HAVEN WOMENS CENTER OF STANISLAUS
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Mission Statement
Haven Women's Center of Stanislaus provides comprehensive, holistic, client-centered support, advocacy and education services to victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Haven is committed to the individual empowerment of its clients and societal and systems change.
About This Cause
Haven is the dedicated domestic violence and sexual assault service center in Stanislaus County, California. Haven provides a variety of programs and services including emergency shelter, 24-hour crisis line, 24-hour trauma response to area hospitals, individual counseling, support groups, legal services including preparation of restraining order documents, court accompaniment and court advocacy, outreach and education, youth services, youth development, case management, crisis intervention and safety planning and a volunteer program. Haven has 45 staff housed at six locations throughout Stanislaus County, including Modesto, Turlock, our shelter, the Stanislaus Family Justice Center, the Community Services Agency and California State University, Stanislaus. Haven's youth programs are the front and center of our prevention department, providing psycho-educational groups for children and teens who have been exposed to violence, as well as those who have not. Our unique curriculum can be tailored to present in school settings, as well as in our shelter. Recently, we were asked to partner with CSU Stanislaus and provide staffing dedicated to the CSUS campus. We are very proud of this project, the first of its kind in California and now the model for CSU campuses throughout the state. We are also in partnership with Golden Valley Health Clinics and the California Adolescent Health Collaborative to cross train health care providers and advocates on domestic violence screening and intervention and the health effects of domestic violence. With this project, we also have a youth development/leadership component and are working with two area high schools to develop awareness campaigns and under close supervision, to train teen peer counselors to provide education and referrals to their classmates. Counseling and support groups are another core component of Haven services, requested by many clients. Battered Women's Support Groups are facilitated at our two service sites, our shelter and off site locations and are conducted as drop-in groups open to the public. Our sexual assault support group is closed, but can be accessed by submitting an interest form in advance of the next meeting. Our legal program provides support and guidance to victims navigating the civil-criminal legal system. Survivors seeking a temporary restraining order can schedule an appointment to meet with a legal advocate and complete a questionnaire with which we will use to prepare their order. The legal advocate will walk the client through the filing process and after the order is granted, prepare the order for service. Legal advocates will also provide court accompaniment for civil and criminal hearings and proceedings if the client requests a support person. More recently, we have started working with local attorneys to prepare documentation for applications for U-Visas and VAWA self-petitions for undocumented clients seeking legal residency. This is another project that is unique in the county; the process is typically lengthy and expensive, but Haven provides this and all services at no cost to the client. Haven's emergency shelter is the heart of our organization. We operate a 24-bed facility for residents, providing all program components along with food, clothing, personal care products and other needed items. The shelter is the one program that is for women and children only, but we do house boys under 18. The crisis line is housed at the shelter and is staffed 24-hours. The shelter program fills a tremendous need; the program is rarely anything but full and we regularly refer people to other programs due to a lack of space. Outreach and education is the other component of our prevention department, offering presentations on a variety of topics to classrooms, civic organizations, health care providers, social workers, teachers and other groups as requested. We regularly provide training to our local law enforcement agencies and staff information booths and tables at a variety of community events year-round. Individual case management is designed for clients who want to develop a specific action plan. Clients meet with a case manager to establish her own goals and objectives and the case manager works with her to reach her goals. Clients can also develop a personalize safety plan if needed, and obtain referrals to other Haven services or programs offered by other organizations in the community. Our Trauma Response Program offers support and advocacy to victims of sexual and domestic violence who are undergoing a forensic medical exam or other interviews connected with a sexual assault or domestic violence. These clients are generally seen in the hospital when law enforcement brings them in for medical attention following an assault. Clients receive information and emotional support and are contacted by an advocate within 72 hours of their exam for follow up and referral to other services.