Post by Lauresa Garnett

Did you know February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month? According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, almost 1 in 10 teens reports being physically abused by a boyfriend or girlfriend in the last year.

Teens who suffer dating abuse are subject to long-term consequences like alcoholism, eating disorders, promiscuity, thoughts of suicide, and violent behavior.  A striking 33 percent of adolescents in America are victim to sexual, physical, verbal, or emotional dating abuse and every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten.  Domestic violence and teen violence are just one of the many issues we address as Social Worker’s with HealthNet.  We assist patients with getting into domestic violence shelters, as well and creating a safety plan for those who are unable to leave immediately.  We provide them with resources for their families by connecting them to community agencies.

Every year our social work team makes aware of this issue by having a question and answer contest with all of HealthNet employees.  Lauresa Garnett and Donna Richardson are two of Healthnet’s social workers who are also a part of the IU Health Domestic Violence Coalition.  An organization developed and participated by IU Health employees who are concerns about this topic of abuse; this group exists to bring better awareness of abuse to our staff and patients.

For more information about HealthNet’s Social Services Department, please visit www.indyhealthnet.org.

Affordable housing is not easy to come by, and the possibility of being evicted and becoming homeless may be enough for a domestic violence victim to feel trapped.  The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced, at the end of October 2010, an advancement in its Violence against Women Act that will help protect domestic abuse victims from being evicted from their affordable housing units.  The advancement, seen here, makes it so that housing managers and owners must exhaust all possibilities of protecting victims before evicting them.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan stated that, “[t]his rule recognizes the need to protect victims of domestic abuse from being evicted just because they were victimized.”

The announcement dropped at a perfect time being at the end of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and advocates were thrilled to hear this because it is not every day that you see a direct effect of raising awareness.   Hearing a victory for advocacy is always a bright side because it gives hope to all organizations and all causes – if people work hard enough for something, then it is possible to see change!

Advocacy for homeless prevention and domestic abuse is seen everyday through HealthNet’s Better Indy Babies, Healthy Families, and Homeless Initiative Programs.  You, too, can be an advocate simply by learning more or donating.  Even a generous $25 to any of these programs will open many doors.