WFA Grantee Spotlight: King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence (KCCADV)
Mobilizing the Domestic Violence Community
Domestic violence is a pervasive reality in the lives of many women in our community. We know that this kind of violence impacts every aspect of a woman’s health, economic and overall well-being. As such, it is critical that providers serving survivors are coordinated in their understanding of the impacts of domestic violence and how to best serve these women. Fortunately one of WFA’s grantees, The King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence is working diligently to mobilize and coordinate across the many service providers, advocates and community leaders working to serve survivors and improve our community’s response to domestic violence.
As a result of their cross-sector engagement efforts, KCCADV has help accomplish significant gains in the fight against domestic violence. When service providers were faced with imminent state and county budget cuts, hundreds were mobilized to contact elected officials and attend hearings to stress the importance of maintaining funding. In addition to preserving millions in state and county funding, a comprehensive bill was passed that increased protection for survivors getting protection orders, and enhanced penalties for domestic violence offenders.
KCCADV has worked to increase awareness, knowledge and coordination between domestic violence and mental health agencies. Through the development of training and best practice materials, KCCADV has improved coordination of services across agencies and equipped these agencies to better serve violence survivors. Further, KCCADV has successfully aimed their efforts to help achieve more effective coordination between domestic violence advocates and defense attorneys who work with survivors.
Finally, by engaging community members through outreach and activism, KCCADV has helped to increase community awareness about the issue of domestic violence. Thousands of individuals now know where survivors can get help, how they can support loved ones who are experiencing domestic violence and actions they can take to help end domestic violence in our community.
WFA funding is a vital source of support for the niche work of KCCADV. Merril Cousin, their Executive Director shares that, “WFA funding has been especially important to us, as it is dedicated to our advocacy and awareness efforts rather than to a specific project. We are the only agency in King County that currently has the capacity to focus a substantial portion of its resources on developing and improving domestic violence policies and practices through systems advocacy, community mobilization, collaboration and community education. WFA funding supports this work.”
