It's Colorado Gives Day!

Colorado Gives Day is the annual statewide movement to increase online giving, and unites all Coloradans in a common goal to strengthen nonprofits in our state through giving to their favorite charities online.

Your gift to Violence Free Colorado can support the coalition's many initiatives and outreach efforts, including:

Our own professional development to better support survivors and advocates across Colorado
Production costs for Violence Free Colorado program handbooks and guides
Support for survivor initiatives, including travel costs to the Capitol to testify, Survivors' Caucus training opportunities and more
Prevention education through Stand Up Colorado, the coalition's statewide prevention campaign

Colorado Gives Day is a great way to show your support for the local organizations that inspire you. Give where you live today!

Coalition Updates

Brandy Walega and Miranda Encina
Violence Free Colorado Training and Technical Assistance Team

Training and TA Team

December Facts & Snacks: Technical Assistance Options for DVP's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Assessment
Dec. 14, noon-1 p.m.
Register today!

Domestic violence organizations that receive DVP funding are required to conduct an annual Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) assessment, within an Accessible, Culturally Responsive, and Trauma-Informed (ACRTI) framework.

To support programs with this, Violence Free Colorado will conduct a webinar on the National Center for Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health’s (NCDVTMH) Tools for Transformation Reflection Toolkit as an EDI assessment option.

This is not the only assessment tool that DVP funded organizations can use. However, this is the tool that Violence Free Colorado can provide the most in-depth technical assistance on.

Violence Free Colorado supports collective healing by centering accessible, culturally responsive, trauma-informed practices and policies, through acknowledging survivors’ unique experiences found at the heart of gender-based violence and other intersectional oppressions.

Presenters: Miranda Encina (they/them, she/her), Culturally Responsive Technical Assistance Specialist and Brandy Walega (she/her), Technical Assistance and Training Specialist

January Facts & Snacks: Analysis of "Maid"
Jan. 11, noon-1 p.m.
Register today!

For our January Facts and Snacks webinar, we will analyze the recent Netflix series “Maid.” A few of our staff members will discuss their impressions of the series, how domestic violence and survivorship are portrayed, as well as how these things connect with broader issues of oppression and marginalization. We will also share our takeaways about how advocacy work and individual and community support are presented, our thoughts on best practices, and things to avoid. As always, we will approach our conversation through a lens of accessible, culturally-responsive, and trauma-informed practices.

Presenters: Miranda Encina (they/them, she/her), Culturally Responsive Technical Assistance Specialist; Hannah Colter (she/her) Community Impact Specialist; and Lindsay Christopher (she/her), Housing and Economic Justice Program Manager

Please note that there will be a delayed response to TTA team requests from Dec. 23 – Jan. 3. Thank you!

Amelia Lobo, Violence Free Colorado Public Policy Specialist

Public Policy Team

In 2021, the Colorado General Assembly passed a bill (HB21-1228) requiring 6 initial hours of training on domestic violence (including coercive control and its traumatic effects on children, adults, and families) and 6 hours of training on child abuse and child sexual abuse for Child and Family Investigators (CFIs) and Parental Responsibilities Evaluators (PREs). These training hours need to be completed by Jan. 1, 2022 for current PREs and CFIs.

Violence Free Colorado has made three courses from our Online Learning Center (OLC) available for these court professionals for the domestic violence training requirement: Understanding Domestic Violence, Understanding Abusers, and Trauma-Informed, Survivor-Centered Advocacy Part 1.

The cost for these three courses is $50, and once accessed, the courses will be available for six months. Please share with your networks!

Tamika Matthews and Hannah Colter, Violence Free Colorado Community Impact Team

Community Impact Team

The "Best Practice Guidelines for Working with Youth Who Commit Relationship Violence" toolkit was released in July, and now, the guidelines are available in Spanish! This commitment to language inclusivity will help a wider population create capacity and resources statewide to help young people who want help in behavior change receive services from qualified providers.

The guidelines were developed by a multidisciplinary group of committed professionals who recognized the gap in services for treatment of youth who use abusive, harmful, and/or illegal behaviors in the context of relationships.

Visit the Colorado Department of Criminal Justice to learn more and check out the guidelines in English and Spanish.

We also recently completed a series of four video ads on relationship violence, which are available on our the Stand Up Colorado playlist on our YouTube channel. Our team developed the concept and storyline, and the animation was created by a Colorado resident doing community service as part of their sentence for a domestic violence related offense. We share this as part of our ongoing efforts to create a society that no longer tolerates relationship violence and views behavior change as both possible and necessary.

Please note: our team will be offline Dec. 22-26, and Dec. 31. At least one team member will be available outside of these dates through the month of December. We'll see you in 2022!

Lindsay Christopher, Violence Free Colorado Housing and Economic Justice Program Manager

Housing and Economic Justice Team

Parts I and II of the Economic Justice Advocacy series are now available on YouTube. Meant as a companion to our Economic Justice Pocket Guide, these resources may be helpful for advocates interested in identifying opportunities to build out their economic justice programming.

We explore setting goals with survivors, building supportive community partnerships and implementing economic justice in a way that enhances existing programming.

You can view Part I and Part II on the Violence Free Colorado YouTube channel, and download a copy of the Economic Justice Pocket Guide as well.

Resources and Other News

National Indigenous Women's Resource Center Restoration Magazine

The Restoration of Native Sovereignty and Safety for Native Women magazine is a NIWRC publication dedicated to informing tribal leadership and communities of emerging issues impacting the safety of American Indian and Alaska Native women.

The magazine reflects the grassroots strategy that by strengthening the sovereignty of Indian nations to hold perpetrators accountable, the safety of Native women will be restored.

View the digital version of their latest issue, or subscribe to their print version and support issues surrounding Indigenous women.

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