Gateway reps part of ICCR team

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The Institute for Coordinated Community Response (ICCR), a program of the Conference on Crimes Against Women (CCAW), kicked off its 2020 training series in Mitchell and Fisher counties last week, offering free training and assistance to help rural communities improve their responses toward domestic violence.

The team includes Gateway Family Services Executive Director Lyndia Allen and Program Director Jennifer Taylor.

“This year, (Gateway’s) client numbers were down between mid-March and the end of April, and they began picking up again May 1 when the stay at home orders were eased,” Allen said. “We expect to see an increase in new clients more in the coming weeks. Historically, Gateway has set new shelter night record numbers during oil industry downturns. When oil and service companies lay workers off, we see a large increase in family violence victims seeking shelter.”

In the wake of oilfield layoffs in 2015, they set a new record high number of shelter nights.

“We had to cancel our spring and summer fundraisers due to COVID-19 and the downturn in the oil industry so it will be a challenge to serve more clients with less funds,” she said.

Allen said that small towns and counties like those in Gateway’s service area of Scurry, Nolan, Fisher, Mitchell and Kent counties often have small budgets for law enforcement training, especially in crimes like domestic violence and sexual assault. Gateway grants scholarships to law enforcement officers when it can, and last year, two deputies that received CCAW scholarships wanted to apply to be part of the 2020 ICCR training cohort.

“Gateway and the district attorney for Mitchell and Fisher counties joined them in the application process and both counties were accepted,” Allen said. 

“Ours is the first time ICCR has combined two counties in a training and did so because both counties are served by the same DA, Ricky Thompson.”

The team has already completed two introductory online meetings and will have its first in-person meeting on Friday to begin learning and working through a best practices assessment tool. 

In addition to receiving training on collaboration and domestic violence response, a team made up of law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and advocates from the Mitchell and Fisher counties will work to identify unique strengths and areas for growth in the Scurry County community.

“The goal is to provide consistent, comprehensive services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault,” Allen said. 

“We will review every step of the process from the first phone call or walk-in to law enforcement or Gateway where the victim reports the crime, filing charges if the victim decides to, law enforcement’s investigation, to prosecution and through the legal system, to all the services we provide.”