Violence Against Women Act

In its role as coalition builder, KASAP staff has been meeting with other victim serving agencies and allies since fall of 2004 to discuss the problem of violence against women in Kentucky in light of increasing need for services and shrinking resources. Agencies included in these discussions, which have been facilitated by the University of Kentucky College of Social Work Training Resource Center, are the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services Division of Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Services and the Department for Community Based Services, the Department for Public Health, Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky, the Kentucky Child Advocacy Centers and KASAP. Over the course of several meetings it was decided that a strategic planning process was the method needed to determine the direction the state should take in developing a comprehensive system of intervention that would address all areas of violence against women. The first step in a well thought out planning process is to gather and collate data that highlights the scope of the problem and contributing factors. To that end, the group began to look at data in only one region of Kentucky to get a feel for what we would find when the planning process was begun. As the group sifted through the data, it became clear that the sheer breadth of the problem and the overwhelming number of factors that influence a community when grappling with a problem this size would require some method of organizing the data in a way that would provide a clearer understanding of the variables and how they relate to each other. For this purpose the group requested that Dr. Patty Cook of the University College of Social Work perform a social network analysis using the data already gathered in one region for use as a template for the statewide strategic plan. A social network analysis will provide a map that will ascertain at a glance how existing victim serving networks are related, how well they are meeting their service goals, and where improvements are needed. The analysis of this data is intended for use as an example by the 15 regional planning teams who will be the writers of the statewide plan, and as such is a one-time project.