Models, Trainings, and Best and Promising Practices
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND FORENSIC HEALTH CARE
The following models and trainings are examples of best and/or promising practices.
NOTE: IHS does not endorse any one model or training listed here, nor is this an endorsement by IHS. The models and trainings on this page are for informational purposes only.
Model: Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: A Technical Package for Policy, Norm, and Programmatic Activities
Organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Description/Purpose
This document provides CDC’s framework for preventing child abuse and neglect and other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). This document proposes strategies that communities can consider to promote the types of relationships and environments that help children grow up to be healthy and productive citizens.
Population: Infant through Adolescent, Adult Parents, Community Systems
Download the CDC Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect Technical Package. [PDF - 3.9 MB]
Model: STOP SV: A Technical Package to Prevent Sexual Violence
Organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Description/Purpose
Model created by the CDC to help communities take advantage of the best available evidence to prevent sexual violence. Strategies outlined can impact individual behaviors and the relationship, family, school, community, and societal factors that influence the risk and protective factors for violence. Many of the strategies focus on reducing the likelihood that a person will engage in sexual violence.
Population: All ages
Download the CDC Technical Package to Prevent Sexual Violence for more information.
Model: Safe Dates Curriculum
Organization: Hazelden
Description/Purpose
Safe Dates is a school-based prevention program for middle and high school students designed to stop or prevent the initiation of dating violence victimization and perpetration, including the psychological, physical, and sexual abuse that may occur between youths involved in a dating relationship. The program goals are to change adolescent norms on dating violence and gender-roles, improve conflict resolution skills for dating relationships, promote victims’ and perpetrators' beliefs in the need for help and awareness of community resources for dating violence, encourage help-seeking by victims and perpetrators, and develop peer help-giving skills.
Population: Adolescents, 6th-12th grade.
For more details about the curriculum and costs, please visit the Safe Dates manual or Safe Dates Training page.
Model: Trauma-Informed Care
Organization: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Description/Purpose
Use of a trauma-informed approach when interacting with individuals, families, and communities consists of prioritizing: safety; trustworthiness and transparency; peer support; collaboration and mutuality; empowerment, voice, and choice; and cultural, historical and gender issues. Trauma-informed models of patient care promote access to services and effective support for vulnerable populations.
Population: All ages
Read about the SAMHSA Center for Health Care Strategies on the Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Resource Center website.
Training: SOAR for Health and Wellness (SOAR for Native Communities – Human Trafficking Screening and Response)
Organization: Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
Description/Purpose
By applying a public health approach, SOAR seeks to build the capacity of communities to identify and respond to the complex needs of individuals who have experienced trafficking and understand the root causes that make individuals, families, and communities vulnerable to trafficking.
Population: All ages
Visit the ACF Soar Online website.
Training: IHS Tele-Education and Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) Series
Organization: Indian Health Service
Description/Purpose
Series of webinars with an aim of informing and providing professional approaches, resources, tools, and support for staff that may encounter and respond to domestic sexual violence.
- Trauma Informed Care Series topics include: Overview of trauma-informed care and historical trauma-informed care, trauma-informed care for non-providers, and trauma-informed care for supervisors, among others.
Population: Providers
For more details about the trainings, visit the the IHS Tele-Education On Demand Training website.
Technical Support and Training:
Supporting Our Circle: National Tribal Clearinghouse on Sexual Assault (NTCSA)
Organization: Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition (MIWSAC) and International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN)
Description/Purpose
A comprehensive technical assistance service for programs responding to intimate partner violence, human trafficking, sexual assault, child abuse, and elder abuse.
- Services include: Professional support help line, training resources, library of research and promising practices, and knowledgeable staff related to issues within Indian Country.
Population: Technical support for providers and programs specific to forensic health and community advocates.
Visit the Supporting Our Circle: NTCSA website.
Visit the NTCSA learning center to access the on-demand trainings. For more information or training and technical assistance, reach out to NTCSA.
Model: National Training Standards for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examiners (2nd Ed.) (August 2018)
Organization: US Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women
Description/Purpose
The standards recommend minimum guidelines for didactic and clinical preparation of pediatric and adolescent/adult Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner’s (SAFEs). The use of these standards across all U.S. jurisdictions will improve uniformity of SAFEs’ knowledge and skills. The goal is that every person who reports or discloses sexual assault, or in the case of children where sexual abuse is suspected, will have access to a specially educated and clinically prepared SAFE. The SAFE can validate and address the patient’s health concerns; minimize their trauma; promote their healing, agency and autonomy; and maximize the detection, collection, preservation and documentation of evidence for potential use by the legal system. Uniformity in SAFE education can improve consistency of service provision and aid in evaluating the effectiveness of examiner response.
Population: Adult/Adolescent and Pediatric Forensic Examiners
Download the US Department of Justice protocol document .
Model: National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits: A Multidisciplinary Approach
Organization: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice
Description/Purpose
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) – the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice – convened several working group meetings representing victims, victim advocates, sexual assault nurse examiners, medical examiners, forensic laboratories, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and the judiciary. The NIJ working group was directed to address issues relating to evidence collection; prioritization of evidence and time periods for collection; evidence inventory, tracking, and auditing technology solutions; communication strategies; and victim engagement and notification.
Population: Forensic Health Programs and Multidisciplinary Sexual Assault Response Teams
Download the Office of Justice Programs National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits document. [PDF - 903 KB]
The IHS Forensic Healthcare site offers information on available resouces and training.
From the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to various knowledge-building resources.
The community-focused Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs (DAIP) Duluth Model is a program developed in 1980 to reduce violence against women.
Developed by the NRCDV, the Domestic Violence Evidence Project , is designed to help state coalitions, local domestic violence programs, researchers, and other individuals and organizations better respond to identifying and integrating evidence-based practice into domestic violence services. The site includes a comprehensive evidence review of domestic violence core services, programs, and innovative practices.
Domestic Violence: Understand the Basics , a one-hour interactive online learning tool developed by the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence and VAWnet, defines domestic violence, provides an overview on how it impacts individuals and society, what factors allow domestic violence to exist, the risks and choices that face survivors, and how to contribute to reducing and ending domestic abuse.
Promising Futures without Violence is an online best practices resources center offering evidence based interventions, program models, training curriculum and tools to provide safe services for strengthening children, youth and parents experiencing domestic violence.
From VAWnet.org, "Special Collection: Trauma-Informed Domestic Violence Services: Understanding the Framework and Approach" is a 3-part topic collection that consists of an overview of the framework and research supporting trauma-informed approaches to working with survivors and their children, building program capacity, and developing collaborations and increasing access.
