PENNSYLVANIA COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
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Mission Statement
The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence is a state-wide collaborative membership organization committed to ending intimate partner violence and all forms of violence and oppression.
About This Cause
Founded in 1976, the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) is the oldest statewide domestic violence coalition in the nation. Each year, its network of 59 community-based programs provides free and confidential services to nearly 90,000 victims of domestic violence and their children in all 67 counties of the Commonwealth. The local programs and Coalition form interconnecting links in a chain of services and support to help victims and survivors find safety, obtain justice, and build lives free of abuse. More than 2.5 million victims and their children have been served by PCADV and its member programs since 1976. The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence strives to create a collective culture of change that fosters safety, justice and autonomy. While local domestic violence programs offer direct service to those in need, PCADV provides the infrastructure, support, expertise and training to make their work effective. Stronger together, the Coalition provides a collective voice that amplifies many voices. Cultivating a vision of a society free of domestic violence and working toward that future, PCADV’s programming focuses on three areas: Prevention, Intervention and Change. PREVENTION: Through its Prevention work, PCADV strives to stop intimate partner violence before it starts. Breaking the generational cycle of violence for children, teens and young adults by changing public attitudes and social norms will create a future in which lives are neither lost to, nor limited by, domestic violence. One of the greatest assets of prevention work is that it is customized to the unique needs of each community. At the local level, domestic violence organizations implement change through schools, working with coaches through athletic programs, summer social justice camps, community readiness assessments and even neighborhood food gardens. Inspiring a cultural change in Pennsylvania that leads to an end to intimate partner violence, prevention is carried out through a number of initiatives designed for colleges and universities, faith communities, men and boys, parents, athletic programs, Latinx communities, LGBTQ+ communities, older adults and other underserved or marginalized populations. INTERVENTION: All victims and survivors of domestic violence should have access to essential, life-saving services to build lives that are financially independent, free of violence, and sustainable. Key intervention programming is available through local agencies and includes Housing, Civil Legal Representation, Lethality Assessment Screening, Medical Advocacy, and Economic Justice. Housing: “Why don’t they just leave?” is frequently asked by those outside of the domestic violence movement. Victims sometimes literally have no other place to go. Finding safe, affordable housing is crucial to a survivor’s ability to escape an abusive environment and build an independent life. PCADV is committed to supporting member programs in developing new innovative housing initiatives and ensuring that current housing options are working for victims and survivors. This is accomplished with training and technical assistance from PCADV, assistance with funding applications, and systems coordination. Civil Legal Representation (CLR): Navigating a complex and often unfamiliar legal process is challenging for a survivor and is one of the most common barriers to leaving an abusive relationship. CLR attorneys provide direct legal representation for domestic violence survivors on matters of divorce, custody, support, immigration, housing, and protection from abuse within their county service areas. Attorneys use their expertise to represent and advocate for domestic violence survivors during court proceedings. The CLR program is offered through 17 program sites throughout the Commonwealth and is funded through the Department of Human Services (DHS Lethality Assessment Program (LAP): An average of 117 people die as a result of domestic violence each year in Pennsylvania. The Lethality Assessment Program (LAP), created by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, is a nationally recognized, evidence-based initiative with demonstrated success in strengthening partnerships between law enforcement and community-based domestic violence programs. Police officers are trained to identify the warning signs of domestic violence and follow a survivor-centered protocol for assessing potentially lethal situations when responding to domestic violence incidents. Since 2012, LAP has been connecting victims of domestic violence with life-saving services, thereby potentially reducing domestic violence fatalities. In Pennsylvania, law enforcement in 50 of its 67 counties use LAP when responding to incidences of domestic violence with a total of 381 law enforcement agencies participating. Medical Advocacy Program (MAP): This initiative allows advocates to train medical personnel in a variety of professional settings about both the visible and emotional signs of domestic violence. A screening tool is used with individuals who present with certain symptoms to help identify signs of abuse. A victim may not realize they could be in danger and a medical visit may be their only opportunity to connect with a domestic violence program or other key resources. Medical advocacy can be a life-saving measure when victims realize the danger they could face if they return home. In some cases survivors have been transported to safe, emergency shelter directly from the medical facility. Medical Advocacy programming is facilitated by 31 local programs across the Commonwealth. Economic Justice: Financial abuse is a barrier that often prevents victims from leaving an abusive relationship and is present in more than 98% of cases. PCADV’s economic justice and empowerment work has been facilitated through the Investing in Survivors’ Financial Independence Initiative since 2012. This initiative provides advocates with critical tools and resources to help survivors access education, develop budgeting skills, repair credit, build savings, find affordable housing, and gain meaningful employment with living wages. Financial empowerment leads survivors to self-sufficiency and lives free from abuse for themselves and their children. PCADV currently funds economic justice initiatives at 18 member programs with 7 additional programs funded previously through support from the Allstate Foundation and other private sources. CHANGE: As the collective voice of its local domestic violence programs, PCADV is committed to making a lasting impact in the Commonwealth through policy work at the state and federal level. PCADV actively advocates for change and works to block policies that create additional barriers or penalize victims. PCADV’s policy priorities include: --Increasing funding for domestic violence programs and supportive services --Domestic violence and teen dating violence prevention --Access to safe and affordable housing --Ensuring trauma-informed services for survivors and their children --Economic justice and financial self-sufficiency --Enhancing services for victims and survivors of marginalized groups --Improving access to the justice system PCADV continues to push for and secure policy changes that improve safety for victims and survivors and has ushered multiple laws to strengthen Pennsylvania’s Protection from Abuse (PFA) Act, prevent domestic violence homicides, and provide housing protections for fleeing victims.