News & Events
You're invited to celebrate the 7th Anniversary of 2-1-1 Ventura County! Join Interface and United Way of Ventura County to learn about how 2-1-1 connects over 20,000 callers each year with information about services available to them, including basic needs assistance (food, clothing, shelter), mental health referrals, domestic violence and substance abuse resources. A delicious buffet breakfast will be served! The event is on Friday, Feb 10th at 8 a.m. at the County Office of Education in Camarillo. The cost is $25. RSVP deadline is Monday, Feb 6th.
Interface Children & Family Services is pleased to officially welcome Dr. Jaye Goosby Smith to the agency’s Board of Directors, which she joined in December 2011. Jaye brings an extensive teaching background in management, organization and diversity education to the Board table. She summarizes her complex work in a simple phrase: reading, writing, thinking and helping people. Those values make her an excellent fit for the Interface Board.
“I was familiar with and had hands-on experience with the services of Interface in the past, but was unaware that they were the provider then,” she said. “I am looking forward to getting involved with the communities that Interface serves.”
The T-shirts in the waiting room say it all. One reads: "I was seven years old when I was sexually abused. My mother told me to forget it happened. I think about it everyday." Another: "Hands are not for hitting." More than a dozen shirts, all with similar messages, are part of the Clothesline Project, a national organization that tries to build awareness of and reduce domestic violence. The place? Interface's Santa Paula Family Resource Center, where youths and adults can go to ease the burdens of lost jobs, abuse and neglect. Read the article here!
For employers, dealing with domestic violence is about more than just writing checks. Employers who witness employees coming to work with signs of abuse or injury due to domestic violence may be tempted to ignore warning signs or hope that things will get better over time. That's wishful thinking.
Read more in the Pacific Coast Business Times here.
Ventura County has the second highest reported per capita rate of domestic violence in the state of California. According to the California Women’s Health Survey (CWHS), approximately 40% of California women experience physical intimate partner violence in their lifetime. For the last six years, Interface Children & Family Services has responded to the urgent and daily needs of domestic violence victims through our Interface Family Violence Response Team, funded by the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA). Unfortunately, due to dwindling state and federal resources, Interface has been denied a three year extension of this funding, which endangers the continuation of this vital local service to women and children in danger in our community. This represents a loss of a half million dollars in Ventura County-based domestic violence response and prevention services funding over the next three years.
Interface has been successfully operating the Family Violence Response Team since 2005. This unique program is an essential lifeline for women and children in Ventura County who are endangered in violent relationships. Acting in partnership with local law enforcement agencies, the program offers 24/7 immediate response services to domestic violence victims – often immediately following a violent incident in their homes. Team members provide safety assessments, transportation to safe shelter, legal paperwork assistance, mental health referrals and even court accompaniment for victims.
Erik Sternad, Executive Director of Interface, expressed serious concern. “This funding has guaranteed that even in the dead of night, a victim wouldn’t have to be alone or unable to access a shelter after being battered,” he said. “Without replacement funding, we won’t be able to respond when domestic violence victims are experiencing the most severe crises. Our local communities must reassess the priority of protecting women and children. We can no longer assume that state and federal resources will be available in the future for this vital service.” Interface will be forced to reduce staff, draw on limited existing funds and raise new money to continue this essential program.
Interface Children & Family Services is privileged to have two law enforcement leaders on its board of directors and both of them are deeply concerned about the potential loss of the Family Violence Response Team program. Assistant Chief Scott Whitney of the Oxnard Police Department said, “The Interface Family Violence Response Team serves a critical function in our county. They are a ready-response team capable of addressing the unique needs of domestic violence victims. The Team works very well with law enforcement and assists us in maintaining safe communities. We cannot afford to lose this program.”
Captain Monica McGrath, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Fillmore Police Substation said, “As a law enforcement officer for 24 years in Ventura County, I can honestly state that domestic violence calls for service are truly the most challenging and heart wrenching calls to which officers must respond. Having the availability and assistance of the Family Violence Response Team, I believe, is a necessity in order to calm lives and start the healing process.”
According to statistics, domestic violence in California costs approximately $2.7 billion annually (Making the Case for Domestic Violence Prevention Using a Cost-Effectiveness Framework, Transforming Communities, Technical Assistance, Training & Resource Center, 2006). In 2010, the Interface Family Violence Response Team handled 1,424 calls and assisted 329 Ventura County victims and their children. Since it is estimated that only about 25% of assaults are actually reported, there are likely 28,000 domestic violence incidents in Ventura County per year, or 76 incidents per day. Every incident of domestic violence that the Interface Family Violence Response Team assists with or prevents saves our community over $25K per incident (A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, Clark, K. et al, Violence Against Women, Vol. 8, No. 4, Sage Publications, 2002).
Interface Children & Family Services is one of Ventura County’s leading social service agencies. Founded in 1973 and serving approximately 26,000 people annually, Interface works to prevent and heal the effects of child abuse, domestic violence, and mental health issues through its five core programs: mental health services, domestic violence prevention and shelter, youth and family services, statewide training and technical assistance and Ventura 2-1-1 information and referral. Through donations and grants, and by the work of dedicated volunteers and staff, this important work is sustained.
Interface's 2-1-1 Director Tanya Kellam is to be recognized by the Pacific Coast Business Times in their upcoming "40 Under 40" event! She came to Interface and started as a volunteer with 2-1-1 after learning the Social Worker trade in various social service positions in Chicago. She then was asked to run a challenging hotline program that Interface launched in 2007. She worked with mental health and for the last several years, she has been our talented and successful 2-1-1 Director. Please join us in congratulating Tanya on her many accomplishments!
Program Updates:
Press:
Top 25 Tri-County Non-Profits (PDF) Pacific Coast Business Times, Feb 26 - Mar 4, 2010
Who's Who in Advertising, Marketing, & PR: Barbara Brown, Pacific Coast Business Times, Feb 19, 2010
Video:
Executive Director, Erik Sternad, speaks at February 2010 event for 2-1-1:
Archive
Video: VC Star 805 Studio
Editorial: 2-1-1 Message Keeps Getting Stronger
Since Feb. 11, 2005, Interface and United Way has been promoting the
24/7 service message to the community, and that message is real: if
you need social service assistance in Ventura County, 211 is available
to support your needs all day, every day. In 2011, more than 22,000
Ventura County residents were helped by 211 and it provided more than
37,000 referrals to community service providers.
Read David Smith's editorial in the VC Star here: the 2-1-1 message keeps getting stronger!