How can case management training help you support domestic violence victims?

It's important to note that Case Management is survivor centered. You prioritize their safety, rights and needs as you help them to adequately respond to violence perpetrated against them.

Case management training equips me with specialized skills to support domestic violence victims effectively. It enhances my ability to assess their unique needs, develop comprehensive safety plans, and navigate resources. This training fosters a trauma-informed approach, ensuring sensitive and empowering support for those navigating the complexities of domestic violence.

It’s necessary to provide mental health services for survivors of DV. Often times, the legal system requires interactions with a violent partner post-separation & divorce, which can cause setbacks and delays in the recovery process. Assisting the client with resources & a plan to navigate this is extremely important. Often times, once the intimate partners are no longer together, the survivor is subjected to further domestic violence by their former partner, by way of the legal system, finances, stalking, continued threats & harassment. Often, these behaviors fly under the radar, leaving the survivor to manage this complicated situation. Having a support system that includes a number of informed advocates creates the best outcomes.

Case management is the ability to identify the Problems of your clients. Develop the holistic care plan of each client according to individual clients needs and therapeutic Rehabilitation processes. Apply Implementation strategy that suit each client's needs collaboratively inorder to treat the client's holistically to eliminate the chances of clients relapse. The monitoring and evaluation methods must be clear inorder to improve the quality of therapeutic Rehabilitation processes and stabilize clients healing process. Continuous effective educational support for the client's health maintenance be done without both caregivers and the client.

Case management training equips individuals with the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to provide comprehensive and compassionate support to domestic violence victims. It enables case managers to offer tailored assistance, connect victims with essential resources, and empower them to break free from abusive situations while prioritizing their safety and well-being.

Case management training helps case workers to learn how to deal with more vulnerable survivors such as PWDs and Children whose rights are suppressed by their guardians and care takers. Case workers are also able to deal with complex situations especially in Intimate Partner Violence where a survivor may want justice or rights yet they may not want to divorce their partners.

Case management in domestic violence cases involves complex challenges. Main issues encompass service access barriers like limited resources, stringent eligibility, and transportation difficulties. These cases demand ongoing vigilance and flexibility to adapt to clients' evolving situations, goals, or increasing violence. Case Managers must balance numerous tasks, meet tight deadlines, and adhere to documentation and policy standards. Furthermore, they face emotional strain and sometimes violence from the perpetrators and funs, with risks of burnout or vicarious trauma due to continuous exposure to clients' traumatic experiences. Hence, strong support systems and self-care practices are vital for professionals in this demanding field.

In our case as Rape Hurts Foundation, we have reached a point of counseling our case workers as their traumatized by the experiences of the survivors. In some cases, we have been forced to provide security to them especially when they're threatened by perpetrators or the perpetrators are in positions of authority. Many donors focus on sensitization, our case management initiatives get very little resources and yet they are very expensive to implement and run effectively. There is need to integrate technology to effectively store data and ease data collection and case planning for case workers. However, at RHF it's very complicated with the regular use of paper to store data considering the risk of breach of confidentiality and others.

- we need to regularly work closely with duty bearers i.e law enforcement organs to ensure safety of case workers while at work and also encourage their buy-in and collaboration with us in that work. - periodically case workers need to have counsellor sessions to help them over come the traumatic experiences that come along with doing their work. - There is need to integrate technology to ease data collection, storage and confidentiality. - There is need to more resource Mobilization for case management activities considering that resources are insufficient. This will help us to provide high quality services to the survivors. (We need donor linkages especially here in Uganda who support that kind of work)