Womens Center Of Montgomery County

Legal advocacy and court accompaniment: during this period includes 3,227 court accompaniment sessions broken down as: 45 emergency/after-hours pfa accompaniments 490 temporary pfa filings 2,261 final orders 329 criminal and icc hearings 102 defiant trespass assists our legal advocacy and options counseling includes onsite assistance at the courthouse with completing the pfa petition. Additionally, as part of these services, we have been designated by our court administration as a resource to pfa petitioners to provide pre-court orientation for them in preparation for their hearing. Each week, our counselors receive a list of upcoming pfa hearings and are charged with contacting those individuals not represented by legal counsel to confirm their hearing dates, provide information about the hearing process and reassurance about the opportunity to be accompanied by our legal advocates at the hearing. Safety planning and additional support resources are also discussed.to address challenges faced by survivors seeking an after-hours pfa, our legal services coordinator revised our after hours/emergency pfa process and information form, directing advocates to take a more active role in assisting hotline callers in need of support as they navigate the challenges and complexities of the after-hours process. The outcomes we seek include:survivors are empowered to advocate and pursue access to justice; ongoing cooperation with attorneys, the court and law enforcement creates stronger partnerships and more effective collaborations

Medical advocacy: in addition to direct services provided to victims accessing services through the healthcare system, our medical advocacy project provides training in universal screening, identification, strangulation, traumatic brain injury screening to healthcare providers.in fye 6/30/24 we conducted 52 healthcare trainings, reaching 485 providers. This resulted in 357 unduplicated referrals to our medical advocates, with 483 contacts by our medical advocacy staff.through our training and medical advocacy efforts, our objectives are to: expand healthcare provider outreach and training to include new healthcare audiences urgent care, pharmacies, specialty physicians(such as chiropractors and optometrists). Create and distribute a quarterly newsletter that features articles on traumatic brain injury (tbi), strangulation, improved practices for universal screening and referral protocols for ipv cases; develop new relationships with healthcare partners as mergers affect our community; conduct training and outreach to senior centers. Review and update emergency room protocols for ipv screening create training curriculum and materials on strangulation and tbi; conduct trainings on these topics in healthcare settings.the most significant short-term outcome of these efforts has been an increase in prompt referrals to our program, as well as a diversification of training audiences for our medical advocates.