Looking Ahead to the New Year

A lot of developments are occurring in 2010 for the NH Open Doors to Safety Project. First of all, I would like to welcome three new member programs to the project. Staff development will begin at Rape & Domestic Violence Crisis Center (RDVCC) in Concord, YWCA Crisis Service in Manchester and Sexual Assault Support Services in Portsmouth. I am very excited about working with the staff at these programs as they appear to be very excited about the additional training and support they will be receiving. I am always impressed by the level of dedication and compassion I see in program advocates. It is not an easy job and they are always looking for ways to improve how they can empower trauma survivors.
This will now bring the total number of participating member programs to eight, more than half of the fourteen programs in New Hampshire. I hope to bring on another program or two by this summer.
Cross trainings of CPSWs at the local Departments of Children, Youth and Families will be beginning during the month of February. I have met with Misty Kennedy at the Department of Professional Excellence which oversees training for DCYF and we will be revising training descriptions and objectives so that the trainings that I facilitate for department staff will provide them with credits towards their learning plans. Suzette Indelicato at Starting Points has organized a training for DCYF staff in Conway and there will also be a training for staff at the department in Claremont. This contact was facilitated by Turning Points Network. Local domestic violence and sexual assault advocates are always encouraged to attend and join in on the conversation.
In addition, John Morris at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Homeless Providers office and I will be scheduling trainings on Trauma and Homelessness for NH homeless services providers.
We are getting closer to finalizing the date for the conference in June with the experts from the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma and Mental Health. There will be two one-day trainings for mental health providers and DV advocates during the week of June 21st. One day will be in Nashua and the other will be in Plymouth. We are still working on what the final agenda will be and will notify everyone as soon as we have the dates and the agenda set.
Thank you so much to those advocates who are taking the time to read and pass on the information they find on this blog. One advocate even posted it on Facebook!! I will continue to work on posting weekly so please check regularly to see what else is going on with the Open Doors to Safety project.