Once considered a private matter, partner violence is now increasingly recognized as a public problem with vast immediate and long-term physical, emotional, social, economic, and other impacts. Recognizing that the quality and safety of our partner relationships are shaped by conditions in our community environments and the actions of multiple sectors, Prevention Institute and Blue Shield of California Foundation have award one-year planning and capacity building grants to five well-established, multisector collaboratives to integrate community-level partner violence prevention into their work.
“We recognize that poor health and domestic violence are driven by many social forces that are influenced by sectors outside of domestic violence or health. As a result, we’re focusing on how these different sectors can collaborate with community to advance health, wellbeing, and safe relationships” said Carolyn Wang Kong, senior program officer at the Blue Shield of California Foundation. “We also want to shift the thinking that domestic violence is a private issue, as it really is a shared issue that is shaped by factors outside the home, with impacts across families and communities."
The five collaboratives participating in the program are:
- Center at McKinleyville (McKinleyville)
- Allies Against Violence (Oakland)
- Mujeres Poderosas Amorosas (Fresno)
- LA Worker Center Network (Los Angeles)
- East African Men and Boys Collaborative (San Diego)
From November 2018 to October 2019, the collaboratives are receiving funding and technical assistance to deepen their shared understanding of community conditions that contribute to partner violence and those that can promote safe relationships; leveraging strengths and broaden engagement of local organizations; and adopting strategies that create community environments conducive to safe relationships and prevention of partner violence. The collaboratives are also participating in a learning community over the grant period.
Additionally, Prevention Institute links these five collaboratives to Blue Shield of California Foundation’s Leveraging Collaboration to End Domestic Violence initiative. This is a group of six new collaboratives led by domestic violence organizations who are advancing prevention from within the domestic violence field and partnering with others outside of the field. Together, these two groups will provide valuable insights into how power, systems, community, and collaboration can come together to prevent violence in communities. The “within and beyond” approach allows us to learn about the how to create change across multiple systems, while unifying diverse efforts toward the shared goal of ending violence.
More information about this program
Learn more about the background and context for this program, including the research supporting the approach, and emerging examples of multi-sector community-level prevention.
Safety Through Connection Program Activities, Outcomes, Evaluation, Milestones
Safety Through Connection in the Media
March 14, 2019: An Expanded Strategy For Breaking The Cycle Of Domestic Violence
February 25, 2019: Safety Through Connection: Interviews with Community Leaders Podcast
December 4,2018: KVPR’s Valley Edition radio interview with Genoveva Islas of Cultiva La Salud
November 26,2018: California Health Report: New Initiative Encourages Community-Generated Efforts to Prevent Domestic Violence
Please direct all questions related to this program to Program Assistant Abena Asare, abena@preventioninstitute.org.