Community Trainings

Lunch will be provided for this free community training!

The impact of fear and trauma on the initiation, investigation, and prosecution of criminal cases involving strangulation cannot be overstated. The fear of believing they are going to die can control a victim and greatly impact their ability to engage in the criminal justice system. In addition, the abuser is often the one that sustains minor visible injuries as their victim struggled to survive, while the victim frequently lacks obvious external signs of strangulation.

Considering these barriers, our communities must prioritize a collaborative, systemic response to hold our society’s most dangerous offenders accountable. First responders, including law enforcement, EMS, and emergency room personnel, must understand how to identify and capture evidence before it disappears. Prosecutors must understand current strangulation statutes and how to interpret and apply the evidence provided. And community members must recognize this crime for what it is—a glaring red flag for future violence and homicide—to advocate for victims and know how best to help. This training will provide solutions for how communities can utilize resources like the strangulation supplement, training, and community collaboration to improve how we respond, investigate, assess, and successfully prosecute these serious crimes.

Presenter
Kelsey McKay is the president of RESPOND Against Violence and McKay Training & Consulting, LLC. Ms. McKay trains and consults nationally to strengthen how communities collaborate, investigate, and prosecute strangulation, sexual violence, and intimate partner violence cases. She develops experts to testify and trains on the implementation of a strangulation supplement and community collaboration. Previously, Ms. McKay was a prosecutor in Travis County, TX for 12 years

3.75 hours of Continuing Professional Education has been applied for on behalf of MCLE.

All attendees seeking LMFT, LPC, MSW, and TCOLE credit, must self report through their own Department and/or Licensing Board. 

Lunch will be provided for this free community training!

There is great diversity in how victims of intimate partner violence respond to the coercive control, threats, physical abuse, and other risks posed by their abuser. Some may use violence themselves in response to the patterned, coercive, and controlling environment they are living within. Law enforcement, prosecutors, and even advocates may believe that if a victim of ongoing abuse uses violence against their abuser, it somehow equalizes what the abuser has been doing to the victim. However, the intent and effect of violence used by victims is often very different.

This training will provide a deeper understanding of how violence and coercive control impacts victims and why women use violence. The presenter will also share practical examples of how system practitioners can utilize a Coordinated Community Responses (CCR) to create interventions that do not embolden an abuser’s ability to cause further harm, but also appropriately addresses victims’ use of force within the larger context of their victimization.

3.75 hours of Continuing Professional Education has been applied for on behalf of MCLE.

All attendees seeking LMFT, LPC, MSW, and TCOLE credit, must self report through their own Department and/or Licensing Board. 

Melissa Petrangelo Scaia is the Director of International Training for Global Rights for Women (GRW). Melissa currently co-facilitates two men’s domestic violence offender groups per week and has been co-facilitating for over 21 years. In her position at GRW she brings a wealth of experience as the former executive director of Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs (DAIP), also known as “the Duluth Model.” Prior to working in Duluth she was the executive director of Advocates for Family Peace (AFFP) for 17 years, a local domestic violence advocacy program. She has also lead and organized two Coordinated Community Responses (CCR) to address domestic violence in Minnesota. She has been a consulting trainer for a number of national training organizations on domestic violence and child abuse, including Center for Court Innovation (CCI), the Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP) and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ).

Lunch will be provided for this free community training!

Perpetrators who seek to exert power and control over another—whether through intimate partner violence, sexual assault, or stalking—are a significant threat to not only the safety of their victims, but first responders and our communities as a whole. We must think more broadly about the interconnected nature of domestic and sexual violence crimes and make them a priority in our criminal justice system response.

This training will strengthen the capacity of law enforcement, advocacy, prosecutors, and direct service providers to provide a more victim-centered, trauma-informed response to victims of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The presenter will examine the common characteristics of these crimes for better understanding of victim and offender behavior; power, control, and manipulation tactics; assessing lethality; the reasons these crimes are missed; and the impact on victims, their families, and our communities. The training will also identify nationally established community standards of response, investigation, and prevention.

Presenter
Mark Wynn is a national trainer to police executives, patrol officers, training officers, prosecutors, judges, legislators, social service providers, healthcare professionals and victim advocates in all fifty states for over thirty years. An international lecturer at police academies in Australia, Canada, Germany, England, Northern Ireland, Russia, the Republic of Mauritius, the Republic of Georgia, the Federated States of Micronesia, Aruba, China, the Islands of the Bahamas, Brazil, Turkey, Cyprus, Singapore, the Republic of Namibia, the Republic of Ghana and the Republic of Moldova. He is a Fulbright Specialist for the Department of State and is a survivor, enabling him to teach both effectively and passionately. In short, he is devoted to ending domestic/sexual, elder and child abuse as a police officer, detective, educator, program supervisor and now consultant and advisor.

3.75 hours of Continuing Professional Education has been applied for on behalf of MCLE.

All attendees seeking LMFT, LPC, MSW, and TCOLE credit, must self report through their own Department and/or Licensing Board. 

Breakfast will be provided for this free community training!

Recognizing the impact of trauma and knowing how to effectively work with traumatized individuals is vital to improving investigations and prosecutions of sexual assault and domestic violence. This training will begin with basic scientific concepts surrounding the neurobiology of trauma, including how trauma affects the brain and how a traumatized person may present externally. The presenter will then teach the Trauma-Informed Victim Interview (TIVI) model, focusing on the practical “how-to” steps of conducting an interview, including video clips from prior investigations.

Attendees will learn best practices for interacting with a traumatized person, from gathering information on-scene to conducting a formal investigative interview. By understanding the brain’s “defense circuitry” and how trauma presents in both victims of crime and first responders, we can work together to provide stronger pathways to procedural justice.

Presenter

Justin Boardman is a retired police detective from the West Valley City Police Department in Utah. Det. Boardman, along with Donna Kelly, ESQ., co-authored a Trauma-Informed Victim Interview protocol for adult victims of sexual assault. This guideline uses the Neurobiology of Trauma to gain additional information to be used in an investigation and has been shown to increase prosecutions along with procedure changes. After retirement, Det. Boardman has focused on culture change within the community and presents and consults nationally and internationally on a variety of subjects.

3.75 hours of Continuing Professional Education has been applied for on behalf of MCLE.

All attendees seeking LMFT, LPC, MSW, and TCOLE credit, must self report through their own Department and/or Licensing Board. 

Lunch will be provided for this free community training!

In Texas, 1 in 3 women will be abused by an intimate partner in her lifetime, and that abuse creates a ripple effect that can impact entire families and communities for generations. How can we, as a community, respond effectively to interrupt the cycle of abuse?

This training will take deep dive into the dynamics of domestic violence, teaching law enforcement, prosecutors, advocates, and community members how to safely and effectively support those experiencing violence regardless of their readiness or ability to leave an abusive relationship. The presenters will discuss the signs and symptoms of many types of abuse, including spiritual abuse and abuse of the court system, and review common intersectional issues such as substance abuse, mental health concerns, and the impact on children. Many hard questions surrounding abuse, including “Why does someone stay in an abusive relationship?” and “Why does an abuser abuse?” will be answered.

3.75 hours of Continuing Professional Education has been applied for on behalf of MCLE.

All attendees seeking LMFT, LPC, MSW, and TCOLE credit, must self report through their own Department and/or Licensing Board. 

Krista Fultz holds a Masters in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington. She is the Director of Advocacy and Education at Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support in Dallas, TX. At Genesis, Ms. Fultz supervises both the residential and non-residential advocacy programs. Additionally, she oversees all community education efforts and accompaniment programs and is trained in expert testimony. She also participates in multiple coordinated community response teams on behalf of the agency. Prior to Genesis, Ms. Fultz worked at Haven House, a domestic violence shelter in Buffalo, NY, as a justice courts victim advocate and children’s counselor.

Anna Fagan holds a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from Texas State University. She is the Assistant Director of Advocacy & Education at Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support in Dallas, TX. Ms. Fagan assists the Director of Advocacy & Education in supervising both the residential and non-residential advocacy programs. Additionally, she serves as a Family Advocate, helping women who come into the emergency shelter and transitional housing program with children. Prior to Genesis, Ms. Fagan worked as a Victim Assistance Coordinator for the Williamson County Attorney’s Office where she assisted victims of domestic violence and helped them obtain protective orders.

Lunch will be provided for this free community training!

Pt. 1: Children, Trauma, & Domestic Violence
Between 3.3 and 10 million children are exposed to domestic violence annually, which can lead to staggering long-term trauma, including mental and physical effects – even if they do not directly experience physical violence. But, with the help of intervention and children’s amazing resiliency, there is always hope. Pt. 1 of this training will discuss short and long-term effects of witnessing violence on children’s brains, social interactions, emotions, bodies, and their relationships with their abusive and victimized parents. Attendees will leave with tangible skills they can implement to help children heal.

Pt. 2: Why Won’t They Listen? How to Effectively Communicate with Survivors & Increase Participation
Have you ever found yourself feeling frustrated while working with a victim of domestic violence? Ever thought to yourself… “Why won’t they listen?” It may feel taboo to say, but the truth is that we all feel frustrated at times. Pt. 2 of this training will discuss typical reactions from victims that may affect their ability and/or willingness to participate in the investigation, prosecution, or therapeutic process based on where they are at in the stages of change. The presenter will also lay out practical ways to address these reactions and overcome barriers to more effectively communicate with victims of domestic violence. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and practice effective phrasing and approaches using hypothetical scenarios.

Presenter

Jordyn Lawson is the director of Residential Services at Genesis Women’s Shelter and Support, and has a passion for ending domestic violence and helping those who have experienced the pain of trauma heal and grow. Ms. Lawson supervises both the emergency shelter and Annie’s House transitional living program. Previously, Ms. Lawson was the assistant clinical director at Genesis, and has worked in the field of domestic violence and trauma recovery for over 12 years. During that time, Ms. Lawson has provided individual and group counseling services to women, adolescents, and children victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and childhood trauma.

3.75 hours of Continuing Professional Education has been applied for on behalf of MCLE.

All attendees seeking LMFT, LPC, MSW, and TCOLE credit, must self report through their own Department and/or Licensing Board.