Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

[Christina Hernandez <>]

Hi all, our center also uses peer advocates\educators. We currently have 27 active students. We do training twice a year (July and January) and students must complete 35 hours of training. Our students are our first response on our 24\7 hotline. We use ring central and are able to have three people on call simultaneously (2 advocates and staff back up). We have a full time program coordinator (funded by OVW) that oversees the training, retention and is the primary staff on call as back up. Our advocates are required to do 6 hours a week on the hotline or they can do their hours in the office (which many do). They provide our in office advocacy for walk ins and referrals. Staff picks up the rest if we don't have peer advocates in the office. We do continuing education with our advocates and will be starting case reviews next semester. Lastly, our advocates also present at our mandatory first year seminar regarding bystander intervention (we did 72 presentations this semester!) and assist with coordinating events throughout the year. Having a full time person in charge of the group has been the most beneficial to our program. We see an average of 2-4 survivors a week (hotline or in office).

When our program started we had a student worker in charge of the program and it was difficult to maintain and retain students. We were able to do some of the above things but it wasn't until we had a full time professional staff coordinating the program that we've seen the most success.

Good luck! If you need any other info (training material, evaluations, presentations, etc) let us know!

Thanks

Cristina

Christina Hernandez, Director

Jean Nidetch Women's Center

4505 Maryland Pkwy Box 452025

University of Nevada Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-2025

Desk (702) 895-0689 Fax (702) 895-0601

Campus Advocacy Resource Empowerment (CARE) Line

24/7-FREE-Confidential (702) 895-0602

http://womenscenter.unlv.edu 

"I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood."

                                                                                  Audre Lorde

On Mon, Dec 8, 2014 at 10:19 AM, Seguin, Angela DiNunzio <> wrote:

Our 24/7 crisis service S.O.S. has a two-tiered structure.  Each day there is a primary advocate on duty and a backup person that we refer to as “Tier Two”.  The Tier Two role is staffed by volunteers who are professional staff members at the University or by long-time volunteers who are very familiar with the system & campus resources.  The Tier Two person is on duty for a week at a time.  The primary volunteer for that day must check in both with the advocate going off duty and with the Tier Two advocate, so that if the transition hasn’t been made, the Tier Two advocate maintains the checks and balances – can ensure that the duty shift gets covered.  The Tier Two advocate serves as backup in case the primary volunteer cannot be reached, and can serves as a consultant if the primary advocate has questions or as a sounding board to “process” a contact they had with a victim.  Both the primary shifts and the Tier Two shifts are covered on a volunteer basis but ultimately if I cannot get shifts covered, I (the paid coordinator) do end up covering shifts on occasion.

 

Our Counseling Center also provides a Psychologist on call 24/7 so if the advocate runs into issues that are beyond their scope, they can consult with or refer to the Psychologist on call as well.  The volunteer advocates are also trained to utilize local resources like the Dating Violence hotline, the Suicide hotline, and the mobile psychological unit if needed.

 

Angela

 

Angela DiNunzio Seguin

Project Director, UD-DSU VAWA Grant

Coordinator, Sexual Offense Support

Student Wellness & Health Promotion

University of Delaware

(302) 831-3457

http://www.udel.edu/studentwellness

 

From: Jessica Amo [mailto:]
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2014 1:03 PM
To: Peters, Sara
Cc: ;
Subject: Re: [WRAC-L] Peer Advocate Programs

 

I would appreciate this info as well.  For those of you using students as advocates to provide 24 hr/after hours advocacy do you also have a professional staff on call as well?  If not, who provides support to those students working after hours?  If it's professional staff, how many pro staff do you have who are on-call 24 hrs (i.e. working a regular shift during the day and then also being on call at night if student advocates need support)? How do you distribute the on-call responsibilities among pro staff?

 

Thanks, 

Jessica

------

Jess Amo, M.P.A.

Director
Women's Resource Center
Division of Enrollment Management & Student Affairs
503-725-5640

www.pdx.edu/wrc
www.pdx.edu/sexual-assault/

 

     

 

 

 

On Sat, Dec 6, 2014 at 5:09 PM, Peters, Sara <> wrote:

Dear All, 

 

I am contemplating proposing a significant change to our advocacy program by incorporating peer advocates and using them for on-call. Would y’all share any experiences (good or bad), pitfalls, etc.? I would really appreciate any information y’all would share. Best, Sara

 

 

 

Sara K. Peters

Women's Center Director

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

615 McCallie Avenue

Department 1801

Chattanooga, TN 37403

Phone: 423-425-5605

Fax: 423-425-5649

 

"You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

 

~ A. A. Milne

 

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