MPH 599 Public Health Practicum

Family Crisis Center of Johnson County

660 CR 903, Cleburne, TX 76033

DeAnne Derrick

Brook Vaungh

by

Sonia Donaires

Concordia University

August, 2016

Abstract

My practicum experience in the Family Crisis Center is a reflection of the knowledge

acquired during my studies of my degree of Master of Public Health. The Family Crisis Center is

a non-profit organization funded by federal grants. The Center provides primary prevention to

residents of the shelter about domestic violence and sexual assault. Also provides services as free

counseling and Domestic Violence (DV), Parenting, and Stress Management to people of the

community of Johnson County. The main objective is to provide right resources and support to

the residents of the shelter to break the cycle of domestic violence to ensure future healthy

relationship and the well being of their children. The shelter helps to residents to build an

independent life and have the opportunity to return to the society as competence citizenships.

The project proposed was to provide assistance through spiritual support. The short term of my

work at the Center was a barrier to accomplish objectives proposed. I will continue volunteering

during the year 2016 reach objectives.

Key word: shelter, domestic violence, sexual assault

Introduction

The Family Crisis Center of Johnson County is integrated by ten cities (Cleburne,

Alvarado, Joshua, Godley, Grandview, Keene, Rio Vista, Cross Timber, Briaroaks and Coyote

Flats) in Texas. It is a non-profit organization founded by volunteers that used their personal

resources to implement services and programs to provide intervention to victims of Domestic

Violence (DV). The services and programs provided are:

24 Hour Family violence and sexual assault Hotline

Emergency shelter for qualifying victims,

Individual, Family, and Group support

Information and referrals

Community Education Program and Prevention

Free Counseling for Adults and Children

Job search assistance

Emergency Clothing and toiletries

Electric, Gas and telephone waivers

Fundraising

Food for shelter clients

Shelter client transportation: job search and medical treatment.

Advocacy: victims, hospital, legal, and bilingual

Free classes: Parenting, Domestic Violence, and Stress Management.

The mission of the Johnson County Family Crisis Center is "to be the expert resource and

service provider in eliminating domestic and sexual violence in Johnson County, Texas. It is our

belief that healthy relationships are based on respect, trust, support, honesty and accountability.

They reinforce our inherent equality as people and empower us to make nonviolent choices. We

all have the choice and responsibility to learn and master the skills of healthy relationships"

(Family Crisis Center, 2016). Through educational programs, the agency encourages active

community participation in reforming the conditions and perceptions that perpetuate family

violence and sexual assault. The Family Crisis Center's vision is to take the leadership in the

Johnson County community and take action to empower survivors to take ownership of their

roles, their rights, and their well-being. The Center's goals are a reflection of the priorities of the

public health. The Center provides primary prevention to the victims of DV to improve the

lifestyle of individuals of the community. The objectives of the agency are to inform, educate,

empower people of the health issues on the environment, and mobilize community partnership.

The scope of my project is to contribute advocating the development and implementation

of prevention programs about Domestic Violence, Parenting, and Stress Management classes to

the community of Johnson County and other cities. The objective of my project is to promote

spiritual support to the residents of the shelter by offering group prayers and Bible devotionals to

make aware that by faith in God can we improve our emotional instabilities and through prayer

release their concerns, uncertainties, and hopelessness. The project also will be expanded during

the 2016 school year at the Santa Fe Elementary School. I will design a PowerPoint presentation

in which I will incorporate parenting classes and school tips that promote a better relationship

between parents and children. This presentation will be developed in both languages English and

Spanish. The target population will be parents with children with low cognitive development

and behavior problems to awareness educate and inform the ways to improve their mental health

and promote academic and emotional improvements in children.

Funding resources are provided through donations from diverse organizations from the

community such as Wal-Mart, HEB, Dollar General, Kroger, Walgreens, etc. for food and

clothes. Federal funding through HHSC(DHS) Residential Contract, OAG Federal and State

Sexual Assault Contracts, VOCA Victims of Crime Acts, Unite Way, and Johnson County

Commissioners Court, and other local and philanthropic organizations (Family Crisis Center,

2016).

My responsibilities related to services provided to the shelter were:

Information and referrals

Emergency clothing and toiletries

Food for shelter clients

Shelter client transportation (job, job search and medical treatment)

Visiting and participating with the supervisor to contact various local organizations such

as the Coalition Meeting of Health Care, jail, School Supply Committee of Johnson

County, etc.

Answer the crisis hotline and document all phone calls

Admit residents to the shelter

Apply admission criteria intake procedures, including all intake forms and associated

paperwork for the adult client and every child client and participates with staff in

assignments of emotional needs of newly admitted families.

Responsible for documenting all services for every resident (Adult and child) in the

resident folder

Perform orientation for all newly admitted residents

Locks up all client medication (prescription and over the counter) in the staff office.

Documents on medication log and has client sign log when clients take medication.

Interacts with other volunteers and helps orient them to shelter policies and procedures as

needed.

Inform the case manager and the program director of any problem or incidents that

involve clients.

Responsibilities related to my project:

Community Education Programs and Prevention

Primary prevention through classes of DV and Parenting and Stress Management

Outreaching parents’ Spanish speakers in elementary school to provide parenting classes

to improve the relationship with their children.

Individual, Family, and Group support

Attending Class: Parenting, Domestic Violence, and Stress Management

Perform crisis intervention

Provide psycho-educational groups with clients

Discussion

My role in the project was to provide support to parents and children, individual, and

group. The contact with the clients was a key to assist victims of domestic violence and sexual

assault to guide through spiritual support to overcome their struggles. Every contact with clients

needed to be documented in an individual folder file to avoid misunderstanding and for legal

purposes.

I attended and participate in discussion groups during the sessions of Domestic Violence,

Parenting, and Stress Management classes with non-residents. These classes made me realized

that there was an urgency to be in contact with clients and children, to provide support and help

them to increase self-esteem. With these programs, residents and non-residents are informed

about the services available in the shelter. Victims of domestic violence find in the shelter a safe

place to live temporarily and to build stable and independent lives. Residents that feel that does

not need any support are invited to participate in a prayer group provided by volunteers or interns

that foster Bible devotionals.

The programs offered to the churches, schools, and jails had the purpose to awareness

people and prevent future cases of domestic violence by educating and identifying the risk factor

of DV and to empower healthy relationships. Also, the Center provides classes for those non-

residents suspected of domestic violence or child abuse that are mandated by the court to attend

to six sessions of classes and receive counseling to improve a better relationship with their

children.

Clients living in the shelter must have a weekly goal sheet. This is a living document of

their plan (to how to get a job, child support, continue education, etc.) that needs to be

accomplished or improved to stay, leave, or exit out from the shelter. The goal settings are

essential for the clients to live the shelter. Residents that do not show any improvements or show

an inappropriate behavior are exit out (forced to leave) from the shelter within 24 hours.

As a teacher and inter of Public Health, one of my roles was to addresses physical and

emotional needs of children through diverse fun activities to help them to release their stress. In

small groups, I helped them to learn elements of healthy relationships. The two ways that I used

to address working with children was play therapy and art therapy. With the play therapy, the

objective was to let children express themselves through the use of play and toys. I use art

supplies to make crafts and origami to release their stress of the day. Providing safe and

understanding environment help children to encourage emotional expression and acceptance of

self. And, Art therapy provides a safe environment for children to express their ideas through

imagery. It is a process that fosters changes attitude through self-awareness, problem-solving and

personal growth (Family Crisis Center, 2016).

Community awareness is another objective of the shelter through presentations,

conferences, fairs, meetings, and fundraising. The meetings at which I participated as a

representative of the Center along with my supervisors was to inform to the community about the

mission and vision of the shelter as part of their leadership in the community. These actions have

the purpose to acknowledge people about the Family Crisis Center in Johnson County, the

services provided, and to find potential contributors. The meetings attended were:

Legal aid of Johnson County

Child Protective Service (CPS)

Coalition Meeting of Johnson County

Mental health Community Connection of Johnson County

Apple Coalition

Operation Backpack

Christian Lodge meeting

Domestic Violence conference at Police Station of the city of Venus

Senior Citizens: Silver Sneakers

Jail of Johnson County

Republican Women conference

Barrios that the project faced were the rejection of children to participate in the activities.

Most of the time, they were busy playing video games and sleeping late causes for which I could

not reach them. I schedule for some weekends that also did not work because were recreations

days. Residents denied participate in the group support or always have something to do. I

schedule different times and dates and to reschedule again because the no disposition of Clients

to participate. The attendance of clients to group support was not consistent because by the time

I came back for the next session some of them already left the shelter already. So, I realized that

the presentations should be one hour of meaningful reflection without consecutive topics.

Personal Assessment

The Family Crisis Center has a significant role in the community; the success is depicted

by a positive change of lifestyle and successful stories of the survivor of domestic violence. But,

it lacks a consistent support of children on a daily basis. Children are a vulnerable population in a

community and should be protected in any environment. To my point of view, children do not

have an appropriate intervention in the shelter; their focus is on the victims of DV. Children

should have the urgency to receive primary prevention as a way to protect them from future

actions that might lead to becoming in future suicidal. Parents are indifferent to the emotional

status of their children. They believe that children are not affected by their problems. There are

chronic cases of teens that are transferred to a mental health facility. The shelter should provide

a mandatory intervention for children with psychologist specialist to treat children.

Another relevant point I considered was counseling for the residents of the Center.

Counseling is optional service for the victims living in the shelter. Victims that arrive at the

refuge in many cases come with an emotional crisis that should be treated immediately.

Providing all the physical needs such as food, clothes, and shelter to the victims of domestic

violence will not comply to break the cycle of domestic violence and a real emotional healing.

Apparently, it opposed to the Centers primary objective. In many cases, victims of DV end it up

going back to their homes and continue with the cycle of domestic violence. Then, after a while

returning again to the shelter with a more aggravated situation that before. This time the most

affected are children whose lives are ruined that later on becoming in delinquents and continue

the cycle of domestic violence in our society. I believe that a shelter should intervene the victims

in a holistic way.

Additionally, I see very contradictory the no counseling policy to those non-profit

organizations that receive grants from the government to continue with their intervention. It 's

hard to understand why the government does not allow mandatory counseling as a requirement to

live in the shelter. This will give more support and empower the victims of DV to have a healthy

relationship after leaving the refuge.

Finally, there is no way that the Center be sure that the eligible victims are honest

informing about a real event of DV or only lie to live in the shelter for a period of time and leave

to go another shelter and so on. The shelter provides to all of them disregarding truth or lie. I

think, The Center should find a tool to measure the honesty of people that solicit to enter to the

shelter.

My practicum experience has contributed to an understanding of the use of some public

health principles about the Public Health and community outreach victims of DV in the

community of Johnson County. I could see in a real world experience the use of some tools of

the public health. The Family Crisis Center is an organization that advocates for victims of

domestic violence and sexual assault. Their leadership in the community is an aspect that assures

their commitment with individuals of a community to prevent and intervene women with an

emotional and financial crisis caused by the abusers. As part of the field of public health, this

non-profit organization develops programs that protect the health of individual, families and

communities in the Johnson County. Using diverse programs and services such as Domestic

Violence, Parenting, and Management stress classes, counseling, group support and spiritual

support that expect changes on behavior breaking the cycle of domestic violence.

The Family Crisis Center is an organization that assumes leadership roles as members of

a Coalition Committee of health care teams (legal aid, coalition meeting of Johnson County,

mental health coalition of Johnson County, etc.) in the community. Also, implement and evaluate

effective public health initiatives, create and analyze programs in the context of the community

they serve, taking into account cultural, social, economic, ethical and legal issues.

The learning outcomes that matched the practicum experience were the number 1:

Articulate strategies in the fundamental domains of public health to protect and promote the

health of individuals, communities, and churches. And the number 3: Implement a public health

program that reflects communication, leadership and advocacy skills. These outcomes are a

reflection of the community health organization in the community of Johnson County in Texas.

Networking, collaboration, and support with the other agencies such as shelters, schools, clubs,

churches, police station, jails, etc. were crucial to working for the well-being of the individuals

and ensures the existence of the Center. The contact of the main leaders was another essential

factor in determining the success not only of the Center, also of all other non-profit and profit

organizations.

Conclusions and recommendations

The primary objective of the shelter is to eliminate domestic violence through a variety of

programs and services to the residents of the shelter and individuals of the community.

Counseling is an optional program for the residents of the shelter because of federal funding

policy. Counseling for Children is also optional that can only be requested by parents.

Participation in support groups, prayer groups, and Bible devotionals are all optional. The short

term as an intern at the Family Crisis Center was one barrier that impeded to complete and and

accomplished the objectives. The spiritual support is critical to provide a holistic emotional

healing and lead to a healthy relationships to be integrated into the society as citizenships ready

to build independence and improve their emotional stability. Breaking the cycle of domestic

violence is essential to improve residents’ well being. In this project, the spiritual support to the

clients was inconsistent because of the unavailability of residents of the shelter.

Lastly, the spiritual support is and ongoing project that will continue during 2016. I will

keep serving to the Center as a volunteer and advocator of domestic violence and sexual assault

in the community. My target audience will be selected from one school and one church. Also, I

will develop parenting classes for parents at Santa Fe Elementary School And at Irving "El

Mensaje de los Tres Angeles” church. This project will be a personal accomplishment that I will

report in my portfolio later on for future references.

References

Family Crisis Center Johnson County. (2016). Who we are. Retrieved from

http://www.familycrisisjc.org/about/

Family Crisis Center. (2016). Counseling. Retrieved from http://www.family-crisis-

center.org/counseling.php

Appendices

The following are included in this appendix:

1. Certificate of completion of Stress Management Seminar

2. Certificate of completion of Domestic Violence

3. The Shelter Qualifying Form used in the intakes

4. Weekly Sheet Goals of Clients used in the meetings

5. The Evaluation link to see the Form completed for my supervisor

EvaluationMasters of Public Health Practicum Evaluation Form: file:///Users/soniadonaires/Downloads/image2016-08-15-055653.pdf

Click on the link to see the all evaluation.