Maine s Safe Families Partnership Initiative Presented by: Sharon Leahy-Lind Women s Health Coordinator Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Department of Health and Human Services sharon.leahy-lind@maine.gov
Goal of the Maine Safe Families Initiative To reduce perinatal health disparities by addressing intimate partner violence and sexual assault among minority, rural and underserved women of reproductive age in Maine.
Current Partners Maine CDC Div. of Family Health MCH Epidemiology Office of Minority Health Office of Rural Health and Primary Care HIV/STD program WIC Early Childhood Initiative Office of Child and Family Services Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence Physicians for Social Responsibility Boys to Men Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse Violence Intervention Project, Cumberland County
What are the challenges? Lack of awareness of the problem Lack of data Lack of resources New relationships
Relevance of Family Violence to Other Maine CDC programs WIC Public Health Nursing Heart Disease -Higher prevalence of IPV Alaska Prams -Less likely to breastfeed Silverman et al, 2006 -Nurse home visits reduce child abuse and neglect and associated consequences -Benefits of home visits decreased by IPV Eckenrode et al, 2000 -Ever experiencing IPV associated with heart and circulatory disease Coker et al, 2005 -Ischemic heart disease associated with Adverse Childhood Experiences Dong et al, 2004 -Sexual assault during military service associated with self-reported heart attacks among women veterans Frayne et al, 1999 Source: FVPF
Relevance of Family Violence to Other Maine CDC programs Cancer -Associated with cervical cancer among women 45-50 years old Loxton et al, 2006 -Child sexual abuse and partner violence associated with cancer treatment disruption Gallo-Silver & Weiner, 2006; Coker et al, 2006 -Child abuse as risk factor for emotional problems after breast cancer surgery Salmon, 2006 -History of violence associated with diagnosis of breast, ovarian, endrometrial, and cervical cancer at later stages Modesitt et al, 2006 Source: FVPF
Safe Families in Minority and Underserved Communities American Indian women and native Alaskan women are far more likely to be victimized than whites and other minorities. About 18 out of every 1,000 American Indian and native Alaskan women have been the victim of DV a violence rate three times higher than among white women. Black women are more likely than white women to be abused and they are more likely to report their abuse to the police than white women. Source: Department of Justice
Safe Families in Minority and Underserved Communities Women in their early 20s and women who were divorced or separated have the greatest risk of being abused Violence is more common in low-income households. Asian males, white males and the elderly report the lowest rates of partner violence. Police have been less successful responding to and deterring abusive behavior in some minority communities, where racism and cultural differences can keep reporting rates low. Source: Department of Justice
Accomplishments to Date 1) Gained support from Maine CDC leadership and public health professionals. 2) Developed cross-agency core planning collaboration with internal and external partners. 3) Built frameworks to address the issues Developed an action plan with preliminary goals, objectives, and activities Constructed a logic model 4) Statewide Safe Families Partnership Forum/ Workgroup Development
Safe Families Action Plan: Long-term Goals Increase awareness of intimate partner violence and sexual assault as public health issues. Change the culture of Maine so that violence is not an option. Integrate family violence prevention components in multiple public health programs, education settings, social service and support programs. Establish public health linkages to state and local violence-related services and prevention efforts. Develop systems for addressing IPV/SA that include public health monitoring, prevention and intervention.
Safe Families Action Plan Objective #1 1. Increase the visibility of intimate partner violence and sexual assault as public health issues. a. Engaged senior leadership at Maine CDC b. Held internal learning sessions for CDC public health programs c. Delivered presentations to partners
Objective #2 2. Document existing efforts and develop a surveillance system a. Develop and disseminate a data and resource inventory b. Conduct a gap analysis to determine areas of need c. Enhance data collection efforts i. Work with ODRVS to add pregnancy checkbox to death certificates ii. Work with BRFSS to fund IPV/SA questions d. Compile and disseminate an IPV/SA surveillance report e. Develop performance measures for federal block grants to ensure sustainability of efforts.
Objective #3 3. Develop culturally and linguistically competent systems of care that will encourage assessment and disclosure of experiences with violence. a. Conduct cultural competency trainings in focused settings b. Include DV and SA advocates in cultural competency trainings
Objective #4 4. Increase screening for lifetime and current intimate partner violence and sexual assault among programs serving women of reproductive age within Maine CDC WIC, Family Planning, Public Health Nursing, Healthy Families Home Visitation Program, HIV/STD Program Services.
Objective #5 5. Expand and emphasize screening for lifetime and current intimate partner violence and sexual assault universally in all health care settings.
Next Steps: Moving Forward with the Action Plan Follow-up to Statewide Forum Seeking to Hire PHPS Quarterly Planning; Monthly Workgroup Meetings DV & SA Public Health Training: November 20, 2007 Cultural Competency Training in Process
Questions