In The News

GateHouse News Service
Tue Dec 18, 2007, 05:43 PM EST

Grant will help track domestic violence data in Massachusetts

By Peter Reuell

As the director of Voices Against Violence, a domestic violence and sexual assault counseling center, Mary Gianakis can tell you how many people seek out her program for help.

That number, unfortunately, is one of the few things Gianakis can point to when asked who the program serves and what type of help it offers. Thanks to a donation from the Verizon Foundation, though, that's about to change.

``There's really been no consistent way, across the state, for domestic violence and sexual abuse service providers to collect consistent data about the kind of services we're providing and who we're providing (them) to,'' Gianakis said.

``Not having access to that data put us at a disadvantage when we are trying to inform service delivery and when advocating at the State House,'' she added. ``How can we say we need X number of dollars when we have no data to back that up?''

The $50,000 grant, made to Jane Doe Inc., a coalition of 60 domestic violence and sexual assault counseling programs across the state, will help fund the creation of a data collection system at nearly two dozen agencies.

Though programs like Voices Against Violence collect some demographic information on clients to fulfill contract requirements, that information is too often haphazard and incomplete, Gianakis said.

``There's no way to put it all together and paint a big picture,'' she said.

The grant awarded yesterday, which covers half the $100,000 cost of rolling a data collection system out to more than 20 counseling centers, will do just that.

The idea, Jane Doe Executive Director Mary Lauby said, is to collect demographic information on clients, allowing programs to better meet the needs of their communities, and spot areas where additional services are needed.

``We've not had access to the sort of data we need to answer questions about ... the needs of our member programs,'' Lauby said.

Right now, Lauby said, the state provides funding to domestic violence programs, but that funding only covers a fraction of most programs' costs.

``So we only have data on that portion,'' she said. ``We never have a full picture because there's been no mechanism to collect that data.''
Stephanie Lee, regional director of public affairs for Verizon, said the notion of using technology to improve domestic violence counseling services was one officials found intriguing.

``We are always looking for programs that use technology to improve services,'' she said. ``It's very natural to integrate technology into (something like) education, but it's not always a natural fit on domestic violence.

``To use technology to track data and track services ... and possibly identify trends and eliminate some of these issues is really important.''

Peter Reuell can be reached at 508-626-4428, or at preuell@cnc.com.