DOJ/OVW Training areas of focus: Legal training and technical assistance to improve safety and justice for American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/NA) victims of sexual and domestic violence, stalking, elder abuse, teen dating violence, firearms violence, elder abuse, and abuse of persons with disabilities.
About Southwest Center for Law and Policy
The Southwest Center for Law and Policy (SWCLAP) is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization based in Tucson, Arizona. Since 2002, SWCLAP has been providing legal training and technical assistance, on a national level, to OVW grantees serving American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) victims of sexual and domestic violence, stalking, elder abuse, teen dating violence, firearms violence, elder abuse, and abuse of persons with disabilities. SWCLAP is the parent organization of the National Tribal Trial College (NTTC), The National Indian Country Clearinghouse on Sexual Assault (NICCSA), and SAFESTAR (Sexual Assault Forensic Examinations, Services, Training, Access, and Resources).
Services Provided
National Tribal Trial College (NTTC): Southwest Center for Law and Policy provides free legal training on domestic and sexual violence, stalking, abuse of persons with disabilities, federal firearms violations, and elder abuse through the National Tribal Trial College (NTTC). Free, interactive, skills based legal training at the NTTC is held at locations across the country for criminal and civil justice professionals, courts, law enforcement, healthcare providers, advocates and allied professionals. All courses are taught by Indian Country experts on the effective litigation and investigation of violence committed against American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) women. Participants learn important legal skills in small, discipline specific groups to advance safety and justice for American Indian/Alaska Native victims. Free Continuing Legal Education, Law Enforcement Training Units, CEUs, and CMEs are available. Priority for enrollment in the free, 2 day, interactive courses is given to Office on Violence Against Women grantees. Tentatively scheduled upcoming Free Legal Training Institutes are as follows:
• Litigating and Asserting Victim Rights in Tribal, State, Federal, and CFR Courts (tentatively scheduled for August 2013 in Seattle, Washington)
• Qualifying and Testifying Effectively as an Expert Witness on Domestic Violence in Tribal, State, and Federal Courts (tentatively scheduled for October/November, 2013 in Tucson, Arizona)
• Legal and Victim Advocacy for Special Needs American Indian/Alaska Native Victims of Sexual Violence: Seriously Mentally Ill and Cognitively Impaired Victims (With or Without a History of Substance and/or Alcohol Abuse) (tentatively scheduled for Albuquerque, New Mexico in March 2014)
• Effective Litigation of Protection Orders for American Indian/Alaska Victims (tentatively scheduled for Anchorage, Alaska in Summer of 2014 and focusing on the special needs of Alaska Native victims)
National Indian Country Clearinghouse on Sexual Assault (NICCSA): NICSSA is currently in the final development and approval phase and is anticipated to launch in 2013. The project includes a toll-free, national hotline staffed by Indian Country legal, healthcare, and advocacy experts as well as an expansive, user-friendly website containing resources, articles, and information on effective responses to and prevention of sexual violence against American Indian/Alaska Native women.
The National Indian Country Clearinghouse on Sexual Assault (NICCSA) is a comprehensive, one-stop resource for Indian Country legal practitioners, victim advocates, law enforcement officers, judges, and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners that is accessible by dial-up, high speed internet, and smart phones. Once completed, NICCSA will offer:
• A user-friendly, easy to navigate website that serves as a compendium of pertinent federal statutes, tribal codes, state laws, federal policies, court rules, federal and tribal case law, articles, policy papers, directives, and other resources
• A hotline for answering legal, advocacy, and forensic questions available toll free to Indian Country practitioners eight hours per day.
NICCSA Advocacy: SWCLAP will expand the training offered by the National Indian Country Clearinghouse on Sexual Assault by developing and delivering a free, three-part national course on basic and advanced sexual assault advocacy for American Indian/Alaska Native victims.
This 3-part course will utilize Native American adult learning principles and will feature:
• 12 webinars on topics related to effective sexual assault victim advocacy for American Indian/Alaska Native victims
• An on-line, interactive tribal legal and advocacy course able to be accessed by dial-up and high speed internet
• A weeklong, 40 hour, in-person training Institute for up to 20 victim advocates who have successfully completed the on-line course and webinar series.
SAFESTAR (Sexual Assault Forensic Examinations, Services, Training, Access, and Resources): SAFESTAR is a unique model of care that draws upon the strength and resilience of Indigenous women to improve safety and justice outcomes for victims of sexual violence and to provide long-term, compassionate, culturally meaningful, holistic care. Those American Indian/Alaska Native communities that currently have the capacity to support a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) are provided with free, comprehensive technical assistance to develop an effective Sexual Assault Response Team and protocol that includes seamless access to SANE services. For those American Indian/Alaska Native communities currently without the capacity to support universal access to SANE services, the SAFESTAR project provides intensive training and technical support to specially selected laypersons and traditional healthcare providers to:
• Deliver emergency First Aid to sexual assault survivors
• Provide referrals for follow-up medical and other care
• Educate communities on the harm caused by sexual violence and lead the way back to healthy, respectful ways of living
• Collect sexual assault forensic evidence to promote increased accountability for perpetrators
Southwest Center for Law and Policy offers a SAFESTAR Office on Violence Against Women approved 40-hour, intensive training course delivered by Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs), lawyers, Native community health experts, advocates, traditional healers, and experts on tribal governance and community organizing. The 40-hour course covers emergency First Aid (utilizing the American Heart Association's curriculum); anatomy; an overview of the prevalence, dynamics and responses to the epidemic of sexual violence in American Indian/Alaska Native communities; forensic evidence collection; health care referrals; confidentiality; federal and tribal sexual assault laws; service referrals; and community outreach. The curriculum incorporates many of the same components of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) certification course, but is designed for qualified laypersons in American Indian/Alaska Native communities. The SAFESTAR course is delivered on-site and is free of charge to American Indian/ Alaska Native communities that have successfully completed an application process through the Southwest Center for Law and Policy and the Office on Violence Against Women.
Target Audience/Eligibility
Southwest Center on Law and Policy (www.swclap.org) provides telephonic, email, and on-site legal training and technical assistance on effective responses to domestic and sexual violence, stalking, abuse of persons with disabilities, firearms prohibitions, protection orders, and abuse of elders committed against American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) victims. Customized, United States Department of Justice (Office on Violence Against Women) approved training curricula can also be delivered on-site to tribal nations. Free Continuing Legal Education, Law Enforcement Training Units, CEUs, and CMEs are available for most training modules. SWCLAP can also assist in developing multi-disciplinary and/or inter-jurisdictional responses to violence against AI/AN victims.
For a more complete list of available training and technical assistance topics, please visit: http://www.swclap.org/uploads/file/292ebc49e92841a9ba86f96c772fb1b5/List%20of%20available%20training%20with%20new%20address.pdf
Funding Agency
Office on Violence Against Women
Contact Information
Hallie Bongar White, Executive Director
P (520) 623-8192 | bongarwhite@swclap.org
Arlene O'Brien (Tohono O'odham Nation), Director of Programming
P (520) 623-8192 | obrien@swclap.org
Web: www.swclap.org, www.safestar.net