Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Program

For Further Information
Call (818) 838-1352

The Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Program is designed primarily to assist CalWORKs participants overcome domestic violence barriers which impede their ability to work and lead productive lives.

The Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Program offers case management and counseling services for victims of domestic violence and domestic abuse. In addition to providing direct services at the clinic, the staff works assertively in the community with the client and contacts appropriate resources for assistance. These include law enforcement, safe haven, shelters, legal services, schools and hospitals. Every effort is made to help the client develop a physically safe and emotionally stable environment. Interventions are focused on helping to remove barriers to employment and encourage the development of positive self esteem and family life.

Through the Department of Public Social Services, CalWORKs participants also qualify for vocational services which provide assistance in the areas of employment preparation, work adjustment, job coaching and placement.

What is Domestic Violence/Abuse?

Domestic violence/abuse is any type of physical, verbal, emotional, sexual and/or economic abuse used by a person in order to control, isolate, harass, intimidate or threaten another person. This can happen between:

· Husband and Wife.
· Boyfriend and Girlfriend
· Parents and a Child
· Parent and an Adult Child
· Family Members
· Same Sex Couples
· Dating Teens

The common denominator is the abusive partner's need to maintain power and control over the victim.

· Physical Abuse: pushing, shoving, hitting, slapping, choking, pulling hair, punching, kicking, grabbing, using a weapon against the victim, beating, throwing the victim down, twisting arms, tripping, biting, etc.
· Verbal Abuse: criticizing the victim, making humiliating remarks, name calling, yelling obscenities.
· Emotional Abuse: belittling the victim, name calling, playing “mind games”, and/or making the victim think she/he is mentally ill.
· Economic Abuse: preventing the victim from getting/keeping a job, making the victim ask/beg for money, giving the victim an allowance for taking the victim’s money.
· Sexual Abuse: making the victim do sexual things against his/her will, physically attacking the sexual parts of the victim’s body, treating the victim like a sex object.
· Using Children: making the victim feel guilty about the children, using the children to give messages, using visitation as a way to harass the victim.
· Threats: making and/or carrying out threats to do something to hurt the victim emotionally, financially and/or physically, threatening to take children, reporting the victim to the welfare office of the Department of Children and Family Services, and/or threatening to commit suicide.
· Using Privilege: treating the victim like a servant, making all the “big” decisions, acting like the “master of the castle”.
· Intimidation: creating fear in the victim by using looks, actions, gestures, a loud voice, smashing things, destroying the victim’s property.
· Isolation: controlling what the victim does, where the victim goes, who the victim sees and with whom the victim talks.

What are Typical Effects of Domestic Violence/Abuse?

· Immediate effects include:
· Sleep Disturbances
· Panic Attacks
· Nightmares
· Depression
· Anxiety
· Fearfulness
· Delayed effects may be less obvious and include:
· Relationship Difficulties
· A Fear of Intimacy
· Loss of Interest in Life
· Low Self-esteem
· Employment Problems

Effects on Children

Children who witness domestic violence are at a high risk of developing emotional, physical and behavioral problems. The stress often causes physical symptoms such as headaches, asthma, insomnia and eating problems. In a high percentage of wife abuse situations, the children are physically or sexually victimized as well.

Types of Services Available