with disabilities indicate a more positive interaction with police when officers take time to respectfully engage and understand how a person communicates. Finally, feedback obtained through the interviews, as well as the insights gained from communicating with local council training teams and previous implementation, form the basis for the new protocols. Workgroups comprised of Advisory Committee members, Illinois Family Violence Coordinating Council staff, Local Council Coordinators and local Family Violence Coordinating Council members reviewed the protocols, updated statutes, person-first language and developed new resources for these protocols.
The purpose of this protocol is to effectively guide law enforcement in responding to people with disabilities and older adults who experience domestic violence, sexual assault, abuse, neglect or exploitation through model guidelines, investigative procedures, and legal considerations. Implementation of the protocol will allow for successful partnering with prosecutors, advocates, and others in the criminal justice system in the response to victims who are older adults or those with disabilities. Additionally, implementation supports alignment with legal mandates as well as current best practices. Law Enforcement response is critical to ensuring that victims who are older adults, or those with disabilities, have equal access to the criminal justice system in a compassionate, proactive, individualized manner. Use of this protocol will promote a more coordinated community response with law enforcement by bringing together health care, social service and adult protective services in serving older adults and people with disabilities who are victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, abuse, neglect, and financial.
Training Opportunity
REGISTER TODAY for this free 1-day training!
Friday, May 18, 2018
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Bunn Auditorium
HSHS St. John’s Hospital
800 E Carpenter Street
Springfield, Illinois 62769
Sponsored by the Illinois Family Violence Coordinating Council
LEARN TO:
PRESENTERS:
Russell Strand, Executive Director of Certified FETI and Co-Founder/Managing Partner of Strand Holistic Innovative Forensic Techniques (SHIFT) LLC. Mr. Strand is an internationally recognized expert on child abuse and sexual assault investigations, domestic violence intervention, human trafficking, critical incident peer support, forensic interviews, trauma response, and culture change. He is the creator of the Forensic Experiential Trauma Interview.
Myra Ferechil, Co-Founder/Managing Partner of Strand Holistic Innovative Forensic Techniques LLC. SHIFT’s mission is to dramatically shift the paradigm to improve societal responses to individuals who have experienced trauma, victimization, and other complex experiences. Ms. Ferechil provides consultation, training, and assistance to agencies and service providers.
SUGGESTED TRAINING PARTICIPANTS:
Continuing Education Credits for CDVP, CPAIP, LPC/LCPC, and LSW/LCSW will be awarded through sponsorship from the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence pending approval.
Space is limited. Register today!
Questions? Contact Mary Ratliff: Mary.Ratliff@Illinois.gov
Event Date: April 13, 2018
8am-12:00pm
Sponsor: 21st Judicial Circuit Family Violence Coordinating Council, Child Network, KC-CASA and Kankakee Community College
Presenter: Vanessa McNeal
Location: Iroquois Room, Kankakee Community College Conference Hall, 100 College Drive, Kankakee, IL 60901
Many people experience horrific circumstances and feel defined by them. How do you transition from a victim to victor mind state? In this talk, Vanessa shares her journey experiencing and navigating through multiple forms of abuse. She’ll discuss how the trauma she endured impacted her on a systems level using examples through her lived experiences. She will also share how she was able to overcome by moving from a victim to victor mindset.
Event Date: May 10, 2018 from 8:30 AM-3:30 PM at Olivet Nazarene University in the Weber Leadership Center, Bourbonnais, IL
SUMMIT OBJECTIVES:
Join us for a special one-day training for law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, victim advocates, judges, probation, social service staff, public defenders, mediators, public health professionals, and attorneys.
Event Date: March 8, 2018
The Sexual Assault Incident Procedure Act addresses troubling statistics that show only a fraction of sexual assault victims report crimes to law enforcement authorities. The law was passed to encourage more sexual assault victims to come forward and increase the successful prosecution of sexual assault crimes throughout the state. The trauma of sexual assault and sexual abuse often leads to severe mental, physical, and economic consequences for the victim. A victim’s ability to recover from the trauma of sexual assault or sexual abuse has been directly linked to the response of others to their trauma, particularly the response of law enforcement authorities to a victim who comes forward to report the crime. This presentation will explore the neurobiology of trauma and the effect trauma has on the brain and memory. It will help explain why being trauma informed is crucial when interviewing victims of all violent crimes, including sexual assault.
Please register with Carole Franke, FVCC Coordinator, @ cfranke@i-kan.org by March 1
Event Date: March 23, 2018
Topics Covered:
Featuring Dr. Olivia Johnson, DM
Event Date: March 7, 2018
This symposium will focus on understanding the causes and effects of good stress (eustress), bad stress (distress), and ugly stress (chronic) often faced by law enforcement, first responders and other professionals who come in contact with and support victims of family violence and/or trauma-related life experiences. Methods and techniques for dealing with stress will be addressed: deep breathing, cognitive/mental reframing, and recognizing early onset of stress and anger before problems arise. This presentation is part of the FVCC’s continuing effort to educate and enhance services provided by our community partners and to provide training that will improve practices and support efforts to increase victim and community safety.