South Valley Sanctuary employs three family case managers.  Their job  is to work one on one with all the clients that enter our shelter.  They provide support, resources and outside referrals for help to men, women and children that are victims of domestic violence.

Every adult that comes into shelter meets with a family case manager within 48 hours of their arrival to create an action and a safety plan. Their action plan involves helping them set up a road map of all the items they need to complete in order to gain self sufficiency or to achieve a better relationship either with the abuser or with future partners. Each resident comes up with what they think they need depending on their situation and the family case manager’s job is to help them see the big picture and to locate resources to achieve such goals. Since domestic violence involves deep emotional abuse it is really difficult for a victim to be able to always come up with long term plans, therefore our strategy is to create weekly plans and that way equip all residents with the skills of long term planning.

For the Calendar Year 2012 South Valley Sanctuary:

• South Valley Sanctuary provided shelter to 285 men, women and children who are victims of domestic violence out of which (131) were children, 147 were women and 7 were men.
• 45% of victims in shelter were children.
• 89% of residents leaving shelter reported moving to transitional or stable housing.
• 20 % reported moving to a new living arrangement, 3% reported returning to abuser, 5% left shelter for a housing opportunity, 34% applied for a protective order.
• 100% of residents leaving the shelter were connected to employment or educational resources.
• Regarding children: 35% of parents served in shelter had legal custody, 12% petitioned for legal custody, 1% gained legal custody while in shelter (male resident)

In an effort to improve quality in shelter services each client has the right to fill out an anonymous family case manager service evaluation. All the information obtained on each evaluation is reported to the Executive Director every month.

The survey includes the following questions:

1 Was it helpful meeting with your case manager?

2 Was it helpful setting up goals and talking about safety plan with your case manager?

3 Did your case manager provide you information or referrals for people or agencies that can help you and your family?

4  Were you treated with respect by your case manager?

5  Do you feel your stay here affected you in a positive manner?  If yes, How ….

6 Other Comments or Suggestions

Here are some comments provided by clients while evaluating services provided by the family case management team:

• “My case manager helped me to feel more secure and  to be more independent”
• “I learned to value and respect myself, to be positive and achieve my goals”
• “ I feel very safe with my son and I better understand how to set up goals for myself that will benefit myself and my son”
• “I’m very grateful for the help to become a better person and no longer allow any abuse”
• “ I received support and encouragement”
• “All the help and referrals have lifted my confidence and all the staff have been great”

Thank you to our Family Case Managers we appreciate all you do!