Police get grant to help victims of domestic abuse in Milton, Oakville, Burlington
Published February 24, 2022 at 3:25 pm
Halton police have received a grant to help provide support to victims of intimate partner violence.
The $200,000 Victim Support Grant from the Ministry of the Solicitor General will be used over two years to help survivors of domestic abuse in a variety of ways.
A portion of the grant will be used to embed a dedicated violence against women (VAW) support worker from Halton Women’s Place within the Halton Region Police Service’s Intimate Partner Violence Offender Management Unit (IPV-OMU).
As a result, the IPV-OMU will be better positioned to provide survivors safety support, community referrals, crisis, group and individual counselling, and advocacy, which will help mitigate risks to survivors.
“Halton Women’s Place is thrilled to expand on our partnership with the police through this new initiative, which will provide women who have experienced violence with greater support and safety options,” said executive director Laurie Hepburn.
“This integrated approach with the placement of a VAW counsellor at the HRPS and support from HMC Connections will help build capacity and capabilities to best serve our community.”
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The VAW worker will also help access volunteer crisis workers who, among them, speak 15 languages. Additionally, HMC Connections would also provide consultation and support in terms of strategies for providing services and supports that are culturally appropriate and address the complexities faced by newcomers to Canada.
“The Halton Regional Police Service believes it is the fundamental right of every person to live free from the threat of violence and to feel safe in our community,” said Deputy Chief Jeff Hill.
“This grant will help expand the reach of our collective efforts to ensure survivors know they are not alone, that support is available, and ultimately help them begin their journey of healing.”
The remaining grant money will be used to provide enhanced intimate partner violence risk assessment training to Halton Women’s Place staff and HMC Connections staff.
Recognizing that victims and survivors of intimate partner violence may have more comfort accessing support through non-police agencies, this training will ensure non-police partners who are dealing directly with survivors of intimate partner violence have access to the same risk assessment tools as police. This training will bolster their ability to identify and mitigate risk for their clients.
“The risk assessment training is going to give our settlement specialists tools to identify people at risk and to make sure they now where and how to reach out for support,” said Kim Jenkinson, executive director of HMC Connections.
“It is critical to get information to people early – they need to know they are not alone and there are people and systems that can help them. Being able to identify people at higher risk will also allow us to customize and tailor the information provided to the cultural needs of the client.”
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