Program Descriptions

The domestic violence and sexual assault programs serve as the core for the services provided by the Fort Bend County Women's Center. These programs and the projects that support them work together for a holistic approach to client service. Clients in either program are part of the shelter/resident project or the aftercare/non-resident project. The outreach and education, children's services, volunteer, learning resource center, thrift and resale shop, and public relations programs are components of both projects.

Domestic Violence Program
The Domestic Violence Program provides shelter, counseling/crisis intervention, case management, advocacy and accompaniment, and aftercare services to women and children who are victims and survivors of family violence. As part of this program the Center provides referrals to medical, legal, and employment services and grants emergency assistance for food, clothing, rent, and transportation. National statistics say that a woman will leave her batterer an average of 9 times before she leaves permanently. Through new program initiatives, the Fort Bend County Women's Center has helped 89% of its clients remain violence-free and independent.

Sexual Assault Program
The Sexual Assault program provides rape crisis services, accompaniment and advocacy, counseling/crisis intervention services, and case management services. In addition, the program works in collaboration with the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (S.A.N.E) program to provide survivors and their families with support, information, and referrals related to the trauma and forensic evidence collection examinations. In the year 2001, the program served 181 survivors of sexual assault.

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Service Descriptions

Shelter/Resident Project
The shelter project provides both a 24-hour Crisis Hotline and emergency shelter for women and children who are victims of family violence and sexual assault. The basic services the Shelter offers include shelter, food, clothing, emergency and basic medical care in the on-site clinic or by referral, transportation, weekly case management, a wellness room, children's services, and a Learning Resource Center. Shelter clients also have the option of individual, family, or group counseling to support their healing and growth into independent living. In the year 2001, the Shelter served 278 women and 377 children for a total of 655 resident clients.

Aftercare Project
The Aftercare Project is designed to provide families exiting the shelter and clients not needing shelter with individualized assistance to achieve self-sufficiency and establish households independent of their batterer. Services offered through this program include home-based counseling and advocacy for women and children, rental and other financial assistance, transportation services, job training and use of the Learning Resource Center, parenting and life skills classes, case management and crisis intervention. In the year 2001, the project served 456 women, 10 men, and 213 children for a total of 679 non-resident clients and 2,184 service days.

Outreach and Education
The Outreach and Education component's goal is to prevent family violence and sexual assault through educational outreach to parents, students, educators, the medical community, law enforcement, and religious and ethnic groups. The Center's own presentation, “Creating Healthy Relationships,” was seen by 1,280 students from area schools during the 2000-01 school year. Key topics of discussion in this program include the dynamics of family and date violence and sexual assault, the signs of abuse, how to help someone in an abusive relationship, power and control cycles, the difference between sexual harassment and flirting, date rape, the components of a healthy relationship, and self esteem/self concept.

Children's Project
The Children's Project works actively with children to provide assessment tools, parenting skills training, experiential field trips, and learning opportunities for children and their parents. It has expanded to include childcare with structured play activities.

The Children's Program collaborates with the University of Houston Psychology Department to recruit and train interns who provide children's services. The Center has also added a Children's Services Coordinator to the shelter staff to perform child mental health screenings in order to identify serious child behavior problems and obtain help for them, catch problematic family interactions that must be reported to the proper authorities, and provide mothers with important objective information about their children's current level of adjustment and to make referrals for evaluation and treatment.

Resale Centers
The Thrift Store and Resale Shop provides both resident and non-resident clients with free clothing, furniture, and other items necessary to support independent living. The shop offers “Sweet Charity” furniture pick-up services to donors, and also sells reduced-price merchandise to the public. All the shop's proceeds benefit the Center's programs. More...

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