Seattle to Invest $1.2 Million in Community-Led Domestic Violence Prevention Programs
Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center has been awarded $397,860 in funding over the next two years as one of the selected grantees. (Photo provided by LGBTQ+ Center)
By Lorcan Stokes
The City of Seattle will invest $1.2 million across three organizations—API Chaya, Collective Justice, and Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center—to support community-led initiatives and programs addressing domestic violence throughout 2024 and 2025.
"These specific grantees had an intentional focus on different restorative approaches that would actually serve people on both sides of harm," said Derrick Wheeler-Smith, Director of the Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR), regarding the selection of the awardees. The SOCR identified and selected the organizations to receive the grants.
Continuing, he said, "These grantees are folks working intentionally to create new systems of support that cultivate healing amongst those who've been impacted by domestic violence and are thinking about how these approaches lead us more towards justice and accountability and teaching people how to respond when someone is in crisis or experiencing domestic violence."
The grantees were chosen through a Request for Proposals (RFP) process overseen by a community panel over several months.
"We had a rating panel of five individuals. They had rating criteria... informing applicants what their application would be rated on. Those proposals came in the strongest based on the rating panel objectively and collectively," John Page, Community Investments Manager for the SOCR, said. The SOCR received nine proposals in total.
The $1.2 million, added to the City Council's budget as a one-time allocation, will be disbursed in installments throughout 2024 by the Seattle Human Services Department (HSD). The disbursement of funds will be as follows: API Chaya will receive $284,186, Collective Justice will receive $517,952, and Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center will receive $397,860.
"We're really stoked on this grant from the office of civil rights because we're able to support some of the work we've started doing in DV prevention," Maisha Manson, Director of Community Programs and Culture for Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center, said. One example of program expansion is the center's Access to Change initiative. This referral-based online diversion program seeks to redirect community members, specifically youth, away from the traditional justice system and provide them with restorative justice opportunities to encourage accountability.
API Chaya, alongside Collective Justice and Seattle's LGBTQ Center, will receive $284,186 to continue supporting survivors of sexual violence, human trafficking, and domestic violence in Pacific Islander, Asian, and South Asian communities. (Photo provided by API Chaya)
"We're excited to start implementing more focus on DV prevention, specifically in how we can support our communities in self-determination practices that allow for us to have safer communities and respond and recognize where harm is happening," Manson said. "If we're able to do that, we can rely on less or fully move away from practices that harm our communities at high rates."
The city's funding will support various initiatives and programs led by these organizations, allowing them to expand their teams, increase internal staff, and provide comprehensive employee training. API Chaya, an organization whose staff are 80% survivors, will grow in skill-building, create mentorship opportunities, and train program facilitators to better support domestic violence victims.
"The state's punitive response to domestic and sexual violence often exacerbates existing traumas through violence in prisons and family separation, leading to the most marginalized survivors suffering harm both at home and from the state," Priya Rai, Executive Director of API Chaya said, "API Chaya believes in leveraging the power of cultural traditions, thus shifting conditions towards equity, healing, and wellness, making it increasingly possible to practice peaceful resolutions when harm occurs."
Additionally, the funding will facilitate the development of new and improved programs aimed at educating community members on effective strategies for combating and preventing domestic violence cycles for both perpetrators and victims.
"These approaches are going to give people on both sides more options for support and healing, and I think when we talk about violence, we're talking about a disease. When you think about something like COVID, in order for someone to get well, there is a period where they get quarantined," Wheeler-Smith said. "Historically, the system has been locking someone up without addressing or doing the work to be able to help that individual heal. When they get out, unfortunately, they perpetuate that same kind of harm."
The SOCR, headed by Director Derrick Wheeler-Smith (pictured above), led the RFP process in choosing three organizations to receive a $1.2 million investment for over two years to support community-led domestic violence initiatives. (Photo by Susan Fried)
The organizations all specialize in restorative justice, which focuses on perpetrators taking accountability and attempting to repair harm as much as possible to break cycles of repeated harm.
"These approaches are intentional about figuring out what justice and accountability look like," Wheeler-Smith said. "A lot of people hear restorative justice and think that means a lack of accountability or that there's no accountability, but it's being able to teach people and provide folks with tools and skills."
Continuing, he said, "Most often, when people are impacted, they tend to turn to their close networks. How are you raising awareness and consciousness in communities in being able to help folks understand how to navigate when these things happen? I think that, in turn, contributes to public safety."
Manson highlighted the emotional challenges involved in the upcoming work funded by the grant, emphasizing the toll domestic violence prevention can take on the support systems dealing with both victims and perpetrators.
"I think one of the biggest challenges I anticipate with this is the emotional aspect and the emotional labor that DV work is. It is what I know to be incredible work, and when you do direct community service in any way, there is a natural toll on you," Manson said.
They continued, "Part of what the center is doing right now is working to make sure we have our internal systems and supports ready before we even start programming. We need to make sure that the longevity and the care of the staff are there because burnout is so easy with the nature of our work. We want to make sure all of us are set up with care and intention for the same way we want to show up for community members."
Looking ahead, the city expects to release a fourth round of grants in 2025 to support similar organizations and initiatives.
