Project Overview

Project Partners

How can health care providers in Indian Country better address the needs of their patients who are victims of abuse? How can health care providers help end domestic violence in American Indian and Alaskan Native communities? Which domestic violence prevention efforts will best meet the needs of battered Native women?

Pilot programs announced in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) health care systems will answer these questions and more. The sites, selected as part of the Indian Health Service (IHS) - Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Domestic Violence Pilot Project, will help Indian, Tribal, Urban (I/T/U) health care facilities improve their responses to domestic violence in their communities.

“Domestic violence affects all communities, but Native women are particularly vulnerable to abuse. This puts health care providers serving American Indian and Alaska Native communities in a unique position to help victims of violence who visit clinics for routine or emergency care,” said Family Violence Prevention Fund President Esta Soler. “But, too often, providers are not trained about domestic violence and culturally appropriate resources are not available. This new Pilot Project will ensure that Native health clinics have the tools they need to assist battered women and help end abuse.”

Through collaboration with one another and with experts in community-based health care delivery and domestic violence, the pilot sites will develop culturally appropriate prevention strategies and resources for health care providers and victims. The sites also will increase awareness of domestic violence as a public health issue, promoting public education and outreach within Native communities.

The pilot sites will serve as models to other AI/AN clinics and hospitals across the country. The materials created by the sites will be distributed to other I/T/U facilities. Resources and protocol developed by the Pilot Project will be available to other facilities, and Project members can provide training or technical support to health care providers at other clinics.

The Pilot Project selected a total of nine pilot sites. Six are fully-funded with budgets ranging from $50,000 to $65,000. The fully-funded pilot sites are:

Ketchikan Indian Corporation, Ketchikan, AK. The federally recognized Tribe administers health care and other services for its members. The pilot site will develop a domestic violence screening tool and promote a culturally sensitive health care awareness campaign addressing domestic violence. It also will provide medical staff training and technical assistance to local and regional clinics.

Feather River Tribal Health, Inc., Oroville, CA. The non-profit Tribal organization serves patients from Butte, Sutter and Yuba Counties. The pilot site will work to establish a violence screening program in its medical and dental departments. It also will implement screening services for its female patients and develop a case management system for handling cases involving domestic violence.

Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Houlton, ME. The ambulatory care clinic provides services to the Tribe’s members and those of other federally recognized Tribes who reside in the area. The clinic already has services for victims of domestic violence and collaborates with the state coalition against domestic violence. The pilot site will train its staff and implement a mandatory screening policy for all female patients over the age of 12.

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Choctaw Health Center, Choctaw, MS. The health center is wholly Choctaw-managed, and its health care programs meet the specific needs of Tribe members. The Center already has domestic violence procedures in place, but the pilot program will work to develop culturally sensitive screening tools. The site also will develop more education and training for its health care providers.

Rosebud Indian Health Service, Rosebud, SD. This clinic on the Rosebud Indian Reservation provides ambulatory and inpatient care to members of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. The clinic currently collaborates with the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society to raise awareness about domestic violence on the Reservation. The pilot site will train its staff on domestic violence and implement screening and other prevention programs.

Gerald L. Ignace Indian Health Center, Milwaukee, WI. This clinic is the only physical and mental health provider for the Native population in Southern Wisconsin. The pilot site will create culturally relevant screening tools to identify the needs of victims of domestic violence, train its staff on domestic violence and form collaborative partnerships with area service providers to improve its victim referral process.

Three pilot sites will receive partial funding of $15,000 each. The sites, which have existing domestic violence prevention procedures in place, will serve as mentors to other pilot sites. They also will attend Pilot Project meetings to strengthen their own prevention efforts.

The partially-funded sites are: Zuni Comprehensive Community Health Center, Zuni, NM; Warm Springs Indian Health Center, Warm Springs, OR; and Crownpoint Healthcare Facility/Family Harmony Project, Crownpoint, NM.

The National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence has partnered with Indian Health Service; Administration for Children and Families; Sacred Circle, the National Resource Center to End Violence Against Native Women; and Mending the Sacred Hoop: STOP Violence Against Women Technical Assistance Project to help the sites develop programs and materials. The national organizations will provide technical assistance, and help sites create and implement domestic violence prevention strategies.

The Domestic Violence Pilot Project works to strengthen comprehensive domestic violence prevention strategies in health care facilities in American Indian/Alaska Native communities throughout the United States. The Project raises the visibility of domestic violence as a public health issue throughout AI/AN communities, and works to build stronger advocacy for domestic violence issues in the health care setting at the Tribal and national level. The pilot sites, funded via an Intra-agency Agreement between Indian Health Service and Administration for Children and Families, are designed to improve the health care response to domestic violence in AI/AN communities.

The National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence is a project of the Family Violence Prevention Fund, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The Resource Center develops educational resources, training materials and model protocols on domestic violence and screening to help health care providers better serve battered women. It provides critical information on domestic violence and health care to tens of thousands of health care providers, institutions, domestic violence service providers, government agencies, researchers and policy makers each year.

The FVPF works to end domestic violence and help women and children whose lives are devastated by abuse, because every person has the right to live in a home free of violence. The FVPF challenges lawmakers to take domestic violence seriously, educates judges to protect all victims of abuse, and advocates for laws to help battered immigrant women. The FVPF works with health care providers and employers to identify and aid victims of abuse, helps communities support children from violent homes, and shows Americans how to help end domestic violence.