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Home Free Resources

Are you a family member, friend, or coworker to someone experiencing domestic or sexual violence?

If someone you know is experiencing domestic violence it can be hard to know what to do and how to support them. Here are some important things to note from the Visit National Domestic Violence Hotline Website:

  • Educate yourself about domestic violence.
    • The Power and Control Wheel can be a useful tool in understanding some of the dynamics of domestic violence.
  • Emotional Support:
    • Validate the survivor’s situation without judging it. It can be hard to understand why a survivor takes or does not take certain actions, but the most important thing you can do is support their decision, whatever that is.
    • Offer to help them make a Safety Plan and you can be a part of that plan. Learn More About Safety Plan Visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline Website.
    • Do not speak badly about the person causing them harm. This can come across as judgmental. Even if the survivor is saying negative things at the moment, they may choose to stay, and if you engaged and spoke negatively about the person causing them harm, they may not come back to you for support when you need it.
  • Material Support:
    • Help the survivor identify resources in the community for food, housing, healthcare, etc.
    • Can the survivor flee to your house if they see an opportunity that is safer, and they want to leave their situation?
    • Can the survivor store an ‘escape’ or ‘go’ bag at your house that contains vital records, money, banking information, birth certificates, social security cards, medications, etc. This way if they do need to flee suddenly, they have some of those essential items available to them.
    • Offer to let them use your phone or computer to explore resources or make calls. If the person causing them harm is monitoring their phone or search history, this can be a powerful safety tool that you can provide.
Are you a service provider working with a survivor that is also working with a Domestic and Sexual Violence (DSV) nonprofit?

You may be a nurse, police officer, Department of Human Services case manager, property manager, employer, etc. who is working with someone who is experiencing and/or fleeing domestic and sexual violence and you want to reach out to the DSV nonprofit the survivors is working with as well. Here are some important things to know if you are contacting Home Free or another DSV provider:

  • Most, but not all, providers of domestic and sexual violence services are Qualified Victim’s Services Program (QVSP). Home Free is a QVSP! If you are working with another provider, you can always ask them if they are a QSVP or not.
When an agency or program is a Qualified Victim’s Services Program (QVSP) in the state of Oregon this means a few key things to keep in mind:
  • We have some of the strictest confidentiality laws of any service provider.
  • We have a Certified Advocate Privilege. This is like Doctor/Patient or Attorney/Client Privilege, but even stricter. We are not mandated reporters (except for a few very specific circumstances). See more information on Advocate Privilege.
  • We must get our own Releases of Information (ROI). If you are another provider, you may send us your agency ROI, and we can listen to anything you want to share with us. However, we cannot confirm or deny any information without have our own written, signed, specific, time-sensitive ROI that is compliant with the Violence Against Women Act, and other confidentiality laws that protect survivor’s information.
If you are a property manager in Oregon, it’s important to know that survivors are a protected class in Oregon and have specific rights in regards to housing, here is a helpful guide on survivor’s housing rights:
  • Submitted a 14-day Lease Break Notice to flee domestic or sexual violence, with documentation such as a letter from a QVSP such as Home Free
  • No fees are allowed for early termination. Terminated the person who is or was causing harm from the lease. And more!
  • Home Free and other QVSPs can provide a letter to serve as documentation of the abuse. It does not have to be a protection order or legal charges, but those are other options for documentation.
If you are an employer in Oregon, it’s also important to know survivor’s employment protections,

To learn more about Domestic violence visit the Domestic Violence Protections for Workers Article.

  • These rights may include a transfer to a new location, reassignment, modifying their work schedule, unpaid leave, changing their work phone number, changing their workstation, installing locks, developing new safety procedures, or other adjustments after threatened or actual events.
  • As an employer, you also have the duty to keep the survivor’s information confidential.
  • Home Free and other QVSPs can provide a letter to serve as documentation of the abuse. It does not have to be a protection order or legal charges, but those are other options for documentation.
If you work for the Department of Humans Services (DHS) as a case manager or supervisor. There are some helpful things to note:
  • While QVSPs are not mandated reporters, this does not mean we ‘allow’ harm to continue. We are experts at safety planning and harm reduction to promote the safety and well-being of the family.
  • We work closely alongside the survivor (and their children or dependents), and we can do co-advocacy with DHS or any other provider, as long as the survivor wants us to, and they give us very specific details on what information we can share and what areas of their case plan we can support with in tandem with DHS.
  • Some DHS locations may have co-located Domestic Violence Advocates. If your branch does, they are a great resource and can help with understanding the dynamics of domestic violence and how that may or may not be showing up for your clients.

It is also important to note if you reach out to Home Free or another QVSP and ask them to call a survivor – that’s something we do not do because we don’t know if the survivor truly wants us to call them, and it may not be safe for the survivor. It’s best to ask the survivor to reach out to us directly, or you and the survivor can call us together. At that point, we can work and speak directly to the survivor and can safety plan and explore options and resources from there.