A unified front on domestic violence
It takes a coordinated effort to help people who’ve suffered from domestic violence reach a place of safety and new hope. Now a major Western New York summit with strong UB Law ties will help providers work together to ensure that no one at risk goes unaided.
The summit, to be held Tuesday, October 15 at Buffalo State University, will bring together advocates, service providers and domestic violence survivors in a day-long gathering. It’s sponsored by the law school’s Family Violence and Women’s Rights Clinic; Child and Family Services of Erie County; and Buffalo State’s Social Work Department. Attendance is free; register online by Oct. 1.
Clinical Professor Judith Olin ’85, who directs the UB Law clinic, says the summit has been in the works for more than a year. “We created a working group to plan a community training which would help us understand systemic obstacles and barriers faced by survivors of family violence as explained by local community experts,” Olin says. “We hope to strengthen our community’s collaboration and create an improved systemic response to family violence.”
County Legislator Jeanne Vinal ’89 secured funding for the Family Violence and Women’s Rights Clinic that will support the summit, being held in October in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Associate Professor Jessica Fitzpatrick ’13, who teaches in the Social Work Department at the host university, says, “The summit will bring together survivors, service providers, students and community members to raise awareness about barriers facing victims of interpersonal violence (IPV) here in Erie County. These collaborative conversations demonstrate the progress that our community has made in addressing IPV while also acknowledging the work that needs to continue to ensure safety, coordination of care, and access to services are available to anyone experiencing IPV in our community.”
Other UB Law alumni who are scheduled to take part include:
- In a panel on cultural sensitivity in serving DV survivors, Kaitlyn Lauber ’21.
- In a panel on available resources: Tiffany Pavone ’02, Diana Proske ’03 and Sharon Nosenchuck ’94.
- And in a panel on legal resources: Olin, Michelle Roy ’16, Gina Gramaglia ’16 and Lori Roman ’11.
Event Details
October 15, 2024
8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Buffalo State University
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Eligible attendees may earn up to 3.0 NYS CLE credits. The Summit is free to attend, lunch is included. Register to Attend.
DV Summit Awards: We ask that each person registering strongly consider including a nomination for at least one award. You are welcome to include nominations for multiple awards. Submit your nominations.
Questions? Please contact law-dv-summit@buffalo.edu.
(left to right) Judith G. Olin '85 and Tiffany M. Pavone '02 at the 30th Anniversary Conference for the Family Violence and Women’s Rights Clinic, held in 2022.
Pavone, director of victim services for Child and Family Services-Haven House, says the overall objective is to ensure that the various entities providing help to the targets of domestic violence know each other, know what services they provide, and know where to refer clients with specific needs. That’s the goal, she says, of the first item on the day’s agenda, an experiential exercise in which participants take on the role of a person needing services, faced with figuring out where to find help.
“Depending on where you are in the continuum of care, you may not realize the full spectrum of what victims have to deal with,” Pavone says. “From human services to the legal field to law enforcement, it’s all very different. We also hope to raise awareness of barriers that still exist.”
As well, the planned panel on cultural competency is designed to sensitize attendees to specific needs and complications for a broad spectrum of people, from members of immigrant and ethnic populations to deaf or disabled individuals. “There are still a lot of communities and populations that are underserved because traditional services haven’t been fully available to them,” Pavone says. “We are a very diverse community, and we want to make sure every survivor can access those services.”
Practicing lawyers, she points out, often will encounter clients who are embroiled in intimate partner violence. “Regardless of why you may be representing an individual, your client may be experiencing domestic violence,” she says. “It can be such a dangerous situation, and lawyers should understand how domestic violence, and the trauma of it, can impact a person’s ability to interact with others, even with their attorney.”