Photo by Cathy ChedrawiWilliamson County Commissioners voted to expand a recently created domestic violence task force Jan. 10 in an effort to respond as a community to an increase in the number of people reaching out for help.
"Our numbers are way up across the board," said Patty Conner, chief executive officer of Hope Alliance, the nonprofit organization that services victims of family violence and sexual assault in the county. "Our hotline calls are up; the number of people seeking shelter is up. The number of people who are seeking legal advocacy and counseling is up."
Conner said Hope Alliance received 1,409 calls on its hotline in 2010. That number increased by 71 percent to 2,406 calls in 2011.
The organization operates as a women's and children's shelter that houses 35 people, but it has been full for more than three years.
"We are having to find alternative shelter for 15 to 20 families a month," she said.
Although there is no one reason more people are reporting abuse, Conner said some contributing factors could be better public education about the issue, the economy putting additional stress on already volatile relationships and the growth of Williamson County.
Conner and other nonprofit representatives went for the first time in January to the meeting of the domestic violence task force, a group that began about six months ago as an initiative of the district attorney's office.
District Attorney John Bradley said his office has handled more domestic violence cases in the past six years after legislation passed which made certain types of assault—such as choking and repeat offenders of family violence—prosecuted as felonies instead of misdemeanors.
Bradley said by bringing together all the representatives from the district attorney's office and county attorney's office, law enforcement agencies and now nonprofits that provide victim services, they hoped to identify and address gaps in service.
"One of the initial things we've come to realize is that services across the county are fragmented," Bradley said, adding that the county does not have a "one-stop shop" where victims can get all of their issues addressed.
For example, Doyle "Dee" Hobbs, chief of the criminal division for the Williamson County Attorney's Office, said when victims explore obtaining a protective order, they often also have questions about child custody, divorce law and property rights—some of which, by law, the county attorney's office cannot address.
Hobbs said there have been more people in recent months inquiring about protective orders from the county attorney's office, but not all people complete the steps to obtain one.
"The protective order process is a very frustrating process, especially if you're going through a domestic violence situation," he said. "And what we're finding is a disconnect between those who ask questions of our office for protective orders and those that will see them through to hearing or application or all the way through the process."
Precinct 1 Commissioner Lisa Birkman said it is important the community gets behind the issue of domestic violence prevention and coordinates efforts to address the problem.
Although the task force is still in the beginning stages, Bradley said it is examining what additional services victims need, such as access to child care, low-cost counseling, transportation and medical services, and where funding could come from to provide those. He said other cities have family justice centers that offer myriad services in one location.
"We're just looking at all the things we can do to break the cycle of domestic violence," Bradley said.
Salons Against Family Endangerment
Doyle "Dee" Hobbs, chief of the criminal division for the Williamson County Attorney's Office, plans to launch a domestic violence education program this year in salons throughout the county called Salons Against Family Endangerment.
The SAFE program would include putting information about domestic violence in salons, places that he said abusers often allow victims to go alone, that would alert stylists and their clients to the signs of abuse and what services are available to them.
Hobbs said clients oftentimes confide in their stylists, and that he has seen victims who have decided to report abuse on a stylist's recommendation.
"One of the primary locations that abusers will injure someone is where it can't be seen by others," Hobbs said. "Well, the hair and the scalp is a pretty good cover. And guess who gets to see that? The stylist."
Hope Alliance, 24-Hour Crisis Hotline 1-800-460-7233, www.hopealliancetx.org
