The Domestic Violence Prevention Fund (DVPF) was established by the Rhode Island General Assembly (R.I.G.L. § 12-29-12), creating a fund which has as its primary purpose the prevention of domestic violence and dating violence.
The DVPF will be administered by the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence (RICADV) and will be used to promote evidence-informed primary prevention programs in Rhode Island aimed at stopping intimate partner violence before it starts.
In January 2017, the RICADV granted three Implementation Project awards to local organizations. When making decisions about which projects would be funded, priority was given to proposals that focused on altering norms, policies, and community conditions that impact girls and boys of color and LGBTQ and Two-Spirit youth, and that support the implementation of the Lindsay Ann Burke Act in schools.
Progreso Latino received a $55,000 Implementation Project award to execute Teen & Adult Prevention Program (TAPP), a prevention program that uses a holistic public health approach to build the community’s capacity to address intimate partner violence in the Blackstone Valley area.
Through TAPP, Progreso Latino created adult and youth social action groups in order to assess community challenges and then mobilize the community to identify and lead social change efforts and policy reforms. Progreso Latino has partnered with the Blackstone Valley Advocacy Center, the local domestic violence agency in that area, to provide domestic violence prevention education to social action groups and local schools.
“We understand that violence is a symptom of many factors and that we need to work together in order to make a difference. We are eager to work with the RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Blackstone Valley Advocacy Center along with other organizations in order to seek out grassroots solutions to intimate partner violence.” - Mario Bueno, Executive Director
One initiative included engaging youth in a photojournalism project, in collaboration with the Blackstone Academy Charter School, the Blackstone Valley Advocacy Center, and the Central Falls Prevention Coalition, which sought to address community issues through photography and education.
Additionally, adult residents are engaged through the Policy and Advocacy Committee of the Immigrant Rights Coalition as well as community conversations to promote civic engagement and education.
Sojourner House received a $55,000 Implementation Project award to launch Interpersonal Violence Youth Peer Advocacy Network Program in the communities of Providence and Woonsocket. With support from community-based youth serving organizations, Sojourner House trained youth activists and established a peer advocacy program to support schools with the implementation of the Lindsay Ann Burke Act.
"Sojourner House currently operates a variety of direct and emergency services programs to help victims of abuse reclaim their lives. We're thrilled to receive funding to help address the root causes of interpersonal violence and therefore be part of the solution to prevent violent relationships before they happen. We know this work is a community effort, which is why we've partnered with local youth organizations and schools in Providence and Woonsocket to implement our project." - Vanessa Volz, Executive Director
Sojourner House partnered with Harbor YouthWorks, Youth Pride, and Youth In Action to launch the Peer Advocacy Leadership Program. The program educates students on healthy relationships, prepares them to co-facilitate training for their teachers and classmates, and builds students’ advocacy and leadership skills, with the goal of students becoming anti-violence advocates and leaders in their communities and schools.
Photo credit: Sojourner House
YWCA Rhode Island received a $55,000 Implementation Project award to train educators, youth workers, service providers, and community members on the historical and current ways institutional and structural racism impact girls of color and to provide a proven practice for building resiliency in girls.
“Our project recognizes that girls of color are often overlooked when community members, service providers, and educators address issues of gender and racial inequality, and its relationship to intimate partner violence. It is a clarion call to all of our better selves to highlight the unique struggles of girls of color and ask what we as individuals and as part of larger organizations can do to improve our society by raising awareness and focusing on altering norms, polices, and community conditions that impact girls of color.” - Deborah Perry, President/CEO
YWCA Rhode Island provided racial justice training to over 100 people, and also trained 60 youth workers in Girls Circle, an evidence-based prevention program for building resiliency in girls.
Staff from the RICADV and our member agencies attended a 3-day training with YWCA RI
In addition to the Implementation Project awards, the RICADV has awarded one-time Community Micro-grants to local organizations. Priority was given to short-term projects that foster and increase community cohesion through public awareness, education, and the arts; and that help community members make a personal connection to the issue of intimate partner violence by encouraging bystanders to take action.
Adoption Rhode Island received a $13,022 micro-grant to educate youth in the foster care system using the evidence-based curriculum Safe Dates. Youth will create an artistic expression of what they have learned through Safe Dates to help raise awareness of dating violence in the community.
Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education (ARISE) received a $15,000 micro-grant to adapt One Circle Foundation’s evidence-based curriculum and offer a culturally responsive, 50-hour group for Southeast Asian youth to discuss healthy relationships, trauma, social and personal development, and communication.
Blackstone Valley Community Action Program received a $9,512 micro-grant to educate high school age youth of varying gender, sexual orientation, religion, race, and national origin in Pawtucket and Central Falls in order to overcome stereotypes and raise education levels in the community about dating violence. These youth will in turn provide peer-based training to other youth, and spread knowledge throughout the community.
Elizabeth Buffum Chace Center received a $1,950 micro-grant to deliver the Decoding Your Teen curriculum to foster parents, kinship care providers, group home staff, DCYF social caseworkers, and other caretakers of youth involved in DCYF care.
Katie Brown Educational Program received a $15,000 micro-grant to work with existing student clubs at Central, Classical, Mt. Pleasant, and Hope High School and the Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex to aid students in crafting a 30-minute student-led assembly for their peers. Testimonials, a website, and two “healthy relationship check-in” events for students will also be developed.
Progreso Latino received a $15,000 micro-grant to offer a Grassroots Film & Discussion Series in Spanish that focuses on engaging Latino boys and men in the Blackstone Valley area in discussions that explore the role of machismo in domestic violence prevention.
Princes 2 Kings received a $5,000 micro-grant to engage male youth in conversations about healthy masculinity in an effort to develop an educational stop motion animation film addressing teen dating violence.
Youth In Action (YIA) received a $9,755 micro-grant to develop and implement a youth-led film and discussion series for young people in Providence. YIA also trained staff on how to recognize and respond to teen dating violence and make referrals for youth and families experiencing intimate partner violence.
