Mobilizing to End Domestic Violence in the African American Community: A Contract for Change

Contract - "an agreement or promise for the performance of some action"

Hyatt Regency Long Beach Hotel
Long Beach, CA
MARCH 19 - 20, 2007

Conference Overview

Don't miss this powerful, informative, and inspiring national conference, where you will hear from key leaders in the domestic violence and civil rights movements, as well as from experts from fields that intersect with intimate partner violence, such as substance abuse, sexual assault, and gangs. Through keynote addresses, panel discussions, and workshops, this conference will illuminate strategies for mobilizing concerned stakeholders toward developing a contract to confront violence and other challenges facing the African American community. Come out and be a part of this pioneering event, where we will strengthen ties, build bridges, and make personal commitments toward mobilizing our communities for change. Mark your calendar and check back here for further details. Click here to view the conference abstract and a tentative agenda for this two-day conference.

Back to Top

SPEAKERS

Click on the speakers name for more information.

Leah Aldridge Associate Director - Youth Violence Prevention	Ted Bunch Co-Founder A Call To Men	Rubin "Hurricane" Carter Speaker, Activist, and Author	Vickii Coffey Executive Director of the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women's Network
Phyllis Craig-Taylor Professor School of Law North Carolina Central University	Warren Edwards Community Activist Feeding the Least to Increase the Peace	Gail Garfield Associate Professor John Jay College of Criminal Justice City University of New York	Dr. Linner Ward Griffin Professor, School of Social Work & Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs East Carolina University Greenville, North Carolina
Shelia Hankins Project Director for the Family Independence Agency, Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board	Robert Hampton Provost/Executive Vice President Tennessee State University	Esther Jenkins Professor of Psychology Chicago State University in Chicago, Illinois	Joleen Jones Domestic Violence, Anger Management, and Violence Prevention Counselor for African American Family Services in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Adrienne LaMar Associate Director Jenesse Center	Charles "Chuck" McDew Civil Rights Leader	Anne Menard Director of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence	Reverend Al Miles Author, Domestic Violence Advocate Coordinator, Hospital Ministry Department Queen's Medical Center Honolulu , HI
William Oliver Associate Professor Department of Criminal Justice Indiana University	Ben Owens Cease Fire Committee of Los Angeles Los Angeles , CA	Ellen Pence Founder Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP) Duluth, MN	Marcus Pope Associate Director Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community
Tiombe Preston Marriage and Family Therapist Program Manager California Black Women's Health Project	Jeanette Raymond Initiative for Violence Free Families of Family & Children's Service Minneapolis , MN	Johnny Rice, II COO of COIL, Inc. and Adjunct Faculty University of Baltimore 's Division of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Social Policy	Beth E. Richie, Ph.D. Professor, Criminal Justice Department and Women's Studies Program University of Illinois at Chicago
Ruth Slaughter PROTOTYPES Divisional Director of Community Outreach, Prevention and Education Programs	V.J. Smith Men Against Destruction, and Defending Against Drugs and Social-disorder (MAD DADS) Minneapolis Chapter	Joyce Thomas,R.N., M.P.H., P.N.P President and Co-Founder Center for Child Protection and Family Support Washington, DC	Antonia A. Vann Chief Executive Office and Founder of Asha Family Services, Inc.
Tommy Walker Cease Fire Committee of Los Angeles Los Angeles , CA	Rev. Mary Walton , MSW, M.Div. Senior Program and Management Consultant Interval House Domestic Violence Crisis Shelter	Joseph White, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Psychiatry University of California , Irvine	Oliver J. Williams , Ph.D. Executive Director Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community Professor, School of Social Work University of Minnesota at St. Paul
Gail Elizabeth Wyatt, Ph.D. Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, UCLA Associate Director of the UCLA AIDS Institute

Back to Top

TENTATIVE AGENDA

Presented by Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community in partnership with U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women

 

Tentative Conference Agenda

Back to Top

WORKSHOPS

1. Prisoner Reentry, Gangs, and Domestic Violence
   Gangs are a significant concern in many low-income, high stress African American communities. Violence is a characteristic of these gangs, not only with other gangs, but in families, in the community, in prison and particularly in intimate partner relationships. Further, among the 2 million Americans who are incarcerated, nearly 50% are African Americans. African Americans are disproportionately represented among the 650,000 individuals who are released annually from state and federal correctional institutions. Very little attention has been devoted to the sources of stress and conflict that exist between incarcerated and/or recently released prisoners and their intimate partners or how these factors may serve as a catalyst for domestic violence. This presentation will explore how to help female victims of violence when women are in relationship with a gang member. It also aims to increase participants' awareness of how prisoner reentry and domestic violence are linked in the African American community, and enhance the capacity of domestic violence advocates, community-based organizations, and concerned individuals to provide services to women who are at risk of experiencing domestic violence when a man is released from prison.
2. Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange
   Research indicates that separated and divorced women are more likely to experience intimate partner violence, and women are most at danger when they leave a relationship. When children and custody issues are a part of these relationships, women face a unique set of issues and circumstances concerning their safety. Communities must establish locations and methods where the visits with or exchanges of children between parents will occur safely. Participants in this workshop will consider the needs of the African American community and culturally appropriate strategies for providing safe opportunities for these visits to occur.
3. Substance Abuse
   Substance abuse has posed a significant challenge to the African American community since the early 1980s. Although substance abuse does not cause domestic violence, the intersection is much too significant to ignore. There is a high co-occurrence between these two issues, yet we tend to respond to them separately, often without a coherent and cohesive approach that recognizes their intersection. This session is an opportunity to examine how we might develop an approach to address these important concerns.
4. HIV/AIDS and Other Health Issues
   HIV/AIDS and relationship violence are related in two ways. Family and domestic violence, along with other types of violence exposure, including child abuse and maltreatment, sexual abuse, and witnessing violence, puts women at risk for HIV/AIDS infection. Also, individuals with HIV /AIDS are more likely to be battered. This presentation examines the dynamics involved in the relationship between HIV/AIDS and domestic violence and the need to treat domestic violence as both a risk factor and consequence of HIV/AIDS. The workshop will also touch on other health issues associated with the incidence of domestic violence.
5. Child Well-Being and Domestic Violence
   Children who are exposed to domestic violence are more likely to be abused and neglected, suffer from depression and post traumatic stress disorder, have a poor self-image, and exhibit aggression and acting out behavior. Further, there is a high co-occurrence these two issues and African American children over represented in the child welfare system and children being taken from their abused mothers. This workshop will explore the rates and dynamics of how this occurs within the African American community and the impact on battered mothers who often held accountable for the violence that they and their children experience.
6. Fatherhood
   The role of fathers in the lives of their children is very significant. However, healthy fatherhood should be the goal, not fatherhood at any cost. In many cases, men continue relationships with their ex-partner and his children following domestic violence. In those cases where domestic violence occurs, the question is how can we encourage men who have a history of abuse to end their violence and abuse with their ex-partner and children or any future partners or children. This workshop will present examples of collaborations between domestic violence and fatherhood organizations that address this issue, as well as the impact of domestic violence on father-child relationships and the capacity to co-parent.
7. Faith-based Approaches
   Faith-based groups have the opportunity to unite and inspire the community to change and heal. With regard to domestic violence, faith-based organizations have varied in their support of battered women. The purpose of this session is to explore how churches and other faith-based organizations can provide a message and craft a response to address domestic violence in the African American community through uniting, inspiring, healing individuals, as well as encouraging individuals and communities to change.
8. Teen Dating and IPV
   Statistics show that youth and young adults between the ages of 15 and 24 experience high rates of violence, both as victims and as perpetrators. This is true on a number of levels, including intimate partner violence, acquaintance violence, and family violence. In this workshop, you will hear from experts who work with teens and young adults in the African American community who will discuss the issues facing this population. Presenters will provide insight into effective approaches to engaging young people, identifying their needs, encouraging them to make positive choices, and developing intervention strategies that are relevant and focused on transformation.
9. Sexual Assault
   African American women have a long history of being victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. Yet, throughout the years, these issues have received very little attention. Sexual assault occurs in many forms, such as rape and incest, all of which have devastating effects whose impact extends beyond the victim herself, to her family. As women seek to receive help around these issues from mental health practitioners and other programs, the underlying issue of sexual assault often goes unaddressed. This workshop will explore the issue of sexual assault in the African American community. Presenters will discuss the various needs of victims and will provide recommendations for developing community supports focused on prevention and intervention efforts around sexual assault.

Back to Top

LOGISTICAL INFORMATION

Meeting and Lodging Site

Please note: The host hotel for the conference, Hyatt Regency Long Beach , has reached its capacity for sleeping rooms at the conference rate of $159/night.  You may still make reservations at the Hyatt Regency; however, current prevailing rates range from $239 - $279 per night. The toll-free reservation line for the Hyatt Regency is 1.888.421.1442. The Renaissance Long Beach Hotel is providing overflow rooms at $159/night plus tax for the nights of Sunday, March 18 th through Tuesday, March 20 th . The Renaissance is located at 111 East Ocean Boulevard and is approximately two blocks from the Hyatt Regency. These rooms are subject to availability, so please make your reservations as soon as possible, but no later than Monday, March 12 th , 2007. The toll-free reservations line is 800-468-3571. Please ask for the "University of Minnesota Institute on Domestic Violence Conference" group rate. As other options become available, we will post this information immediately.

Hyatt Regency Long Beach
200 South Pine Avenue
Long Beach , CA 90802

Phone: 562.491.1234

The meeting and lodging site for the conference is the Hyatt Regency Long Beach, located just 20 miles south of Los Angeles , California . The site is accessible via two airports - Long Beach Airport , which is closest to the hotel; and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which may offer more travel options.

Lodging

Please note: The host hotel for the conference, Hyatt Regency Long Beach , has reached its capacity for sleeping rooms at the conference rate of $159/night.  You may still make reservations at the Hyatt Regency; however, current prevailing rates range from $239 - $279 per night. The toll-free reservation line for the Hyatt Regency is 1.888.421.1442. The Renaissance Long Beach Hotel is providing overflow rooms at $159/night plus tax for the nights of Sunday, March 18 th through Tuesday, March 20 th . The Renaissance is located at 111 East Ocean Boulevard and is approximately two blocks from the Hyatt Regency. These rooms are subject to availability, so please make your reservations as soon as possible, but no later than Monday, March 12 th , 2007. The toll-free reservations line is 800-468-3571. Please ask for the "University of Minnesota Institute on Domestic Violence Conference" group rate. As other options become available, we will post this information immediately.

Ground Transportation

The Hyatt Regency Long Beach is located about 15 minutes from Long Beach Airport and approximately 35 minutes from LAX.

To/From Long Beach Airport :

By Taxi: Yellow Cab offers a flat rate of $19 one-way from the airport to the hotel for those who request this special fare. Failure to request the special rate will result your being charged the standard rate. This special rate is available only through Yellow Cab. Reservations are not required.

By Shuttle: SuperShuttleT provides service from the airport to the hotel for $17 per person, one-way. Reservations must be made in advance by calling 1-800-Blue-Van.

To/From LAX Airport:

By Taxi: Taxi service from LAX is approximately $50 to $60 one-way.

By Shuttle: SuperShuttleT provides service from LAX 24 hours a day, approximately every 10 minutes, for $17 per person, one-way. The SuperShuttleT kiosk is located near baggage claim. Reservations are not required unless special assistance - e.g., wheelchair accessibility - is needed. Call 1-800-Blue-Van.

Parking

Hotel parking is available for those attending the conference.

Valet Parking - $16/day
Self Parking - $12/day

Local Attractions

The location of the Hyatt Regency Long Beach offers access to many local attractions. The historic Queen Mary cruise ship and the Aquarium of the Pacific are within walking distance; the Pike offers several shops, restaurants, and eateries; there are 50 restaurants in the immediate area; and the Convention Center is next door. For celebrity watchers, the hotel is a mere 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles/Hollywood.

Back to Top

REGISTRATION

The 2007 Conference entitled, “Mobilizing to End Domestic Violence in the African American Community: A Contract for Change” is sponsored by The Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community. Registration includes all briefing materials, continental breakfast on both days, and admission to the awards luncheon.

Pre-registration for the conference is now closed; however, there is still space available. You may register on-site at the conference on Sunday, March 18, 2007 between 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. or on Monday, March 19, 2007 starting at 7:30 a.m. Registration will take place at the host hotel, the Hyatt Regency Long Beach , located at 200 South Pine Avenue . Look for the registration table on the third floor, in front of the Regency Ballroom.

Back to Top