HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06272000 - C129 TO: w BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: William Walker, M.D., Health Services Director Contra
DATE: June 20,2000 Costa
County
SUBJECT: Profile of Family Violence In Contra Costa County
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION(S):
1. ACCEPT the Profile of Family Violence in Contra Costa County from the Violence Prevention Project of the
Health Services Department's Community Wellness & Prevention Program.
2. ACKNOWLEDGE the findings of the Profile of Family Violence in Contra Costa County, which show that
family violence—encompassing not just domestic violence or wife battering, but also child and adolescent
abuse, elder abuse and suicide—is a significant problem in the county and requires a comprehensive,
coherent, community-based strategy to prevent it.
3. REQUEST the Health Services Department staff to continue working with the Contra Costa Violence
Prevention Coalition to develop a long-term (three to five years) strategic plan for funding and implementing
family violence prevention activities.
CONTIN ON ATTACHMENT. YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE _OTHER
SIGNATURE(S): �
ACTION OF BOARD June 27, 2000 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED XX OTHER
tl
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
_ UNANIMOUS (ABSENT — — — )— AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
Contact Person: Amy Hill 313-6827
CC: Health Services Adminlstration ATTESTED June 27 , 2000
PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AND CO NTY ADMINISTRATOR
B DEPUTY
A /7410V
BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS:
Since 1983, Contra Costa County has been a leader in California, and the nation, in the development of
innovative and comprehensive approaches to violence prevention.
In November 1994, Contra Costa County was perhaps the first county in the United States to pass a 25-point
Violence Prevention Action Plan, approved by an overwhelming 78.8% of county voters. The Board of
Supervisors later recommended forming a task force to look into the implementation of the Action Plan, but such
a task force was never funded or convened.
Two years of intensive policy work by Health Services staff and city councils led to groundbreaking ordinances in
many areas of gun safety, including restricting the availability of cheap handguns and regulating firearms dealers
and gun shows.
These policy successes stemmed from—but also in turn subsequently generated—complementary efforts to
mobilize the community, change how organizations function and educate residents, including providers and
policy makers, about the importance of preventing violence in homes, schools, streets and workplaces.
Contra Costa County has applied this multi-faceted approach especially to family violence prevention,
recognizing that the family makes up the community's core and influences all other parts of the community.
In April 1999, the Contra Costa Health Services' Community Wellness & Prevention Program was awarded
$40,040 by the State Department of Health Services to convene a coalition and create a strategic plan for the
prevention of family violence.
In October 1999, the Board of Supervisors authorized the use of up to $75,000 of GRIP (Grant Revenue
Improvement Program) to expand the scope and support the development of the family violence prevention plan.
Since prevention planning requires reliable local data, Community Wellness & Prevention initiated in late 1999 a
data gathering and analysis effort, enlisting the valuable assistance and collaboration of organizations such as
the Battered Women's Alternatives, the Contra Costa County Probation Department and the Contra Costa
County Sheriff's Department.
This effort led to the publication of the Profile of Family Violence in Contra Costa County. Among the findings of
the Profile are:
♦ Since 1993, the number of child abuse reports in the county has increased by five to seven percent per
year. In 1993, there were 17,322 child abuse reports in the county; in 1996, there were 20,382. (It is
difficult to determine if this increase in the number of results is due to an actual increase in abuse or to
increased reporting.)
♦ From 1993 to 1998, the number of domestic violence-related calls to Contra Costa law enforcement
agencies for assistance never dropped below 5,000 calls annually. There were 5,287 domestic violence-
related calls for assistance in 1998, of which 3,842 (72.7%) involved weapons.
i In 1995, the most recent data available, there were 135 confirmed cases of elder abuse in Contra Costa.
a Between 1993 and 1997, a total of 429 Contra Costa residents died by committing suicide. During the
same period, a total of 1,954 Contra Costa residents were hospitalized for self-inflicted injury.
The Profile is the first data report developed for Contra Costa County that has looked at the issue of family
violence comprehensively. While many individual agencies and projects currently address the different
components of family violence, including intimate partner abuse, sexual abuse/incest, child abuse, dating
violence and elder abuse, they do so separately and singularly. The Profile represents one portion of a strategic
planning process that will provide a mechanism for bringing these various components under the larger umbrella
of family violence, in order to develop a coherent, long-term (three to five years) plan for funding and
implementing violence prevention activities.
Findings from the Profile will be shared with the Contra Costa Violence Prevention Coalition during the planning
process. The Profile will also be distributed to local media and policymakers to bring needed attention to the
critical problem of family violence in Contra Costa.
2