What do chapters do?

Types of chapters

What all chapters do is work towards providing services for domestic violence victims and perpetrators. Different chapters may want to initially focus on different things, however.

Advocacy

If there are domestic violence services in the area, they start within the system: advocate for services being provided in their local area. This means getting to know the domestic violence (DV) community in your area, attending their meetings, and even going through their trainings and volunteering for them. You can get to know their perspective on the issue, and become trained in the process. Find allies within the DV community, and get to know them as a volunteer. It's a lot less work to open up existing services than to reinvent the wheel.

There typically is some amount of advocacy work involved in any SAFE chapter. However, it is often a good tactical decision to begin with advocacy work, becaues it is a good way to train yourself in the issues surrounding domestic violence. Also, since you will have worked within the system for a while, you'll have contacts who may be able to help you set up truly equitable services.

Support groups

Support groups are often the easiest thing to start with for a chapter. Support groups meet weekly or monthly, typically.

Hotlines

Setting up a hotline means setting up a volunteer program, acquiring either an answering service or hotline number, and making sure everyone is trained to deal with the needs of the callers.

Shelters

Shelters typically provide other services as well, but also offer temporary shelter for domestic violence victims. Other services provided include case management, legal advocacy, social services advocacy, and so on.

Services for perpetrators

Programs for perpetrators are very important as well. Groups offering these services typically involve a number of trained professionals.