Learn How to Serve Deaf and Hard of Hearing Victims of Abuse
Did you know that there are more than 220,000 deaf and hard of hearing people living in Utah? Did you know that the rate of abuse in this population is 2 to 3 times higher than those who do not have a hearing loss?

Chances are you will encounter a deaf or hard of hearing victim of abuse. This no-cost in-depth training, presented by advocates of the Sego Lily Center for the Abused Deaf, will give you an overview of the deaf population, teach you about deaf culture and how to obtain and use an interprepter, and give you guidelines for making your services accessible.

sanderson center for the deaf and hard of hearing
5709 south 1500 west
taylorsville, utah
december 1st
8:00am-noon
:information and register

1 in 3: The Results of the "Rape in Utah" Survey
The Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ) will be presenting the results of "Rape in Utah": a Survey of Utah Women about Their Experience with Sexual Violence that was conducted in 2005. This presentation will focus on the results of the confidential telephone survey. Findings include:

• Rape is the only category of violent crime in which Utah's rate exceeds the nation's average.
• Nearly one in three Utah women will experience some form of sexual violence during their lives.
• Child molestation was the most common form of sexual violence reported, followed closely by rape.
• Approximately one in eight women in Utah will be raped sometime during their lifetime.
• Almost ninety percent of victims, experienced their first sexual assault before their 18th birthday.

This is the first study of its kind ever done in Utah and gives the most accurate information we have ever had on rape and sexual assault in our state. Results from this survey provide a better understanding of the extent to which sexually related violence occurs in our state, the impact it has upon victims, and the effectiveness of those who respond to those who have been violated.

sanderson center for the deaf and hard of hearing
5709 south 1500 west
taylorsville, utah
december 7th
1:00pm
:more information

Web Conference: What is Collaboration Math? Enhancing Cross-Sector Partnerships for Preventing Violence Against Women
Presenters: Larry Cohen, Lisa Fujie Parks and Rachel Davis of Prevention Institute
This free training is sponsored by The Violence Against Women Prevention Partnership.
November 10th, noon-1:30pm
:register

Web Seminar: Evaluating Sexual Violence Prevention Education in Schools
This web seminar will focus on how to evaluate sexual violence prevention education in school programs. The speakers will talk about the approaches they have used and the importance of planning for the program goals that will be used during the outcome evalutation.
Presenters: Robert Goodman, University of Pittsburgh; Lori Hart, GaDuGi Safecenter, KS; and Nicole Littler, Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault, MO.
November 16th, 11:00am-1:00pm
:register

Web Forum: Best Practices in Assisting Victims in Indian Country
Presenter: Jo Hally, Founder and Executive Director of Native American Circle, Ltd., a nonprofit corporation established to provide victim advocacy and training to urban and Tribal Nation programs providing services to American Indian/Alaska Native victims of violent crime, including domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. She brings more than twenty years of organizational, administrative, and managerial experience to the field. Mrs. Hally wrote the first edition of NAC’s handbook concerning domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking crimes in Native communities, and she is an outspoken activist for the rights of battered women and speaks at national, regional, and local conferences and seminars. Mrs. Hally is of Choctaw (Chahta)/Cherokee (Tsaligi) descent and is adopted to the Ware family, Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma.
November 16th, 11:00am-1:00pm

Visit the :OVC web forum now to submit questions for Mrs. Hally and return on November 16th at 11 a.m. for the live discussion.

RAINN's Online Hotline: Online Demonstration and Conference Call for Utah
Conference Call Facilitator: Becky Balliet, RAINN National Volunteer Coordinator
November 17th, 11:00am-noon
:register

The Rape and Incest National Network (RAINN) is currently developing the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline, the nation's first secure, web-based hotline, offering live help 24/7. This conference call, coordinated by UCASA, is an opportunity for Utah's rape crisis volunteer coordinators, program staff, and rape crisis volunteers to get a hands on demonstration of the online hotline and an update of the project status. Participants should have access to a computer with internet access in order to participate fully.

The launch of the online hotline is anticipated for early 2006 and because RAINN is relying on local rape crisis centers across the country to staff the hotline, it is important that everyone be involved in the process. This conference call is intended to create an open dialogue around using the online hotline, confidentiality, safety and security, and local community participation.

Childhood Factors Contributing to Adult Revictimization
Conference Call Facilitators: Esther Giller, President, and Elizabeth Vermilyea, Director of Training, Sidran Institute
December 1st, 10:00-11:00am

Mental health professionals and advocates working to treat and prevent family violence are invited to participate in this facilitated conference call. Please register by calling meredith soffrin at 800.343.2823. Participation is limited.

Important Notice to Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Grant Applicants
The process for applying for Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) grant programs has changed this fiscal year. You will no longer be able to apply for OVW discretionary programs via the Grants Management System (GMS). OVW is participating in the e-Government initiative, one of 25 initiatives included in the President’s Management Agenda. Grants.gov, which is part of this initiative, is a “storefront” that provides a unified process for all customers of federal grants to find funding opportunities and apply for funding.

This fiscal year, all OVW grant applicants will be required to submit their applications through Grants.gov. Application attachments submitted through Grants.gov must be in one of the following formats: Microsoft Word (*.doc), PDF (*.pdf), or txt (*.text). OVW encourages all potential grant applicants to visit www.grants.gov as soon as possible, as all applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting applications. If it is your first time registering on Grants.gov, be mindful that registration may take several weeks to complete.

Applicants are able to begin the registration process on Grants.gov before OVW solicitations are released. However, please note that in submitting applications via Grants.gov, applicants must follow the specific guidelines outlined in :OVW solicitations

Send a Message to Congress: Send VAWA to the President to Sign Into Law

On September 28th, the House of Representatives passed the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 as part of the Department of Justice Reauthorization bill (H.R. 3402). On October 4th, the Senate unanimously passed its version of the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 (S. 1197). Now the representatives of each chamber of Congress must meet in a Conference Committee to work out the differences between the two bills.

We're in the home stretch! We need the Senate and House to work out their differences and send a final bill to the President to sign before Congress recesses in the next couple of weeks for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Why do we need the bill completed?

As of now, the existing VAWA programs are funded in the FY 2006 budget (which will fund programs through Sept. 30, 2006). Therefore, we expect money to be available for existing programs in the immediate future. However, that funding may get held up some because federal administrators may be unsure how to distribute that money with VAWA 2005 pending and knowing that the bill would change some aspects of existing programs (e.g., Rural Grants program expansion to include sexual assault, stalking and dating violence). Current programs may be concerned that there will be a gap between funding cycles or that the future of funding is uncertain, and therefore may start cutting back on personnel and programming.

As for FY 2007, the new budget proposals will start coming out in January with the President submitting his FY 2007 budget proposal to Congress in early February. The President's budget, or that of Congress, will not include any new programs or increased funding for programs unless VAWA has already passed. THIS INCLUDES SASA. The money in these initial budget proposals could technically be increased and new line items added in the months that follow if VAWA passes, but it's unlikely to happen because budget caps will mean that any increase in funding in the budget will have to happen at the expense of other programs. None of the new programs in VAWA 2005 will get funding in the current political climate unless the bill passes. Please call and write your Senators and Representative today and ask them to make sure VAWA 2005 is finalized before Thanksgiving. :talking points

Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) :contact
Senator Robert F. Bennett (R-UT) :contact
Representative Rob Bishop (R-01) :contact
Representative James D. Matheson (D-02) :contact
Representative Christopher Cannon (R-03) :contact

UCASA Job Opportunity: Utah Men Against Sexual Violence (UMASV) Program Coordinator
UCASA is seeking men and women to apply for the position of Utah Men Against Sexual Violence (UMASV) Program Coordinator. UCASA places a strong emphasis on diversity and an understanding of the intersection of violence and oppression, and therefore welcomes applicants from all backgrounds and communities. :summary and description

Interim UMASV Program Coordinator
While UCASA allows sufficient time for the UMASV candidate search, UCASA is pleased to announce that we have hired Rebecca Simmons as the Interim UMASV Program Coordinator. Rebecca can be reached directly at rsimmons@ucasa.org

If you would like to be removed from this list, please write to info@ucasa.org

Domestic Violence in Homicide Report Press Conference
utah department of health
288 north 1460 west, rm 101
salt lake city, utah
november 10th
10:30am

1 in 3: the results of the "rape in utah" report
sanderson center for the deaf and hard of hearing
5709 south 1500 west
taylorsville, utah
december 7th
1:00pm
:more information

rape recovery center
salt lake city, utah
january 10th, 12th, 17th, 19th, 24th and 26th, 5:30-9:30pm, january 14 and 21st, 9am-6pm
:more information :register

dvsava
tooele, utah
february 7th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 21st and 23rd, 5:00-9:00pm, february 11th and 18th, 8am-5pm
:more information :register

ycc
ogden, utah
march 7th, 9th, 14th, 16th, 21st and 23rd, 5:00-9:00pm, february 11th and 18th, 8am-5pm
:more information :register

ucasa trainings meet the continuing education requirements for social work.

family advocacy training: how to help your loved one in a nursing or care facility
disability law center
205 north 400 west
salt lake city, utah
november 10th, 5:00pm
:more information

how to serve deaf and hard of heaing victims of abuse
sanderson center for the deaf and hard of hearing
5709 south 1500 west
taylorsville, utah
december 1st
8:00am-noon
:information and register