creating hope, healing lives, changing community
We invest in what people in the field of prevention call "primary prevention" programs, we implement programs that target the root causes of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse. There is a strong and growing evidence base that tells us we can stop violence, before it happens. We work to change the cultural norms associated with violence and abuse by providing primary prevention education and advocacy. Educating the community is a big part of the solution with the goal of building awareness for prevention and advocacy
- Speakers available upon request to talk with groups, organizations and business
- Domestic Violence Intervention Program
- Lethality Assessment Program (LAP)
- Second Step
- Darkness to Light
- Court Advocacy Trainings
Safelight is working hard with our local law enforcement to link survivors to our supportive resources even faster including our partners with Fletcher Police Department, Hendersonville Police Department, Laurel Park Police Department, and the Henderson County Sheriff's Department. We are together bringing the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) through the North Carolina Department of Justice and into Henderson County in 2022.
The Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) is an evidenced based model (out of Maryland) supported by the U.S. Department of Justice to provide a standard of practice to reduce intimate partner homicide, increase victim safety and enhances collaboration in our community. The purpose is to save lives by connecting victims to lifesaving community-based services, hold abuser accountable and create awareness of lethality factors for victims in our community. The first responding law enforcement officer immediately connects the victim to the local domestic violence service provider (Safelight) for emergency safety planning and enhanced service provision. This helps Safelight to respond, assess and connect survivors to our advocates with resources for our programs and services.
Safelight is also providing law enforcement with stuffed black bears to keep in their vehicles to give out to children who have experienced or witnessed domestic/interpersonal violence or abuse.
Safelight's DVIP is one of 42 in North Carolina and started in 2013. DVIP is a Prevention Education opportunity for men and women to work with a trained facilitator in a 26 week program for offenders to understand their behaviors.
This is not a focus on anger management, but more the larger issues of power and control. This is a major piece in the efforts to break the cycle of abuse for the victims of domestic violence.
Women and men groups meet separately and it is a paid program. Facilitators provide education and resources to domestic violence offenders to help in the development of skills necessary to effectively communicate and interact with loved ones through nonviolence.
Success Story
Ronald is a 21 year-old male who was court ordered to DVIP due to domestic violence and toxic/abusive behaviors towards the mother of his children. This is Ronald's second time starting the program, as he was previously dismissed due to non-compliance with payment requirements.
Since restarting the program, he has been more aware of making his payments in a timely manner, and communicates with facilitators if he may be late on a payment. During intake and case management sessions, he discussed his history of mental health issues and requested referral for mental health services in additional to DVIP group.
The co-facilitators have stated that he is genuinely working on making positive changes with his behaviors and co-parenting efforts, and continues to provide insight and awareness of his abusive behaviors with the mother of his children. He is on target to complete the course.
Working together as a community, we can protect children and keep them safe from abuse. The Second Step Child Protection Unit for Early Learning through Grade 5 provides a multi-layered approach to child safety. A universal, school-based social-emotional learning program aimed at reducing violence and encouraging academic success among middle school students. It has been shown to reduce physical aggression in middle school youth within a one-year period and was rated as "Effective" in multiple studies. The program is shown to improve students' sense of belonging across the middle school years, and that sense of belonging was then related to lower rates of certain negative outcomes in high school—specifically bullying perpetration and victimization, sexual harassment victimization, homophobic teasing perpetration and victimization, and cyberbullying victimization. Thus, while the program did not directly impact high school outcomes by itself, it did improve sense of belonging during middle school, which subsequently was linked to reduced negative outcomes in high school.
- A social-emotional learning program that teaches various social and emotional skills:
- bullying prevention
- emotion recognition and management
- empathy
- goal-setting
- problem solving
- Unit 1: Ways to Stay Safe
- Unit 2: The Always Ask First Rule
- Unit 3: Safe and Unsafe Touches
- Unit 4: The Touching Rule
- Unit 5: Practicing Staying Safe
- Unit 6: Reviewing Safety Skills
The program is 16 weeks long with one session per week lasting about 20 minutes or 6 weeks long with 1 session per day lasting 5-10 minutes. The sessions are built in to the child's day in their classroom.
Darkness to Light offers training that specializes in the education and prevention of child sexual abuse, other forms of abuse, and mandated reporting. Stewards of Children ®, our flagship program, teaches adults how to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. We understand that adult learners come to us with diverse personal and professionals experiences, as well as other, often competing life obligations that can make it difficult to dedicate time to learning. The training is built to acknowledge and respond to these realities. To increase engagement and the potential for behavior change, we enrich learning by incorporating reflection and discussion opportunities, granting learners the opportunity to apply prior knowledge and consider the positive impacts of prevention.
- Who uses Darkness to Light training?
- Adults working or volunteering in youth serving organizations
- Any concerned adult looking to protect children
- Businesses for employee wellness programs
- Educators, guidance counselors, and other mental health and healthcare professionals
- Parents and caregivers
“I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation and believe that our teens left with a greater understanding of consent, respect, and the law. It was very relevant and timely for our teen group. We were happy to see the teen's interaction with your presentation. I look forward to working with you again.”
Bonnie Gibson, Program Director
Boys & Girls Club of Henderson County
Below Links a 4 part training series recorded in 2021 on Zoom for anyone doing legal advocacy in Henderson and Transylvania Counties to increase the knowledge of court-based, court-related, and court-appointed personnel on the needs of survivors and improve survivors' experiences in the court system.
Completed Panels
August 19, 2021
Panel 1: History of Survivor Services in our Community and Where We Are Headed Next
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September 16,2021
Panel 2: Building a Trauma-Informed Network Serving Survivors
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October 7, 2021
Panel 3: Coordinated Community Response: Linking and Using our Communities' Resources to Help Survivors
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November 4, 2021
Panel 4: Enhancing Access to Justice for Survivors
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