I am currently employed at the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, CCADV, as the Director of Membership Organization Services. CCADV oversees the eighteen domestic violence programs in the State of Connecticut and works to change social conditions through policy, advocacy, public awareness and community education (Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2015). CCADV advocates at a national and state level to develop and implement policies that will improve Connecticut’s response to domestic violence. Some of the key changes that CCADV has facilitated in recent years to domestic violence laws and policies in our state include, securing funds for 24-hour staffing at all of Connecticut domestic violence shelters, strengthening civil restraining orders and criminal protective orders to ensure gun forfeiture by offenders, as well as extending the length of civil restraining orders, enhancing the definitions of strangulation, threatening and stalking to achieve greater protection for victims, implementing a statewide Model Law Enforcement Policy on Family Violence as the standard by which all law enforcement in our state respond to domestic violence, and increasing housing protections for victims by allowing early lease termination when they’re in danger (Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2015). CCADV does not provide direct services to clients traditionally but often we work with clients who need greater resources than our programs can provide for them.…
