Georgia Refugee Family Violence Intervention Program 2009-2010 service analysis [2010]

GEORGIA REFUGEE FAMILY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM 2009-2010 SERVICE ANALYSIS

OVERVIEW
The Georgia Refugee Family Violence Intervention Program (RFVIP) provided services to increase awareness of domestic violence and reduce the occurrence rates of domestic violence within the refugee communities of Georgia. The grant was a part of the "Fresh Ideas" grant awarded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).
This program has four major service components (inherent in all services are translation and interpretation):
Community Education Sessions geared toward refugees and resettlement caseworkers, designed to increase knowledge and awareness on issues of family violence, U.S. laws, and available resources.
FVIP and Men's Group geared towards refugee men who are either arrested or at risk of being perpetrators of domestic violence. Tapestri conducts a 24 week long program whereas CPACS holds month long group sessions.
Women's Support Group geared towards women who are either partners of male perpetrators or who are at risk of family violence.
Media Outreach consists of print ads, public service announcements (psa's), etc., designed to both provide information on domestic violence as well as provide listings of available resources.

FISCAL INFORMATION
Two agencies; Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Inc. (CPACS), and Tapestri, Inc., provided services under this program. The program received a total of $250,000 over a 3 year period. This contract year (CY) (12/15/2009 12/14/2010) marks the end of the 3 year period. Figure A shows the annual award amount per agency.
Figure A

Annual Award Amount
Total = $82,365

$11,135 , 14%

DHS CPACS

$20,000 , 24%

$51,230 , 62%

Tapestri

Community Education Sessions received the largest portion of funding at 34%. Figure B provides a breakdown of funds by service type.

Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) Division of Family & Children Services
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Refugee Programs Unit

Figure B
Service Distribution

19% 28%
19% 34%

Men's Group
Women's Group
Community Education Media

OUTCOMES
356 refugees received domestic violence intervention and prevention services during this contract year (see Table 1).

Table 1

Service Community Education Men's Group Women's Group

# Refugees Served 264 35 57

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 3 desired performance outcomes:

60% of Community Education participants would demonstrate increased knowledge
60% of Men's and Women's Group Participants would demonstrate increased knowledge
Maintain an 85% attendance rate in all programs.

The program was able to meet and exceed all proposed outcome measures. In addition, the program proved successful in meeting the overall program goal of decreasing the occurrence rates of domestic violence. For the 3 year period, out of the 36 men that participated in the 24-week court ordered men's group sessions, 33 of them did not have repeated episodes of domestic violence. 21 of those participants were from CY 2009-10. The men also reported that participation in the program has given them tools on how to communicate effectively with their partners and a second chance in their relationships without violent behavior. The average attendance rate for the Women's Groups was 100% and for the men's group the rate was 98.15%. Figure C provides the outcomes for the knowledge increase performance measure.
Figure C

Knowledge Increase

100

100

100

100 92

90
78
80

70

60 62

60

60

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 Women's Group

Men's Group Community Education

CPACS Tapes tri Goal

Although a specific goal was not set for the media component, participation levels demonstrated that the media efforts had been successful. After radio announcements were aired on both Sagal and Admas local radio stations, Tapestri received increased numbers of calls for assistance as well as interest from volunteers to help with the program.

Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) Division of Family & Children Services
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Refugee Programs Unit

In addition, CPACS noted increased participation in their services from the Bhutanese and Vietnamese populations as a result of announcements on the Bhutanese radio station and ads in the Vietnamese magazine. Program participants stated that they were informed of the services from the ads and spread the word in their communities.

This grant allowed services to be provided to anyone with refugee status, regardless of length of time in the United States. Table 2 provides the countries of origin for the refugees served during CY 2010.

Table 2

Country of Origin
Bhutan Bosnia Burma Burundi China Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo
Eritrea Ethiopia India Iran Iraq Liberia Lithuania Moldova Nepal Phillipines Sierra Leone Somalia Sudan Tanzania Ukraine USSR Vietnam

# of Refugees
161 2 54 22 2 1
1
1 1 1 2 14 1 1 1 4 3 1 3 4 1 10 1 64

LESSONS LEARNED
This service has had a positive effect in the communities served. The partners have been able to gain trust feom the communities as well as develop partnerships with other refugee serving agencies. As a result of services, participants know how to help themselves or others in the community who are affected by domestic violence.
When dealing with sensitive topics such as abuse and/or violence, it is important to understand the myriad of barriers that may hinder service provision. Although true for most cultures; this is especially true for the refugee populations. It was necessary to understand the various cultural backgrounds and norms in which they operate as well as the linguistic challenges. Building trust within the communities was critical. It was also important to build trust within the communities and other stakeholders they would encounter; i.e. court/legal systems, social service providers, etc. Special training with these stakeholders was vital to help them learn the unique needs of the refugee population.
As this is the end of the RWJF grant, it would be beneficial to seek others sources of support to fund these services in addition to existing DHS funding.
Sources
Analysis was comprised from the following Sources:
Agency Monthly and Quarterly Reports
Final Report to Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
DHS Contract Monitoring Review and Service Provision Guidelines
Interview with Agency Staff
RWJF Approved Grant Proposal
RWJF Policies and Regulations
For general information on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Preventing Partner Violence in Immigrant Communities Grant, please visit:
http://www.rwjf.org

Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) Division of Family & Children Services
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Refugee Programs Unit