People experiencing homelessness face repeated violence and stress from a lack of safety. They often engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as substance use, to cope.
A comprehensive strategy to reduce exposure to violence for people who are unhoused can reduce violence in the community as a whole, reduce public spending on emergency medical and other services and increase the chances that individuals can transition off the streets.
A program run by Monarch Services, a domestic violence intervention and prevention agency in Santa Cruz County, aims to help people responsible for domestic violence change their behavior patterns.
Called Positive Solutions, it encourages participants to tune into their emotions, practice nonviolent communication skills and identify negative childhood experiences that may have led them to express emotions in a violent way.
Because no one had talked with me as a teen about what a real, healthy relationship looks like, I didn’t know what to do when my boyfriend became abusive.
I eventually escaped and have spent the last several years healing. But I want to help others avoid what I went through, including preteens and teens who are just beginning to explore relationships.
California’s education system needs more social, emotional and sexual health education that recognizes the racial and gender identities of young people. Prevention programs can meet this need.
California’s legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom should include $15 million in ongoing funding in the state budget. By combining prevention and intervention funding, we can address the needs of survivors of violence and also prevent future violence.
Hospital stays for victims can run hours to months but during that time the caseworkers—who often come from the same neighborhoods as their clients—listen, talk and link them to assistance.