Transitional Housing for Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence: a 2014-15 Snapshot
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Transitional Housing for Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence: A 2014-15 Snapshot Chapter 5: Program Staffing Fred Berman, Principal Author Submitted to: Sharon Elliott, Program Manager Office on Violence Against Women United States Department of Justice This project was supported by Grant No. 2012-TA-AX-K003 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. DECEMBER 30, 2016 (URLs Updated Spring 2018) Chapter 5: Program Staffing Table of Contents Chapter 5: Program Staffing .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................................. 4 Note about the Use of Gendered Pronouns and Other Sensitive Terms ............................................................................ 5 1. Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 6 2. Program Staffing Levels and Positions ........................................................................................................................ 9 (a) Central Role of the Advocate / Case Manager ................................................................................................... 9 (b) Program Variation .............................................................................................................................................. 9 (c) Statistical Snapshot of Program Staffing.......................................................................................................... 11 (d) Provider Comments about Overall Staffing Levels and Positions .................................................................... 12 3. Promoting Continuity of Care - Overlap in Shelter and TH Program Staffing........................................................... 16 (a) Overview .......................................................................................................................................................... 16 (b) Provider Comments about Overlap in Shelter and TH Program Staffing ......................................................... 17 4. What Providers Look for -- and Look Out for -- When Hiring Staff ........................................................................... 19 (a) Overview .......................................................................................................................................................... 19 (b) Provider Comments about Hiring Staff ............................................................................................................ 20 5. The Pros and Cons of Hiring Staff who Are Survivors of Domestic/Sexual Violence ................................................ 22 (a) Overview .......................................................................................................................................................... 22 (b) Provider Comments about Hiring Staff Who Are Survivors ............................................................................. 23 6. The Pros and Cons of Having a Clinician on Staff ..................................................................................................... 26 (a) Overview .......................................................................................................................................................... 26 (b) Provider Comments on Including a Clinician on Staff ...................................................................................... 27 7. Staffing for Children's Services ................................................................................................................................. 31 (a) Overview .......................................................................................................................................................... 31 (b) Provider Comments on Including Child-Focus Staff and Offering Children's Services ..................................... 33 8. Staff Diversity ........................................................................................................................................................... 39 (a) Overview Part 1: Diversity of Survivors in OVW Grant-Funded TH Program Units ......................................... 39 (b) Overview Part 2: Staff Diversity of TH Program Providers ............................................................................... 40 (c) Provider Comments on Staff Diversity ............................................................................................................. 40 9. Staff Training ............................................................................................................................................................ 43 (a) Overview of Resources and Current Training Practices ................................................................................... 43 (b) Provider Comments on Staff Training .............................................................................................................. 45 10. Support, Supervision, and Minimizing Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) ...................................... 49 (a) Overview .......................................................................................................................................................... 49 (b) Three Perspectives on Supervision .................................................................................................................. 51 (c) Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) and Staff Self-Care ..................................................................................... 54 (d) Staff Safety ....................................................................................................................................................... 59 (e) Provider Comments on Staff Supervision/Support and Preventing/Avoiding STS or Burnout ........................ 59 11. Roles for Volunteers ............................................................................................................................................. 65 (a) Overview .......................................................................................................................................................... 65 (b) Provider Comments on the Use of Volunteers ................................................................................................ 66 12. Volunteer Screening, Training, and Support ........................................................................................................ 69 (a) Overview .......................................................................................................................................................... 69 (b) Provider Comments on Volunteer Screening, Training, and Support .............................................................. 70 13. Appendix A: Project Description and Methodology ............................................................................................. 72 (a) Project Description: Summary ......................................................................................................................... 72 (b) Project Description: Overall Approach ............................................................................................................ 74 (c) Project Methodology: Collection and Analysis of Data from Provider Interviews .......................................... 76 14. References............................................................................................................................................................ 78 American Institutes for Research / National Center on Family Homelessness Transitional Housing for Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence: A 2014-15 Snapshot Chapter 5: Program Staffing - Page 4 Acknowledgements This project would not have been possible without the valuable contributions of the dedicated provider staff who shared their experience and insights, and whose comments inform these chapters, nor would it have been possible without all of the research, advocacy, and creative energy of all of the practitioners whose publications and online resources we learned from and cited. Special thanks also go to the following people and organizations for their help: • The Office on Violence Against Women for their funding support, and our project officer, Sharon Elliott, in particular, for her ongoing encouragement and support as this project evolved, and for her dedicated commitment to the life-changing work that the OVW's transitional housing grants make possible; • Ronit Barkai (Transition House), Dr. Lisa Goodman (Boston College), and Leslie Payne (Care Lodge) for their contributions as members of the Project Advisory Team, including feedback that informed the development of the interview protocols, and insightful observations shared over the course of the dozen- plus team meetings during which we reviewed and analyzed topical compilations of provider comments; • Dr. Cris Sullivan (Michigan State University) and Anna Melbin (Full Frame Initiative)