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April 5, 2008 - The Times-Picayune
'Redefined' Crescent House still aiding women
By Peter Finney, Jr.
The numbers are staggering. Nationwide, one out of every four women is a victim of domestic violence, and that sad story is recounted daily by the women who come to Crescent House Healing and Empowerment Center seeking to escape an abusive husband or boyfriend.
Since the 1970s, Crescent House, a program of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, has been the major provider of services in Orleans Parish to women fleeing abusive or violent family situations, said Mary Claire Landry, director.
As the U.S. marks Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April, Crescent House goes beyond catchy marketing slogans or Oprah-come-lately awareness of domestic violence. It has been protecting women and families for more than 30 years.
“Crescent House started in the late 1970s as the first domestic violence shelter in the state of Louisiana,” Landry said. “We were the first to really offer residential (shelter) services to victims of domestic violence. We were also the first in the state to offer a longer-term, transitional housing program.”
Changing model
Hurricane Katrina forced Crescent House to change its model of care. The large house that had served for 30 years as the program’s emergency shelter – with six apartments for women and their children – burned to the ground three days after the storm.
The loss of the main shelter forced Crescent House to “redefine” its services and think of alternative ways to keep women and their children safe. The program now provides hotel vouchers for emergency stays and also leases four apartments in the area.
“What the survivors are telling us is they like their independence and the privacy they have,” Landry said.
"We’re probably close to the same number of emergency shelter beds as we had when we had the shelter. We’ll probably continue to use this model until the archdiocese and Catholic Charities make a final decision.”
Partnerships for safety
Crescent House now works in conjunction with the Family Justice Center to provide intensive case management for women fleeing domestic abuse. Crescent House offers a 24-hour crisis line – (504) 866-9554 – individual and group counseling, court advocacy, legal services such as protective court orders and assistance with custody hearings, a police department liaison, immigration advocate and children’s advocates.
“The two main things we do are handling the initial crisis call and doing safety planning to help the woman identify what steps she can take to make sure she is safe,” Landry said.
The judgment on whether or not a woman should leave an abusive situation is made by the woman after she fills out a questionnaire analyzing the risks she faces. It is called a “lethality” assessment. Answers are assigned values, and the total score indicates a certain risk factor.
Assessment tool helps
“That helps us determine how much danger we think the woman is in,” Landry said. “If she feels like she is in danger, then we can figure out a plan and determine whether she needs to leave the city. If she doesn’t think she will be safe in a hotel or with her family, then we can work with the domestic violence community outside the city or across the country. We can provide the transportation, whether it’s a bus or even an airplane.
We’ve gotten women out of town in a couple of hours. If she wants to stay in the city, we’ll work with her to be safe.” Landry said the woman is “the best predictor” of her spouse’s or boyfriend’s future behavior. “She knows the batterer, and she knows his trends and his behaviors,” Landry said.
We know from the research that the time she is trying to leave is the most dangerous time for her. It may be safer her to stay in a situation until she gets the kind of plan she needs. We work with him to develop the resources she needs. It may be an immediate plan or a plan that covers a period of months. We empower her to make that decision.”
For instance, Landry said, sometimes it is not safe for the woman to return to work because her batterer might be able to stalk her there. “Some people say, ‘Why doesn’t the woman just leave?’” Landry said. “Well, the facts are that there are children involved and employment involved not as simple as just walking out and leaving.”
The 24-hour crisis hotline for Crescent House is (504) 866-9554. The statewide Louisiana Domestic Violence crisis hotline is 1-888-411-1333. The New Family Justice Center offers advocacy on legal, criminal justice and police issues. It can be reached at (504) 592-4005. |
