Women's Independence Scholorship Program (WISP) - Scholorships for Survivors and Advocates

Women's Independence
Scholarship Program, Inc. (WISP, Inc.)
The Women’s Independence Scholarship Program, Inc. began as a program of The Sunshine Lady Foundation (SLF) in 1999 and for 8 years provided scholarships to women survivors of intimate partner abuse who were changing their lives through education. In December 2007, SLF Founder and President, Doris Buffett announced her intention to endow WISP as its own entity. On July 1, 2008 WISP, Inc. emerged as a “sister” organization with a mission to enhance efforts to end domestic violence by offering access to higher education.

The primary programs of WISP, Inc. are the Women’s Independence Scholarship Program and the Counselor, Advocate and Support Staff scholarship.

WISP is available nationally to women who have left an abusive domestic situation and who are pursuing an education designed to provide economic independence for themselves and their children.

CASS is for individuals who are employed by a domestic violence service agency. Such agencies - shelters, resource centers, transitional housing programs, etc. – play a critical role in the effort to end domestic violence. This scholarship was created to help agencies with limited funds assist their staff in developing professionally to better serve their clients.

Downloadable Materials for Advocates

The Family Violence Prevention Fund has placed all conference materials and slides online for download from the 5th National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence that took place in October. There is a wealth of information although some is only supplimental to the actual presentation. While there is no sustitution for getting away and interacting with other advocates it would be wonderful if others would follow suite and make conference materials available to those who cannot attend.

Conference on Health and Domestic Violence Materials

Domestic Violence Program Evaluation and Current Research

As an advocate who's program receives Victim of Crime Act (VOCA) funds I am mandated to attend an annual training on program evaluation, outcome measures and collecting and reporting data. Though the subject may sound dry and tedious we are fortunate here in Michigan to have a trainer who can present the content in such a way that those in attendence walk away with a clear understanding of how and why accurate reporting is essential, not only to the funders who demand the data but to the crime victims that the program is in place to serve.
Anyone who follows my blog knows I take exception with those on the outside who criticize domestic violence programs for their lack of accountability in this area. Some "father's rights" activists and otherindividuals like to claim that dv programs just suck money from the government, pay administrators big salaries and have no accountability for how money is spent or how victims are treated. Anyone who has worked for any length of time in a domestic violence program would find this laughable...but people are entitled to their opinions.
Back to our training, the presenter for these sessions is Dr. Cris M. Sullivan. Dr. Sullivan is Professor of Ecological/ Community Psychology at Michigan State University and Director of Evaluation for the Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. She has serves as a consultant on the local, state and national levels including the NRCDV, NNEDV, Dept. of Health and Human Services, the DOJ OVW and the Battered Women's Justice Project. Dr Sullivan has been an advocate and researcher since 1982 and remains passionate about ending violence against women.

Dr Sullivan has given permission to use the following summary of current research to assist in grantwriting and working with funders. It is also very valuable in your own program evaluation:

The Impact of Domestic Abuse Victim Services on Survivors’ Safety and Wellbeing:
Research Findings to Date

Cris M. Sullivan, Ph.D.
Michigan State University

More and more, funders and others are asking if victim service programs are engaging in
“evidence-based practice.” To help domestic violence programs answer that question, I have reviewed
the current research and summarized what we know about the evidence that our services make a
difference for survivors. It can also be helpful to programs to know what research studies have found
about the effectiveness of our efforts, so that we can feel confident we are measuring the appropriate
short-term outcomes that will lead to desired long-term outcomes for survivors. It is not realistic for nonprofit
programs, with little money devoted to evaluation, to measure the long-term impact of their work –
that’s what research is for. We can, however, examine the short-term changes that have been found to
lead to long-term success.
Shelter programs have been found to be one of the most supportive, effective resources for
women with abusive partners, according to the residents themselves (Bennett et al., 2004; Gordon, 1996;
Sullivan et al., 2008; Tutty, Weaver, & Rothery, 1999). For example, Berk, Newton, and Berk (1986)
reported that, for women who were actively attempting other strategies at the same time, a stay at a shelter
dramatically reduced the likelihood they would be abused again.
One research study used a true experimental design and followed women for two years in order to
examine the effectiveness of a community-based advocacy program for domestic abuse survivors.
Advocates worked with women 4-6 hours a week over 10 weeks, in the women’s homes and
communities. Advocates were highly trained volunteers who could help women across a variety of areas:
education, employment, housing, legal assistance, issues for children, transportation, and other issues.
Women who worked with the advocates experienced less violence over time, reported higher quality of
life and social support, and had less difficulty obtaining community resources over time. One out of four
(24%) of the women who worked with advocates experienced no physical abuse, by the original assailant
or by any new partners, across the two years of post-intervention follow-up. Only 1 out of 10 (11%)
women in the control group remained completely free of violence during the same period. This low-cost,
short-term intervention using unpaid advocates appears to have been effective not only in reducing
women's risk of re-abuse, but in improving their overall quality of life (Sullivan, 2000; Sullivan & Bybee,
1999).
Close examination of which short-term outcomes led to the desired long-term outcome of safety
found that women who had more social support and who reported fewer difficulties obtaining community
resources reported higher quality of life and less abuse over time (Bybee & Sullivan, 2002).
Remainder of the report HERE (PDF)

Lessons from Literature

Lessons from Literature

An innovative new resource is helping teachers incorporate violence prevention lessons into existing curricula. Developed by the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), Lessons from Literature is a free online resource that gives English teachers a framework to use the novels, poems, plays and stories they are already teaching to help their students build healthy, non-violent relationships.

Its web site – www.lessonsfromliterature.org – is the central hub of the program, where teachers can download a Classroom Manual and access other resources. The Lessons from Literature program includes:

• Lesson plans aligned with National Standards for the English Language Arts that address themes of abuse, violence, inequality, family/interpersonal issues, and more;
• A Lesson Template that serves as a guide for teachers to create or modify their own lessons;
• Materials, including handouts and fact sheets on teen dating abuse, to prepare teachers and students to discuss abuse;
• An online resource library of books, poems, songs, movies and more to help build creative and meaningful exercises into pre-existing lessons; and
• Opportunities for teachers to share lesson plans, ideas, resources and experiences with each other and to identify professional development opportunities through this work.

“Teachers are powerful influencers, motivators and leaders,” said FVPF President Esta Soler. “Lessons from Literature is a groundbreaking tool that will make it easy for teachers to help students develop the skills to recognize and avoid dating violence so they can build healthy relationships. We are so proud to partner with the National Council of Teachers of English. Its reach will do so much to position educators to increase awareness about the damaging effects of physical, sexual and verbal abuse.”

Lessons from Literature is designed to easily integrate into a teacher’s existing curriculum. The new lessons empower teachers to encourage students to recognize abuse and its consequences and find alternatives to violence. Teachers in communities from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Bernardino, California are piloting lesson plans from the program this spring. The novels, Their Eyes Were Watching God and Lord of the Flies, are the first two lessons available.

“Teachers are in a prime position to motivate their students to think critically about social issues, and inspire youth to think and act differently about relationships that go beyond friendship,” said NCTE Executive Director Kent Williamson. “Lessons from Literature gives teachers resources they can use to help students strengthen their academic skills while at the same time learning to recognize abusive situations and choose alternatives to violence.”

One in three teens reports knowing a friend or peer who has been hit, punched, kicked, slapped or physically hurt by a partner. Teens and young women are especially vulnerable to violence. Females ages 16 to 24 experience the highest rates of rape and sexual assault, and people age 18 and 19 experience the highest rates of stalking.

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA), Partnership for 21st Century Skills and a Curriculum Council of teachers helped develop Lessons from Literature. The Curriculum Council includes six high school English Teachers selected through a national search with more than 500 applicants. The six teachers from public schools across the country are masters in their field and dedicated to helping their students build healthy, non-violent relationships. The Curriculum Council has advised in the creation of every component of Lessons from Literature, including writing lesson plans and recommending strategies to engage teens and other educators.

More than 15 million children in the United States live in families in which partner violence occurred at least once in the past year. ASCA Assistant Director Jill Cook said, “Every day millions of lives are affected by violence in the home and the community. By engaging teens and helping them think critically about abuse, respect and relationships, we have the opportunity to interrupt the cycle of interpersonal violence that affects so many young people and puts them at risk for further violence later in life.”

“If teachers can shape the way young people think and act today, the social norms that currently perpetuate violence will change tomorrow,” Soler added.

Visit www.lessonsfromliterature.org for more information and to view the materials.