Grace Smith House Inc

Outreach programgrace smith house has an extensive outreach and community education program. Through our outreach efforts we collaborate with community partners on projects designed to increase victim safety, enhance family wellbeing and maximize offender accountability. During 2024, our outreach programs and activities included the following:family court advocacy project - grace smith house coordinates with dutchess county family court to have two advocates provide advocacy services to walk in customers who seek assistance from family court. Many individuals often show up at family court after an incident has taken place that has them turning to court for protection and help. Grace smith house advocates meet with individuals to assess for the presence of domestic violence, provide risk assessment, engage in safety planning, educate the individual about victim rights and options as well as explain how the civil court process works. Advocates assist and support petitioners in completing paperwork and filing for emergency orders of protection. During the year, this program assisted 955 petitioners to file emergency protective orders. Grace smith house also has a separate court advocate who is responsible for accompanying victims to court, helping them understand the court proceedings, connecting them to legal services, and providing advocacy as needed. This advocate was able to provide extensive court advocacy services to 163 individuals and accompanied clients to court a total of 362 times during the year.child protective services domestic violence liaison project grace smith house has two domestic violence liaisons embedded in the child protective services unit in our county. These liaisons serve as a knowledgeable resource to child protective services caseworkers regarding issues related to domestic violence. They also provide ongoing domestic violence services to those families referred from the child protective services unit. Last year these liaisons served 140 families and provided 137 consultations to child protective services case workers. In addition, 14 separate training sessions were provided to child protect services caseworkers on relevant issues related to domestic violence.community outreach, prevention & education program grace smith house is dedicated to raising the consciousness of the community regarding the extent, type, and seriousness of intimate partner violence. Throughout the county, our staff educates the general community, healthcare providers and other community service providers on how to identify, assess and safely screen for the presence of domestic violence, the impact domestic violence has, as well as our programs and services available and how to connect those needing our services. In addition, our prevention and education program focuses on giving young people the tools they need to have healthy relationships and recognize abusive behaviors. Grace smith house educators visit middle and high schools, trying to reach all districts in dutchess county, with presentations. In middle schools, education focuses on prevention of bullying, while in high schools the focus is teen dating violence prevention and education with topics such as healthy relationships, dating violence, digital abuse, safety planning, and social media safety. During the year, staff attended 87 community awareness events and provided 245 presentations successfully educating 3,339 middle and high school students and 933 adults in our community.

Brookhaven transitional housingbrookhaven transitional housing comprises of 14 apartments, ranging in size from studio apartments to three bedrooms. Residents may stay in the housing program for up to two years (24 months). Eligibility for this second stage housing program is determined by several factors including being a victim of domestic violence, fleeing an abusive relationship and in need of safe and secure housing. This program is offered to families who want and need a longer amount of time to work on safety, healing and the achievement of specific goals to stabilize lives. Referrals to this program come from various sources including our shelter program, the non-residential program or by our community service providers. While in the brookhaven transitional housing program, residents are provided with case management, individual and/or group domestic violence counseling, children's services, connection to legal assistance, housing advocacy, recreational opportunities and all other available agency services as needed. The brookhaven program is a supportive community that promotes safety, healing from trauma, well-being and resiliency for the future. During the year, 18 families and 30 of their children resided in our transitional housing program.

Follow up programthe grace smith house non-residential follow up program provides a wide variety of services to families residing in the community who are experiencing domestic violence. Originally developed as a follow-up program to assist residents who were transitioning out of our emergency shelter, this program has expanded to provide a broad spectrum of advocacy, counseling and support services to victims of domestic violence. Services include individual counseling, support group, safety planning, court advocacy, accompaniment to court, social services advocacy, risk assessment, housing and employment assistance, transportation, and referral to other services. We also provide a food pantry stocked with dry goods, toiletries, diapers, baby items, cleaning products, and household goods. This pantry is available for non-residential participants free of charge (availability of items depends upon donations). Limited amounts of clothing, linens, and household goods/furniture are also available (depending on donations and storage considerations). This program has a bilingual family advocate who provided a full range of services to clients in spanish. During the year, in this program a total of 281 clients received services; advocacy was provided a total of 4,389 times; and 116 weekly support group sessions were held. In addition, 39 children obtained 212 support services, and 67 support groups were provided to the children throughout the year.