Georgia refugee family violence intervention

DHS

B.J. Walker, Commissioner

Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Family and Children Services Two Peachtree Street, Suite 19-490 Atlanta, Georgia 30303-3142 404-651-8409 404-657-5105

January 18, 2011
Michael Singleton State Refugee Coordinator Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Family and Children Services Two Peachtree Street, Suite 21-402 Atlanta, GA 30303 404-657-5118 msingleton@dhr.state.ga.us

Project Title: I.D.: Report Period: Grant Amount: Project Goal:

FINAL NARRATIVE REPORT:
Georgia Refugee Family Violence Intervention Program 62402 December 15, 2007 December 14, 2010 $250,000 To implement a domestic violence intervention program for refugees in Georgia communities.

An Equal Opportunity Employer

1. What measurable goals did you set for this project and what indicators did you use to measure your performance. To what extent has your project achieved these goals and levels of performance?
The overall goal of the program was to provide services that increased awareness of domestic violence and reduced the occurrence rates of domestic violence within the refugee communities of Georgia. There were 4 desired outcomes of the program:
The various refugee communities would have an increased understanding of domestic/family violence and be provided with information/resources to help address this issue,
Refugee men would understand violent behaviors, attitudes and ideas and be provided with an opportunity to learn new skills and knowledge that would enhance the decision to live a nonviolent life style,
As a result of program, safety would be increased in the refugee communities, and There would be increased accessibility of educational materials on domestic/family
violence in various languages.
In addition to the numbers of refugees that received services, the measurable goals that were set for the program were as follows:
Increased Knowledge Rates this goal was established to show the refugees increased understanding of Unites States (U.S.) laws, cultures and norms. Many of the refugees come from backgrounds that do not necessarily label or recognize certain acts as DV as in the United States. It may be culturally acceptable in some cultures for the male to use both mental of physical acts in the relationship with no legal repercussions. It was important that the refugees both understood that these acts are not acceptable in the US and also have deeper health related implications. Standardized pre and post tests were used to determine rates.
60% of Community Education participants would demonstrate increased knowledge in issues related to Domestic Violence (DV) after participation in the support group sessions.
60% of Men's Group and Women's Group Participants would demonstrate increased knowledge in issues related to DV after participation in the sessions.
Attendance attendance of the participants was also traced to see if there was any correlation between test scores and attendance rates. For the 24 Week Men's Program, there was a mandatory attendance requirement and participants were only allowed to miss 2 classes before being removed from the program. Attendance records were maintained for all sessions provided.
Maintain an 85% attendance rate in all programs.
The program was able to meet and exceed all proposed outcome measures. Participants received useful information on domestic violence, how to seek help if needed and most importantly began to talk about the issues (domestic violence) and learn alternative behaviors. The following graphs (Figures A & B) provide the results for each goal as well as number of refugees served per program year.
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Figure A
Total # Refugees Served by Program Year

1000

800

600

400

200

0 Year 1 2007-08

Community Education 267 (Co-e d)

Men's Group

18

Women's Group

30

Year 2 2008-09
267

Year 3 2009-10
264

22

35

25

57

Totals 798
75 112

During the 3 year grant cycle a

total of 985 refugees were

provided domestic violence

intervention and prevention

services. The Community

Education Sessions were a

single event to introduce the

topic of domestic violence. In

the support groups, women

participated in either 4 or 2

group sessions (based on

agency).

The men

participated in either 4 group

sessions or the full 24 week

program.

Figure B
Outcome Measures by Program Year

100.00% 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00%

Year 1 2007-08

Year 2 2008-09

Year 3 2009-10

Women's Group

Men's Group

Community Education Sessions

Each program year, outcome measures were either met or exceeded. The average rate for increased knowledge in the program over the 3 years was 90.96%. The graph shows the yearly percentages; the average for each service over the 3 years was as follows:

Women's Group

95.10%

Men's Group

91.17%

Community Education 86.60%

Media outreach was another component of the program designed to increase awareness of the program and resources available to the refugee communities. Although there was not a set measurable goal, some information was gathered regarding the effect of the outreach efforts. This
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information is provided in Question #7.
As initially stated, the overall goal of the program was to provide services that increased awareness of domestic violence and reduced the occurrence rates of domestic violence within the refugee communities of Georgia. Of the 36 refugee males that participated in the court ordered 24week program, 34 of them decreased the instances of domestic violence incidents. In addition, this family violence intervention program has demonstrated that awareness of domestic violence has been increased. As a result of participation in the Community Education Sessions, more refugees have become aware of and recognized the various forms domestic violence takes and have requested services based on these sessions. Prior to the sessions, for many of the refugees, many acts of domestic violence were tolerated; however due to the education provided through this program the refugees have increased their knowledge as well as sought help to address the problem.
2. Did the project encounter internal or external challenges? How were they addressed? Was there something RWJF could have done to assist you?
Initially, there were some external challenges with obtaining copies of the participant's documents (id, I-94 card, etc.). Participants expressed concerns about conflicting messages they received from their resettlement agencies and case managers about not giving their documents to anyone. The resettlement agencies were contacted to inform them of the DV program and to request their assistance in telling the newly arrived refugees that it was safe to provide their documents to the agencies providing the DV services.
Due to limited transportation with some of the refugees, location was also a challenge in the initial stages. Agencies partnered with other local community agencies and public resources; i.e. libraries, apartment complexes and activity centers in order to alleviate this challenge.
Recruiting men for the program was another challenge in the first year due to the males perception of the classes. The agencies met with refugee community leaders to present the class material and show them how the program could strengthen their communities. Once the community leaders were invested, they became the greatest recruiters and helped to develop networks of support within the community.
As the refugees populations in Georgia began to change, so did the program participants. Initially, African and Vietnamese refugees were the focus for one of the partners; however as high numbers of Bhutanese and Burmese refugees entered Georgia, there was a need for interpreters for these populations. The challenge was maintaining the quality interpreters for the duration of the program. Many of the interpreters would find full-time jobs and were no longer able to work on the program. There was constant recruitment and training of interpreters in order to have a pool of quality interpreters available in the necessary languages.
Internally, the Department of Human Service (DHS) was on a spending freeze. Money that was not for salaries or contracts (direct services) was to be used on a critical need basis; therefore money that had been initially earmarked for training and other supplies for the program was not able to be utilized.
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3. Has your organization received funding from other foundations, corporations or government bodies for the project RWJF has been supporting?
DHS receives funding from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to provide core services to refugees including Domestic Violence prevention. From these funds, DHS, through the Refugee Programs Unit, awarded a five year grant to one of the partner agencies; the Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Inc. (CPACS), to provide domestic violence prevention for the refugee communities by combining both prevention and intervention. This grant began in 2007 and expires in 2012. To date, CPACS has received $311,689. The amount for 2012 is undetermined as of this date.
In 2009, CPACS received a three year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation called "Strengthening What Works" in preventing intimate partner violence in immigrant and refugee communities. This grant supports the evaluation of the DHS-funded current program as a model program. The grant totaled $160,000 over the 3 year period. In the past fiscal year, evaluation work has included:
Revised and implemented a pre/post test that reflects curriculum's learning objectives. Conducted 15 semi-structured interviews that seek to document the `how' and `why' the curriculum works to prevent domestic violence, Implemented an online journaling system for facilitators to document best practices, suggestions for improvements and impactful stories.
Initial findings show the continued need for services and that the impact of the program goes beyond education and support. Findings support that the program is strengthening social connections, creating healthy social norms and building a web of community connectedness.
Throughout the program there have also been several sources of in-kind support including physical space as well as volunteer assistance.
4. When considering the design and implementation of this project, what lessons did you learn that might help other grantees implement similar work in this field.
One of the biggest lessons learned is to understand the myriad of barriers that refugees face; especially newly arrived refugees, and the cultural backgrounds and norms they operate under before providing any type of service. When teaching sensitive topics such as domestic violence, it was especially important to recognize the cultural and linguistic barriers of the refugee communities. A lot of effort needs to go into building trust within the communities; such as working with the community leaders and elders as well as providing other vital services in order to effectively work with the communities.
In addition to building trust within the communities, it was important to help establish trust between the communities and other stakeholders (court/legal systems, social service providers, etc.) in which they would interact. Special training to these stakeholders was necessary to help them learn of the unique needs of the refugee population. In addition, special training was provided to interpreters specifically on interpretation as related to domestic violence.
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Building a strong coalition that could address not just domestic violence needs was also helpful in order to help the refugee make long lasting changes for themselves and their communities. By either offering or being able to link them with trustworthy service providers that addressed other familial issues such as: employment, education, gender equality, etc., helped to reduce and/or prevent further acts of violence.
5. What impact do you think the project has had to date? Who can be contacted a few years from now to follow up on the project?
The biggest impact has been with the participants themselves. The project had had a positive effect in the communities served. The partners have been able to gain trust from these communities and create great partnerships with other refugee serving organizations. The participants are able to leave the program knowing the different 3 types of violence, understanding the role of law enforcement and how to strengthen their communities from within. Most importantly, each participant leaves the program knowing how to help themselves or others in the community who are affected by domestic violence.
The project has also provided valuable information about how education can help to prevent intimate partner violence in immigrant and refugee communities. This can be demonstrated by an interaction that took place in the last women's group session held by CPACS:
The group was discussing how the participations in the session can make changes in their community regarding domestic violence and gender inequality. After a moment of silence, a woman said, "We can't do anything. We are only half of the community. We need the men to hear this class and want to make changes with us." Then all the other women nodded their heads in agreement and started to speak how difficult it would be to do this in their community. The facilitator validated their opinions and views, then challenged them to start these social changes within their own homes. The conversation evolved to the women sharing ideas of teaching their sons how to cook; allowing their daughters to go play instead of keeping them back to do chores, and allowing their children who are of different gender to eat at the same time. All the women realized these small examples are reachable and will have long lasting effects on their children and future generations. Empowering women is not just empowering a single person; it's empowering the whole community.
In addition, due to program achievements, CPACS was awarded a three year grant from RWJF to evaluate and strengthen the exiting program.
For follow-up on this project, the following people can be contacted: Michael Singleton State Refugee Coordinator; Department of Human Services; msingleton@dhr.state.ga.us; 404-657-5118
Marianne Chung Associate Director; Center for Pan Asian Community Services; Marianne.chung@cpacs.org; 770-936-0969
Vanisa Karic Executive Director; Tapestri, Inc.; vanisa@tapesri.org; 404-299-2185
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6) What are the post-grant plans for the project if it does not conclude with the grant? Due to the need and success of this program, it will continue at the conclusion of the grant. In addition to existing funds, partners are seeking funds from various sources in order to continue providing services. CPACS will also continue with the RWJF evaluation grant and develop a curriculum that targets young adults. 7) With a perspective on the entire project, what have been its key publications and national/regional communication activities? Did the project meet its communications goals? Communication activities for this program have primarily been informative pieces geared toward local residents. Ads visually depicting the cycle of domestic violence were placed in Chinh Nghia, a local Vietnamese language magazine; Abol, a magazine for Ethiopian audiences; and in Atlanta Viet Bao, another Vietnamese magazine. In addition, ads on the Men's program as well as article "How Children are affected" were placed in Dinq, an Ethiopian magazine; Merchant of Atlanta, a Russian Magazine; Rang Dong, a Vietnamese newspaper and Russian Town, a Russian newspaper. Radio announcements/commercials were aired on Sagal radio, on both the Bhutanese and Somali radio stations and Admas, Ethiopian and Somali radio. The communications goals were met. Tapestri has received increased number of calls for assistance after the aired radio announcements. Community members have also called and expressed interest to volunteer and help with program activities. The communication efforts resulted in increased participation in the program. The commercials aired on the Bhutanese radio station as well as the ad in the Vietnamese magazine resulted in increased participation from these groups of refugees. Participants stated that they were informed of the services from the ads and spread the word in their communities.
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