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At the Institute:

A Fond Farewell, and Warm Thanks

Penny Bain

With much regret, I will be leaving the Institute on May 31, 2005, having served as Executive Director since May 1998. During that time I have met and worked with a wide range of amazingly skilled and dedicated people from many disciplines. I wish to acknowledge the fantastic work of the Institute board members, staff, contractors, and volunteers, who have contributed so much to the Institute’s successful activities over the years. I extend particular thanks to Executive Committee members Fran Grunberg, Colleen Varcoe, and George Tien, and staff members Jenny Fry, Marion Wong, Jean Leggett, and Patty Ginn for their extraordinary support during the past year.

I have derived great satisfaction from being part of the Institute’s work over the past seven years. During this time, the Institute has created and implemented many significant educational resources and workshops dedicated to preventing family violence.

These include: violence-prevention material for the Canadian Health Network website; child-discipline materials for English as a Second Language teachers and their students; material on abuse of immigrant women and impact on immigration status; resource material and workshops on family violence and custody and access; a series of fact sheets on the impact of justice and social-services cuts on women leaving abusive relationships; The Person Within video and handbook for caregivers of children with disabilities; a major conference on risk assessment, and other conferences; and a video on sexual assault for police and victim-services workers. The Institute has also assisted in the development of the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services.

At the same time, new directions for the Institute have included: participating in lawreform debates relating to corporal punishment, gun control, violence in video games, changes to the Crown counsel pro-charging policy, and reform of the Divorce Act; participating in policy development within the Ministry of Children and Family Development and Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women’s Services; conducting a study for the Vancouver Richmond Health Board relating to health services for women who experience violence in relationships; conducting a major needs assessment with key stakeholders in order to plan directions for future Institute research and education projects; and participating in policy discussions with the Minister of State for Women’s Equality and Ministry of Children and Family Development.

With the support of both distinguished and emerging researchers such as Dr. Stephen Hart, Dr. Randall Kropp, Shelley Rivkin, Dave Lyon, Dr. Sharon Agar, Kelly Watt, Angela Cameron, Katrina Pacey, and Dr.Tonia Nicholls, the Institute has conducted or sponsored extensive research and literature reviews, including: an evaluation of men’s treatment programs; a literature review and risk assessment tool for cases of criminal harassment; a screening tool for police based on the Spousal Assault Risk Assessment (SARA) tool; a literature review of sentencing patterns in family-violence cases; a core curriculum for BC Corrections and best practices in the treatment of assaultive men; a literature review on assaultive men’s typologies; an examination of the risk of stalking and spousal homicide in a group of federal offenders; improvements to the SVR- 20 sexual-offender risk-assessment tool; a report on police experiences in implementing the BC pro-arrest policy relating to violence against women in relationships; a literature review of issues relating to child custody and access; a literature search and review of Coroner’s files in relation to intimate-partner homicides, including the need for a fatality review process in BC; a study of Children’s Commissioner reports on child-fatality reports in BC related to family violence; a research project on a safety-assessment and planning tool for women who experience violence in relationships; an evaluation of the Correction Service of Canada’s treatment program for abusive men; and a literature review on best practices in serving children exposed to family violence. The Institute has also initiated literature reviews on best practices in serving abused immigrant women and on the impact of family violence on street-involved youth.

Looking to the near future, the Institute has renegotiated its relationship with its key funder, the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) Mental Health Services. In 2005/06, the staff will be reduced to a part-time Executive Director, a part-time project administrator, and a part-time information and referral coordinator. Also for the PHSA, we are planning a series of colloquia on family violence and health. Targeting health-care providers, this series will bring together researchers, policy analysts, and service providers to discuss the latest research on effective interventions to promote prevention of family violence and address its multifaceted health impacts. In addition to publishing this issue of Aware addressing appropriate and innovative responses from the health-care system to the health impacts of family violence, we also plan to develop information bulletins for health-care providers and conduct an extensive literature review on the health impacts of family violence. Finally, Jill Cory and Linda Dechief are developing a health-care provider version of the Aid to Safety Assessment and Planning (ASAP) handbook, with the goal of encouraging health-care managers and service providers to incorporate the latest understandings about the impacts of family violence on health into their policies and practices.

The Institute will also continue facilitating the development of the ASAP handbook for victim-support workers and justice-system workers. Seventeen experienced workers are currently testing the draft manual using case studies. Evaluator Valerie Lannon is preparing a report of their comments and suggestions regarding the usefulness of the content, and the material will also be tested by service providers in other provinces. With the research assistance of Jane Coombe, Linda Light, and Gisella Rubesaat, we have prepared a companion manual on protective measures available for abused women. We are conducting a review of the draft manual with key systems analysts and will be testing the manual with service providers later in the year.

On the horizon, the Institute has received support from the Vancouver Foundation and is seeking additional funding for a project to assist youth from ages 12 to 16 years to understand their rights in cases in which they are victims of child abuse by family members. Along with the BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs and BC/Yukon Society of Transition Houses, the Institute has also received funding from the Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women’s Services to facilitate a policy roundtable regarding family violence.

For my part, I feel privileged to have been a part of this unique organization for the past seven years and look forward to continuing my association with the Institute in other capacities. I will assume part-time duties as Executive Director of the BC Coalition to Eliminate Abuse of Seniors on June 1, 2005, as well as continuing to manage projects on a contract basis. In closing, I wish to say a fond farewell and extend my warmest thanks to all of you whose support has allowed the Institute to continue working toward our ongoing and unwavering goal: to eliminate family violence.

— Penny Bain, LLM