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>View discussions about this entry Country: United States
Organization: Have Justice Will Travel
Focus of activity - Direct Support
Year the initiative began - 1998
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
Description of Initiative - What is the main focus (products, services, etc.) of your initiative and how does it contribute to ending or preventing domestic violence? What principal aspect of domestic violence are you addressing? What activities does it involve for your organization? Who are your primary beneficiaries and target groups? The mission of Have Justice–Will Travel (HJWT) is to bring an end to the generational cycle of abuse in rural American families by bridging the legal, geographical, cultural, economic and psychological gaps that exist for women and children who are victims of domestic violence. HJWT provides a continuum of legal and social services for victims of domestic abuse, which allows them to understand the roots of the abuse, leave the abuser, and achieve the economic and emotional self-sufficiency to end the generational cycle of abuse. HJWT assists victims from the initial interview and relief from abuse order through to self-reliance and independence.
HJWT provides free legal services, in-home consultations, and transportation to and from court hearings and for other crucial appointments for low income battered women and their children. Legal representation is provided for protective orders, divorce, parentage, child custody and support, and visitation issues. In addition, legal representation for housing, landlord/tenant, wills, deeds, creditor, and other civil legal issues is provided. HJWT assists every caller. Clients are categorized as follows: 1) “Call-ins” for whom we can provide a quick answer or specific direction, 2) “Consulting Clients” who receive assistance from the staff, either over the telephone or in person, so that they can access legal services, 3) “LEAP (Legal Empowerment Assistance Program) Clients,” pro se litigants who receive long-term support throughout the development of their case, and 4) “Full Service Clients” who receive full legal services including attorney representation in the court room and in all aspects of the case. An important aspect of the model is a Women in Transition Life Skills and Mentoring Group, that teaches women how to turn the coping skills they used to survive the abuse into strengths to improve their lives. The outcome of this mobile multi-service model is that few HJWT clients return to abusive relationships. Innovation - Demonstrate how your approach differs from other programs in the field? Which specific components of your initiative are particularly effective, novel, or unique (e.g., the products and services, the technology used, the delivery, or financing mechanism)? Have Justice—Will Travel, (HJWT) a Vermont non-profit organization offers a unique and innovative way of stopping the generational cycle of abuse in rural American families. It institutes a systematic social change method that gets behind the immediate needs of family violence victims, by bridging the legal, social, economic, geographic, and psychological gaps that currently exist. The HJWT model combines legal and social resources that get to the root causes of abuse and help women and children from the initial relief from abuse order until they become independent and self-reliant, thereby, stopping the generational cycle of abuse in their families.
Our theory of change includes addressing the immediate, intermediate, and long-term needs of the abused by intervening in the cycle wherever women need help. Our outcomes – from getting the victims away from the abuse and into a safe environment, to having them gain the self-esteem and strength to live independently and care for their families – requires the participation of HJWT attorneys and client service coordinators. HJWT MODEL Escape immediate abuse? Find safety? Leave the abuser? Provide basic needs? Access resources and services? Develop self-esteem, reliance? Achieve independence, strength The assumptions underlying our theory of change have been demonstrated in the eight years that the HJWT model has served clients. Our main assumption, stopping the generational cycle of abuse, is that is a holistic model is essential. We look at all the women’s legal and social needs in order to gain the most favorable outcome, substantially improving victim’s lives. Legal needs focus on getting the abused into safe environments including gaining a protective order and representation in all family court matters, and assistance with probate and criminal court hearings. Social needs include improving the survivors’ financial status by locating immediate support, housing, childcare, more education, a job, a car, and a driver’s license. Social needs also include getting counseling and therapy for mothers and their children and assuring that the family is no longer isolated. Delivery Model - How does your initiative reach its target populations? What communications mechanism(s) do you have in place? How do you measure their impact? The conventional approach to helping abused women has concentrated on getting them to the first step of leaving the abuser. Once they were away from the abuse, however, women were often left alone to pick up the pieces. When the women returned to their abuser, the community asked why, and advocates reasoned that it takes several times for a victim to be able to leave her abuser and each time they learn more about domestic violence which will make it easier to leave the next time. Advocates even developed a list of reasons why women stay or go back.
When Wynona began to tackle this major social issue she did not accept this reasoning. She saw Have Justice—Will Travel (HJWT) as having an ambitious mission, “Stopping the generational cycle of abuse in rural American families.” This is an enormous undertaking, but Wynona envisioned simple answers. HJWT measures its outcomes by how many women return to their abusers or go on to other abusive relationships. After 8 years, HJWT can still say that 90-95% of its clients do not return. HJWT receives referrals from victim advocacy groups through an established referral procedure. Criteria used include: 1) Does the batterer have an attorney or is the victim incapable of representing herself even if the batterer represents himself? 2) How severe is the abuse and what is the history of violence? 3) Are there children, and if so, have the children been abused? 4) Have the children been abducted or in danger of being abducted? 5) Is this a complicated custody case with many legal intricacies? HJWT also receives referrals from the courts, prosecutors, law enforcement, attorneys, mental health providers, doctors, nurses, homeless shelters, educators, employers, and from clients already served. In the last six months in 2006, HJWT heard from 271 women who requested legal representation. Sadly, HJWT is forced to turn away many women because the caseload carried by each staff member has reached full capacity. Key Operational Partnerships - What key partnerships have you established to make your model possible or more efficient? Who are your partners (business, social, government, other) and what are their roles? How central are these partnerships for your initiative. In Vermont, there are over 4000 protective order petitions filed each year. The trauma children experience living in violent homes remains throughout their lives and often this violence is passed on to future generations. Ten percent of Vermont residents live below the federal poverty line and in the most rural areas the number increases to 14%. This geographic isolation and poverty is matched by poor education and social inequality, which can make it especially difficult for those in abusive situations. The batterer may be the only source of shelter, heat, food and clothing for her and the children.
Our theory of change includes addressing the immediate, intermediate, and long-term needs of the abused by intervening in the cycle wherever women need help. Our outcomes – from getting the victims away from the abuse and into a safe environment, to helping our clients find legal independence from the abuse, to achieving the self-esteem and strength to live independently and care for their families – require the participation of a network of partners who make up a Coordinated Community Response. HJWT draws on the work of 24-hour hotlines, safe homes, shelters, the Family Court, Probate Court, Criminal Court, Vermont Legal Aid, and private attorneys. Our social service partners include the Vermont Agency of Human Services, mental health workers, social workers, doctors, nurses, child protective services, and local domestic violence task forces. Financial Model - Which mechanisms do you have in place to ensure that your beneficiaries can afford your products or services? Do you have financial schemes or arrangements for low-income and marginalized populations? Have Justice—Will Travel (HJWT) does not charge for any services offered to clients. All legal and social services are free. HJWT relies on government grants, private foundation grants, business donations, individual contributions, and volunteers. It is necessary to maintain this financial model because all HJWT clients are low-income and face severe financial hardships, in addition to trauma, when leaving abusive situations.
The financial hardships that a victim faces leaving a domestic violence situation can be potentially devastating to a woman trying to feed her children and keep a roof over their head. When women leave an abusive relationship they feel isolated and alone, and also have difficulty supporting themselves and their children. Thus, many return, and may become a statistic; leaving behind motherless children. The HJWT Women in Transition (WIT) Life Skills and Mentoring Group is an example of the way the organization provides a full continuum of help for clients. Participation in the WIT group begins at a point in women's lives where they have been provided free legal services by HJWT to leave their abuser and protect themselves and their children. This is the point when most services for abused women end, however, it is known that ending services at this juncture of a woman's journey leaves her without resources and skills. There is a healing and growth process that must occur so that women can begin constructing lives where they can sustain themselves and their children. WIT provides both the lessons and the tools for a woman to solidify her financial well being, widen her support network, and develop a foundation on which to build a new life for herself and her children. Because many women do not have access to transportation or childcare, both are offered free as part of the program.
Effectiveness - What has been the concrete impact of your project to date? How many people have benefited from your program in total? What policies, communities, or institutions have been influenced to make fundamental changes because of your work? HJWT tracks statistics on a variety of variables to help measure the effectiveness of our services. The best measure of the effectiveness of our holistic multi-service model is that few women, only about 10% of the women fully served, have returned to their batterers or entered into other abusive relationships.
HJWT has established a database that keeps statistics for the three types of services provided. The following chart depicts the types of services and the numbers of cases and the numbers of women and children served. Full LEAP Consult Call Ins In addition to the above women and children served, 97 women have participated in the Women in Transition Life Skills and Mentoring Groups run in Central and Southern Vermont.. We are required to keep various statistics for the Department of Justice grants that cover our two southern Vermont offices. In addition, we keep statistics for the LEAP program funded by the Vermont Bar Association. We have found that it is beneficial to keep statistics for various grant programs, and we are required by the Board of Professional Responsibility to keep records for all clients served for the purpose of conflict of interest confirmation when taking a case. Due to the work of HJWT, victim advocacy groups and those agencies and community organizations, which make up the Coordinated Community Response (CCR) to domestic violence, which was developed decades ago by the domestic violence movement in this country, have learned the importance of including civil legal services organizations as an integral part of any and all CCR models. By adding HJWT services to CCR models, the goal of significantly improving victim’s lives will occur in most all cases.
Scaling up Strategy - What is your priority for the next 3 years and please describe why. In the HJWT 2006 Strategic Plan two of the six goals address replication of the HJWT model. Our ultimate vision is to have available a replication model to be used by any organization in the country which meets the necessary criteria. To that end we have begun drafting a replication plan.
Our replication goal calls for having all areas of Vermont covered by HJWT offices by 2010. Our 2006-2007 budget has revenue and expense projections to cover a new office for two attorneys and a paralegal in the NEK area. Future budgets include funding for another two offices so that the entire state is covered by the end of 2010. Another strategic goal is to have the first HJWT office outside Vermont open by January 2014 with full replication nationwide possible by 2016. We expect to have the national replication plan, including understanding the legal issues surrounding replication, completed by January 2010. We were conservative in our time estimates of when these goals and objectives can be implemented because we first need to address internal capacity issues, and we know that the demand for domestic abuse legal and social services can immediately consume the entire staff at certain times of the year. Our experience indicates that certain seasons and pressures create higher rates of domestic abuse. Statistics regarding domestic abuse show the need for many more HJWT-type offices around the country. Our replication plan, in final form, will help organizations assess whether this model is appropriate for them, and how to implement the model. Wynona or another trained HJWT staff member, will travel to replication sites and provide onsite training and education on how to set up and administer the different aspects of the HJWT model. HJWT will promote an ongoing relationship with organizations and consult with them to answer questions and help alleviate concerns and potential obstacles that they may face, especially during the initial replication process.
Origin of the Initiative - Tell the personal story that will help people connect to your work. How did the initiative start? Was there a particular individual or event driving the idea? Tell the reader the story behind the innovation. Wynona I. Ward, Esq., is an attorney and the founder of “Have Justice--Will Travel writes:
“In the 1950’s when I was growing up in poverty on a rural back road in VT when the neighbors heard screaming coming from our home, they turned their heads. When we heard screaming coming from their home, we turned our heads, family violence was an accepted way of life. When my mother asked the minister for help he reminded her that marriage was for better or worse “til death do you part.” The local doctor treated her bruises and other injuries, but didn’t ask where they came from. If my mother had chosen to use the legal system, she would have been told that a man’s home was his castle, we do not interfere there, but little did they know that castle was like a prison for my mother and her children. Wynona works every day so that children do not suffer the abuse she did as a child. Main Obstacles to Scaling Up - List the two (2) main obstacles to scale up your innovation (policy, legal, organizational, people, financial, etc.)? In Spring 2006, Wynona, the HJWT staff, and Rick Melbreth, a volunteer non-profit consultant, drafted a ten-year strategic plan, which was then reviewed by the HJWT Board. In Summer 2006, Nancy Harter, arranged for a development consultant with thirty years experience to meet with Wynona about implementing a development plan as part of the strategic plan and as a way to diversify our income stream. To scale up at HJWT we need to hire a development director, increase our individual donor database, hold fundraising events, and continue our media promotion of HJWT.
The HJWT budget for 2007-2008 includes significant funds for replication of the HJWT model in VT. Expansion includes hiring a development director, two attorneys and a paralegal for the Northeast Kingdom area, and a bookkeeper/secretary for the central office. It is difficult for Wynona, who is also responsible for the administration of HJWT mentoring all attorneys and staff, and provide direct services to clients, to also be responsible for the developmental work that HJWT requires. Main Partnership Challenges - What are your major challenges with partnerships? (E.g., identification of partners, implementation of partnerships, relationship management, etc.) Vermont is a rural state with a population of approximately 630,000 people. Although it has a few large towns with populations of about 15,000, most are small villages, which have 300 to 400 residents. Large lumber and forestry companies own a substantial portion of the land in the most rural counties. In the past decade, many manufacturing jobs have been lost as companies relocated out of the state where they can pay cheaper wages. The unemployment rate in some areas is as high as 4.3%. In several counties 14.1% live below the poverty level. Isolated living conditions and severely restricted resources for victims of domestic violence combined with accepted gender roles, poverty, unemployment, and limited literacy create a daunting set of obstacles for people trying to leave abusive relationships and for agencies trying to serve these victims.
HJWT works closely and successfully with all agencies that serve victims including victim advocacy groups and government agencies. HJWT and the agencies we work with, however, have great difficulty in identifying partners who are willing to finance our work. It is necessary to search outside the state for funding opportunities. Contact Information:
Wynona Ward
Executive Director Have Justice Will Travel (Non-profit 501(c)(3)) hjwt@together.net 9580 Vermont Route 113, Vershire, VT 05079 United States Tel: 802-685-7809 Fax: 802-685-4663 Website: www.havejusticewilltravel.org Discussions about this entry
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Have Justice--Will Travel -- Stopping the Generational Cycle of Abuse in Rural American Families
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One of the greatest barriers to mothers, accessing the civil legal system in Wyoming is the absolutely hateful attitude of Judges toward pro se litigants. (I know, I tried myself many times). In Wyoming, if you don't have an attorney, you don't have a case. How do you get around that in your communities???