The Issue at Hand

This is the first time there has ever been the potential for dedicated financial support from the federal government for work with the health care system that addresses domestic violence. In an effort to meet the needs of health professionals to better respond to family violence as identified by a September 2001 Institute of Medicine Report, Senators Durbin, Collins and Snowe introduced the Family Violence Prevention Act (S. 2009). This bill would centralize the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' response to family violence and fund research and health professional training.

Action Needed

We need social workers whose Senators serve on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to call their Senators and urge them to vote the bill out of committee and onto the floor for consideration. We need ALL social workers to call Senator Daschle’s office and ask that this bill be brought to the floor.

Sample Scripts & Senate Office Contact Information

Senate HELP Committee Script

1. My name is ____________. As a professional social worker and member of the National Association of Social Workers, I am calling to ask the senator to support S. 2009, the Family Violence Prevention Act and specifically the section that provides funding for training health care providers and implementing programs at health care institutions to address domestic violence.
2. This funding is critical to continue/begin the work that we do/ want to do addressing domestic violence in ________NAME YOUR STATE (If you already have a program in place, be able to BRIEFLY describe what you're doing and emphasize that this funding would help your program).
3. Can you tell me whether the Senator supports S. 2009?
4. I would very much like to see it pass the Senate before Congress adjourns for the year. Thank you.

If you are a New Hampshire resident:

Call Senator Judd Gregg, 202/224-3324.

Committee. Urge him to support the bill) ---and specifically urge him to support the training and programs grants in S. 2009 (which he does not support).

If you are a resident from one of the following states, whose members are on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The bill must get out of committee and onto the Floor for consideration.

• Tennessee: Call Senator Bill Frist, 202/224-3344
• Wyoming: Call Senator Mike Enzi, 202/224-3424
• Arkansas: Call Senator Tim Hutchinson, 202/224-2353
• Virginia: Call Senator John Warner, 202/224-2023
• Missouri: Call Senator Kit Bond, 202/224-5721
• Kansas: Call Senator Pat Roberts, 202/224-4774
• Maine: Call Senator Susan Collins, 202/224-2523 * she is a cosponsor of the bill so she should be supportive, but she can use a call from supporters.
• Alabama: Call Senator Jeff Sessions, 202/224-4124
• Ohio: Call Senator Mike DeWine, 202/224-2315

Senator Daschle Script for All States

1. My name is ____________. As a professional social worker and a member of the National Association of Social Workers, I am calling to urge the senator to make sure that S. 2009 will be voted on before Congress adjourns (October 18, 2002). The Family Violence Prevention Act funding is critical to continue/begin the work that we do/ want to do addressing domestic violence in ________NAME YOUR STATE (If you already have a program in place, be able to BRIEFLY describe what you're doing and emphasize that this funding would help your program).
2. Can you tell me whether the Senator supports S. 2009?
3. I would very much like to see it pass the Senate before Congress adjourns for the year. Thank you.

3. If you are from any other state (including the states listed above):

• Call Senator Tom Daschle (South Dakota, Democrat), Majority leader of the Senate. 202/224-5556.

BACKGROUND

Family Violence Prevention Act of 2002 Summary, S. 2009

Specifically, S. 2009 would:

Create a separate Office of Family Violence within HHS, to facilitate coordination between all programs within HHS relating to the prevention of family violence and develop a federal family violence prevention Internet website.

Create five new family violence research and education centers to conduct research and share information. One of the centers would be linked to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another would be linked to the National Institute of Mental Health. The centers would perform research on family violence including but not limited to:

1. In collaboration with the CDC, the centers would perform national surveys on the prevalence of the different forms of family violence
2. Research on appropriate curricula for health professional training, including evaluation of such curricula.
3. Research on the effectiveness of different teaching methodologies.
4. Research on the patterns of health care utilization by victims of family violence, the effects that family violence has on victims' health status and the health care costs attributable to family violence.
5. Research on the effects of mandatory reporting requirements on victims' safety and likelihood of receiving appropriate care and services
6. Research and testing of best messages and strategies to mobilize public action
7. Research on the relationship between childhood exposure to domestic violence and child and adult health and safety outcomes.
8. Research on effective interventions for children exposed to violence;
9. Research on the effects of family violence on other health behaviors and health conditions

A 19-member advisory board would be created to make recommendations to the Secretary regarding the research agenda.

Health Professional Training Grants for Family Violence Treatment:
The Office of Family Violence would administer a new grants program that would be available to health care delivery systems and health care training entities, including community health centers, or nonprofit organizations such as a state or local domestic violence coalition working in collaboration with health care systems, to address domestic violence. Specifically, the grants would go toward development, testing and evaluation of innovative training models or programs to identify and appropriately treat and refer victims of family violence. $25 million is authorized for 2003 and then such sums as necessary though 2007.