About this Training

This training has been designed for anyone working to support children, youth, or families experiencing intimate partner violence. 

The beginning

In 2005, a group of people who were concerned about the impact of intimate partner violence on children and youth came together to create a vision for a responsive system for children exposed to violence in their homes. 

They began to listen to the community and to youth who had grown up with domestic violence. Click here to listen to "Hear Our Voices" digital stories. 

In 2008, the Safe & Bright Futures project developed a vision of a system-wide approach to better serve the needs of children impacted by intimate partner violence. The goals of the project were to: 

  • Illuminate the intensity, breadth, and pervasiveness of exposure to intimate partner violence.

  • Build awareness.

  • Form a community wide partnership to enact change (community and systems levels).

They knew then that the issue of childhood exposure to intimate partner violence was interconnected with many other issues. They knew they would need to engage the whole community to make a significant difference.

Workgroups

So, in 2009, the Safe & Bright Futures Steering Committee put out an invitation to come together and to build upon our strengths to create a responsive system. A broad range of stakeholders working to support children, youth, and families engaged in an Appreciative Inquiry process in which key themes were developed to guide the collaborative work:

  1. Knowledge and Learning - We challenge and transform how we think about our work.

  2. Organizational Practices - We leverage our learning and embed effective practices and policies into our work.

  3. Partnerships and Collaboration - We transcend boundaries and create collaborative strategies focusing on prevention and early intervention.

  4. Increasing Awareness - We make this issue vital and relevant to the community.

  5. Data and Evaluation - We use data to influence and tell the story of community change.

Thematic work groups began to prototype their learning and in 2011 put their ideas into action.

This curriculum is the result of one of the prototypes and was developed to increase awareness and to expand our knowledge and learn with and from the community about the effects of intimate partner violence on children. 

You can go to the Learning Catalogue to get an overview of the modules in the curriculum.