Education + Prevention
Are a Big Part of Ending DV.
Ask us anything. Seriously.
CCADV’s Training Institute is dedicated to strengthening the knowledge and skills of DV advocates, health professionals, law enforcement, and all community stakeholders invested in improving outcomes for survivors and their families.
We focus on the most pressing areas of need identified by survivors, advocates and our community partners, working to ensure current and innovative best practices are shared within the field. Our training team of CCADV staff, state and national consultants work to provide comprehensive domestic violence education that bolsters the ability of participants to be leaders within their communities.
View some of our prevention initiatives:
Together, we have the power to create change.
Primary prevention is at the heart of our work to end domestic violence in Connecticut. CCADV trains, coordinates and provides technical support to Community Educators & Prevention Specialists across our 18 member organizations to build and implement sustainable prevention models. With the expertise of advocates, health professionals, and key community partners, we develop strategic prevention plans to address this preventable public health crisis. Our 2021-2023 plan focuses on five overarching strategic directions:
- Implement anti-racist social-emotional learning models for youth and teens throughout Connecticut to drive violence prevention priorities both within and outside the school system.
- Address the Social Determinants of Health and focus on root causes of violence in our communities.
- Promote mentorship programs for both youth and adults, valuing survivors, children, and people who formerly used violence for the unique contributions they can make to their community.
- Meet people where they are by effectively utilizing social media to promote IPV prevention goals and strategies.
- Collaborate and create the conditions for collaboration between IPV service providers and the larger academic community to investigate critical IPV prevention drivers and to forge new relationships for information sharing.
Life has its own playbook. How will you write yours?
Coaches play an important role in the lives of young athletes, often influencing the kind of young person they are, and the adults they will become. They are uniquely positioned to positively affect how young men and young women think and behave, helping to create leaders both on and off the field. Principles of teamwork and fair play make sports an ideal platform to teach healthy relationship skills. That’s why we started TeamUp Connecticut, a breakthrough social-emotional school program that uses sports as a platform to end dating violence.
TeamUp Connecticut is the primary focus of CCADV’s prevention work that combines the nationally-recognized Coaching Boys Into Men program created by Futures Without Violence with the CCADV-compiled Coaching Girls To Leaders curriculum. Through brief weekly conversations guided by simple play cards that we provide, coaches disrupt pathways toward bullying, dating violence, and domestic violence. Focused on pillars of respect, integrity, nonviolence, confidence and resilience, in just one season coaches can have an impact that lasts a lifetime.
To learn more about our free training and how your team can be part of TeamUp Connecticut, please contact Miguel Rios, TeamUp Coordinator, at mrios@ctcadv.org or (959) 202-5068.
Building a consistent, authentic approach.
A big part of our work at CCADV is supporting the direct services provided by our 18 member organizations. Over 400 advocates work across our membership every day to meet the increasingly complex needs of nearly 40,000 survivors annually. Their tireless dedication has never been more apparent than during the pandemic, when they stepped up in remarkable ways to remain open and available as incidents of domestic violence began to rise.
It is our commitment to develop and lead innovative policies and best practices that support a consistent, authentic approach to domestic violence services across Connecticut. We provide ongoing training and technical assistance in all areas of service that strive to build a strong advocate knowledge base so that they may help survivors and their families thrive.
