For people experiencing domestic abuse and violence, the effects of the pandemic have been significant. Caring Unlimited’s Outreach Services Coordinator, Eliza, has heard first-hand the myriad ways navigating the pandemic has increased victims’ levels of danger, and their need for comprehensive supportive services.

Eliza oversees CU’s Outreach Program; a team of advocates dedicated to providing individualized support and safety planning to survivors throughout York County, and helping make connections with other community resources. She knows supporting survivors, and preventing domestic violence, takes a community working together to create change.

This is where the Coordinated Community Response (CCR) team comes in. Along with overseeing the Outreach Program, Eliza facilitates this multidisciplinary group. The group includes members of law enforcement, health care providers, justice system professionals, and other service providers and agencies throughout York County. The CCR team meets quarterly throughout the year.

CCR team members come together for education and training and to share resources, all with the goal of working together to build community-wide responses to domestic violence that increase safety for victims and hold those using abusive behavior to account.

Through all the challenges of the pandemic, members of the CCR team have fortified their commitment to working together. “Our relationships are stronger,” Eliza states, “and the better we know one another, the more helpful we can be to survivors.”

Consistent collaboration and communication allows the CCR team to identify specific ways to take action. CCR team members are working to create policies to make ambulance rides free of charge for victims of domestic violence, collaborating to train law enforcement to best respond to cases of non-fatal strangulation, and incorporating programming from specialized experts into their regular activities. It is our mission in action: working together to bring an end to domestic violence.

This Coordinated Community Response piece was featured in our late Summer 2021 Newsletter. Read the full newsletter here.