$25,000 Grant Helps 1st Responders Working With Domestic Violence Victims

The Family Safety Center earned a $25,000 grant from Aetna to help first responders and health professionals working with domestic violence victims in Tulsa County. The funding will help improve training agencies including staff at EMSA and area hospitals.

Family Safety Center Director of Programs Janine Collier says some staff may have limited knowledge of response efforts needed in domestic violence situations. A major focus of the training will be on how to help them respond to victims dealing with strangulation or traumatic brain injuries.

Collier says when area police departments started giving additional training on this curriculum it made a difference for victims.

“I think reaching out to the first responders and getting them trained and helping them address domestic violence victims is going to get our community safer. It’s going to assist workers in getting more gratification out of their job because maybe they may not know what they can and cannot do,” Collier said .

Collier added that the Family Safety Center wants to continue meeting the demand for domestic violence victims in the community. Her agency and other partners have faced challenges in operating since the pandemic with some people not taking advantage of their services.

“We are trying to get reconnected and trying to have meetings face to face again and just get back out there where we can be at the level to accommodate the numbers that are rising,” Janine Collier, Family Safety Center Director of Programs, said.

Last year the agency served about 4,000 people and prior to the pandemic, they worked with more than 7,000.