ACWS News

Watch your in-boxes for your invitation to the ACWS On the Road meeting in your region. The On the Road will feature discussion about the dissemination of the trends analysis, current occupancy stats, regional information on the Men’s Attitudes Survey and will give us the opportunity to learn more about your shelter and your region.

Strength in Numbers: A Ten-Year Trend Analysis of Women's Shelters in Alberta, was circulated to all shelter directors on Thursday. The report contains a lot of information to assist shelters in profiling their work and meeting the needs of abused women and their children.
The dates for the On the Road’s throughout the province are as follows:

NorthEast (St. Paul) May 30th

South Alberta (Medicine Hat) June 4th

Edmonton (WIN) June 6th

NorthWest (Peace River) June 12th

Calgary (Kerby) June 14th

Central (Red Deer) June 15th

AGM 2012: Please book your hotel rooms for the AGM asap in order to ensure you get a room at the host hotel! (Please indicate the booking is with “ACWS” to obtain the discounted rate). Our block has been extended to today!!

http://www.deltahotels.com/en/hotels/alberta/delta-edmonton-centre/

Jan gave a presentation this Wednesday to the Safe Communities Assistant Deputy Ministers on the Men and Boys Attitude Survey. This committee is comprised of Justice & Attorney General, Solicitor General & Public Safety, Health & Wellness, Municipal Affairs, Aboriginal Relations, Human Services, Seniors, Education, Culture & Community Services and Tourism, Parks and Recreation. Our thanks to Susan Taylor for arranging. We are hopeful that we can work together on a comprehensive provincial communications strategy. They expressed interest in having their staff attend our On the Road presentations (see above). Interestingly, the province of Ontario is following our lead on the Attitudes survey and is currently in the field conducting a similar study.

This week, we bid adieu to Charleen Shaw. We wish her well as she takes on the roles of new puppy-mommy and a new job at A Safe Place.

Watch for three domestic violence fatality inquiries over the next few months: At long last, the fatality inquiry into Brenda Moreside’s death is about to be scheduled. On February 13, 2005, Brenda Moreside called 911 to report that her common-law husband was attempting to break into their residence. She was found unresponsive with multiple stab wounds on February 25, 2005. Also up for inquiries are the Lago Lindo explosion in Edmonton and the murder of Meara McIntosh’s son by her ex-partner during a custody battle (resuming June 6 – 17).

Calendar


Leveraging our Collective Knowledge!

June 21st – (10am-5pm) Sharing Highlights from the 2nd World Conference
of Women’s Shelters

June 22nd (9am- 5pm) Shelter Directors Meeting

June 22nd (3-5 pm) Board Designates Orientation

June 22nd (6-9:30 pm) Annual General Meeting

June 23rd (9am-1:30pm) Looking Forward: ACWS Organizational Review presentation,

luncheon and celebration

In the News

RCMP officer’s sexual antics with female colleagues not enough to get him fired

By Jana G. Pruden, Edmonton Journal; Gary Dimmock, Ottawa Citizen, May 22, 2012

Ray also had inappropriate and unprofessional interactions with prospective female employees, including sending them inappropriate emails, and taking them out for drinks during the hiring process. In one case, he falsified security clearance forms for a woman, exaggerating the number of years she’d known one of her character references.

http://tinyurl.com/cngjfcl

Alberta No. 3 in domestic violence - Women living in rural areas at greater risk

By Kelly Cryderman, Calgary Herald May 23, 2012

Trailing only Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Alberta had the highest rate of family homicides (calculated per one million people).

http://tinyurl.com/7mluux8

Calgary baby slasher offers tearful apology - “I will never forgive myself”

By Jason van Rassel, Calgary Herald May 23, 2012

The couple had lived together at her mother’s home in southeast Calgary, but broke up after a violent incident last June. He was still staying at the home three or four nights a week and helping raise the boy.

http://tinyurl.com/6ucnax5

Resources and Trainings

“From Stilettos to Moccasins” Aboriginal Women’s Workshop on Drug Abuse, Addiction

Of a study that examined the role of identity and stigma in the healing journey
For more information on the project or to obtain a workshop kit, please contact Shannon Taylor at: or phone (306) 966-6917

Faculty of Social Work Centre

Upcoming Workshops for the Centre for Social Work Research and Professional Development:

·  Growing Hope: Self-Care in Helping Professions Presented by Jeffrey Kottler, PhD MacEwan Student Centre, University of Calgary, Calgary May 31 - June 1, 2012

·  Getting Practical about Adult Mental Health: Assessment and Treatment in Social Work Presented by Laverne Guthrie, MSW RSW (Clinical) and Patty Brennen, MSW RSW PFB 3247, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, Calgary June 7-8, 2012

·  Dancing or Wrestling?: Key Strategies in Enhancing Motivation for Change Presented by Marilyn Herie, PhD, RSW June 25 - 26, 2012; University of Calgary, Calgary

Collaborating, Educating and Innovating to Shape our Future

Canadian Network of Women Shelters and Transition Houses
Montreal Sept 17-19 (x 2 pdf’s?)
The Canadian Network will be hosting a forum for shelters to learn with from and about each other and our collective potential. There is a registration fee of $495. A space will be tentatively held for each ACWS member until the June 30th registration deadline. See Jan’s e-mail which was circulated on May 17th.

Hilborn eNews

In This Issue

·  Charities push back

·  Brad Offman Speaks Up

·  Hilborn recommends…

·  Web 2.0

·  Assessing skills

·  Options for the T-3010

National Alliance for Children and Youth

Collaboration, service delivery efficiencies and more effective knowledge transfer methods, have become a major focus of the nonprofit sector over the last few years. As part of NACY's Taking Stock project, they have been speaking with organizations across Canada to ask about innovations they have seen, both locally and on a national basis, that highlight best practices across an area of issues that are relevant to the sector. Emerging from these conversations they wanted to share information on Imagine Canada's recently launched Standards Program. Click on this link to read more.

Alberta Home Visitation Network Association

AHVNA has a number of spring training opportunities:

·  Motivational Interviewing Level2- June 7 &8, 2012 in Edmonton

·  Reflective Practice Supervision- June 14 & 15, 2012 in Edmonton

·  Mental Health First Aid Basic Course -June 20 and 21, 2012 in Calgary

·  Professional Development Day- Ordinary Magic: Fostering Resilience in Children - June 22 in Red Deer.

To register go to www.ahvna.org

Lethbridge Child Development Mapping Coalition

Presents: Two Parents, One Gift

Changing science, changing families

Starring Dr. Kyle Pruett

Wednesday June 13, 2012, 6:30-8:30 pm

Location: E.C Fredricks Theatre

Room CE1365 at Lethbridge College

Click this link for more information!

2012 World Indigenous Housing Conference

The Aboriginal Housing Management Association, host of the 2012 World Indigenous Housing Conference is delighted to invite you to stunning Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The conference is set for June 11-15, 2012.

The WIHC is the first international forum to bring Indigenous housing leaders, senior government officials, researchers and corporate heads from around the world together to learn from best practices, build a global network, and showcase Indigenous cultures.

You’ll have the opportunity to share expertise and build powerful connections with this influential arena of leaders from Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, developed countries that share common Indigenous housing experiences.

Stimulating speakers, workshops and presentations will explore five key themes: Health and Housing, Capacity Building, Disaster Preparedness, Governance and Partnerships.

Challenging Conviction:

Survivors in Solidarity with Prison Abolition

Working Title: Challenging Convictions: Survivors of Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Writing on Solidarity with Prison Abolition. DEADLINE EXTENDED Completed submissions due: June 15, 2012.

Like much prison abolition work, the call for this anthology comes from frustration and hope: frustration with organizers against sexual assault and domestic violence who treat the police as a universally available and as a good solution; frustration with prison abolitionists who only use “domestic violence” and “rape” as provocative examples; and, frustration with academic discussions that use only distanced third-person case studies and statistics to talk about sexual violence and the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC). But, this project also shares the hope and worth of working toward building communities without prisons and without sexual violence. Most importantly, it is anchored in the belief that resisting prisons, domestic violence, and sexual assault are inseparable.

Please click on this link to read more about this anthology and the submission process.