“Family violence is the psychological, physical, financial, and/or sexual abuse, threats of violence, or neglect between two or more people who are or have been intimately associated.”

Family violence is one of the most complex and compelling issues that we face in Hamilton County and around the United States. It is a widespread public health epidemic that directly impacts millions of Americans every year, causing more injuries than car accidents, rape, and muggings combined. It is also a lethal crime, which claims the innocent lives of four children and three women on average each day in the United States.

In 2001, more than 40 agencies/organizations came together under the leadership of the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati to convene the Family Violence Prevention Project to address this growing public health crisis in Hamilton County. While multiple agencies within Hamilton County are equipped to respond to family violence through intervention services, the county has lacked services and funding that address the issue of family violence prevention.

While the Family Violence Prevention Project’s ultimate goal is to prevent family violence, its immediate goals are to:

1. •change community attitudes and values that tolerate family violence;
   

2. •increase knowledge and use of alternatives to violent behavior;
   

3. •and increase protective factors for populations at risk for family violence.
   

The Family Violence Prevention Project operates through four primary guiding principles:

1. 1.Family violence is learned and therefore can be unlearned.
   

2. 2.All forms of family violence are interrelated and connected, as abusive power is at the center of each form of family violence.
   

3. 3.Prevention strategies must target all levels of society--individual, home, neighborhood, school, community, and public policy.
   

4. 4.Prevention services must target individuals at all points in time across the life span (i.e. childhood, young adulthood, adulthood, and older adulthood), with a special emphasis on childhood and young adulthood.
   

The Family Violence Prevention Project strives to prevent family violence by empowering individuals, neighborhoods, organizations, schools, and systems-based structures to work with the collaborative as it implements the following comprehensive strategic initiatives:

1. •county-wide family violence prevention-oriented public awareness campaign;
   

2. •school-based services to prevent youth relationship violence;
   

3. •family violence prevention community organizing projects;
   

4. •home visitation enhancement programs;
   

5. •training for professionals on the topic of “children who witness domestic violence”;
   

6. •training for older adults and professionals on the topic of “elder abuse and neglect prevention”;
   

7. •services to prevent abuse of people with disabilities;
   

8. •and boys and men created and led programs to prevent family violence.
   

The Family Violence Prevention Project strongly believes that family violence, at any level, is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our caring community. While preventing family violence may be an ambitious endeavor, it is an endeavor worth pursuing. However, all members of our caring community--individuals, families, schools, communities, organizations, and public policy makers--must work together to break the cycle of violence and change attitudes and values that tolerate family violence. Call the United Way 211 (dial 2-1-1) or visit www.embracehope.org to learn how you can make a difference.

The list of collaborative members and supporters is as follows:

1. •Anthem Foundation of Greater Cincinnati
   

2. •Alliance for Battered & Abused International Women
   

3. •Catholic Social Services
   

4. •Center for Independent Living Options
   

5. •Center for Peace Education
   

6. •Central Clinic
   

7. •Children’s Hospital Medical Center, The Childhood Trust
   

8. •Children’s Hospital Medical Center, The Mayerson Center
   

9. •Children’s Protective Services
   

10. •Cincinnati Area Senior Services
    

11. •Cincinnati Board of Rabbis
    

12. •Cincinnati Center for Developmental Disorders
    

13. •Cincinnati Health Department
    

14. •Cincinnati Police Academy
    

15. •Cincinnati Police Division
    

16. •City of Cincinnati, Department of Law
    

17. •City of Cincinnati, Department of Neighborhood Services
    

18. •Congregation Ohay Shalom
    

19. •Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio
    

20. •Council on Child Abuse of Southern Ohio, Inc.
    

21. •Crossroads Center
    

22. •Family Service of the Cincinnati Area
    

23. •Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
    

24. •Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce