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Training Needs Assessment Final Report: February 2011Contact Us:mail@888-743-7545TABLE OF CONTENTSI. Introduction…………………………………………………..……………………………..4II. Services Organizations Offer………………………..……………………...…4III. Client Demographics Increases in the number of Latino clients receiving services in the last 5 years……5 Approximate percentage of clients that were Latino in the last year………………….5 Monolingual Spanish-speaking clients receiving services………………………………..6 Clients who are undocumented immigrants………………………………………………...6IV. Agency Readiness to Serve Latino Clients Has agency assessed its readiness to provide services to Latino clients………..……7 Does agency have a Limited English Proficiency (LEP) plan………………………...……7 Does training include a culturally specific component for working with Latino clients…………………………………………………………………………………………...8 Greatest challenges facing agency or community in successfully addressing domestic violence in Latino?populations……………………………………………...9V. Translation Most useful for agency to have in Spanish as brochures or pamphlets………….…11VI. Interpretation Does agency currently have access to someone who can interpret for monolingual Spanish speaking clients……………………………………………..…………….….11 What has been used most frequently to interpret for Spanish speaking clients…...12 Local Interpreter Is local interpreter trained in domestic violence………………………………………….12 Is interpreter certified…………………………………………………………………………..12 Has 24-hour coverage…………………………………………………………………………..12 Approximately how many hours out of the day has coverage……………….………..12 Local Person Has interpreter received training on interpreting………………………………………...12 Interpreter trained in domestic violence……………………………………………………12 Has 24-hour coverage…………………………………………………………………..………12 Approximately how many hours out of the day has coverage………………..……….12 Interpretation Service Does the service used train interpreters in domestic violence………………………...12 Who provides interpretation services………………………………………………………..12 Has 24-hour coverage………………………………………………………………………..…12 How many hours a day has coverage………………………………………………………..12 Bilingual Staff Member Is staff member trained in interpretation…………….…………………………...……….13 Is staff member trained in domestic violence…………………………………………..…13 Has 24-hour coverage………………………………………………………………………..…14 Approximately how many hours a day has coverage………………………………….…14 Other Interpretation Questions Is having access to interpretation services a need for the agency…………………….15If no, why not…………………………………………………..…………………………….15 What makes interpretation unavailable……………………………………………………...15VII. Training and Technical Assistance Needs Which of the following methods for receiving training on Latinos and domestic Violence would be most useful for agency…....................................................16 Importance of the following training topics for agency…………...…………………….16How likely to send staff to a national conference on Latinos and domesticviolence…………………………………………………………………………………….....18 How important are the following factors in decision to send staff to a conference…………………………………………………………………………………….19 Is agency able to access training resources over the Internet………………………....19 What kind of Internet connection is used………………………………………………19 Which web-based resources would be useful to agency……………….……..….…20 Additional comments or ideas for training…………………………………………………20 Would organization like to be a member of Enlace Latino……………………………...20IX. Technical and Training Assistance Recommendation..….22Training Needs Assessment – Final Report, February 2011I. INTRODUCTIONThe training needs assessment was conducted by New Mexico State University on behalf of Encuentro Latino National Institute on Family Violence. It was deployed on August 2, 2010 and was available for completion until February 8, 2011. There is a total of 46 questions that attempt to assess agencies current ability to serve Latino clients, their perception of their readiness to serve Latino clients, their needs for training and technical assistance, and their needs for training on serving Latinos in a culturally competent manner. Agencies were also asked if they would like to become a member of Enlace Latino or be contacted for technical assistance. The needs assessment was e-mailed to over 800 domestic violence shelters in the 16 targeted states (Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Nevada, North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia), the 4 border states (California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas), and the 5 states with the largest Hispanic populations (California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas) for a total of 23 states. As of the date of survey closing on February 8, 2011 there were 198 visits to the survey with 26 partial completions and 54 total completions. Additional reminder cards were sent to agencies whose correct e-mail addresses could not be located in order to encourage agencies to respond to the survey. II. SERVICES OFFEREDExactly half (50%) of survey respondents indicated that their agency provides domestic violence and sexual assault services, 37% indicated that they only provide domestic violence services, 6% categorized themselves as a state coalition, and 7% selected none of the above as being able to classify their services. No respondents classified their agency as providing solely sexual assault services. III. CLIENT DEMOGRAPHICSSeventy-six percent of respondents indicated that they have seen an increase in the number of Latino clients receiving services from their agency in the past 5 years, while 24% had not seen an increase. The average percentage of clients that were Latino in the past year seen at agencies is 29%, as indicated in the histogram below.Interestingly, 94% of agencies had monolingual Spanish speaking clients receive services from their agency. This indicates a need for Spanish language services to be available for these clients. Similarly, 96% of respondents stated that they have had clients who are undocumented immigrants, with implications similar to those previously mentioned, but in addition this points to a need for services such as an agency having capability of helping clients with U-Visas, T-Visas, and other immigration needs.IV. AGENCY READINESS TO SERVE LATINO CLIENTSConsidering the high percentage of agencies that have had clients who were monolingual Spanish speaking or undocumented, it is interesting to see that 22% had not assessed their readiness to serve Latino clients. Conversely, the fact that 78% had assessed their readiness points to the fact that apparently agencies are seeing a need to analyze their services in terms of compatibility with this population. Fifty-four percent of respondents indicated they have a Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Plan, and 46% did not. This points to a need to increase the percentage of agencies with an LEP plan. Only 22% of respondents indicated that their agency’s training includes a culturally specific component that is focused solely on Latinos. Fifty-eight percent have such training but only as a part of cross-cultural training in general. Twenty percent offer no culturally specific training for working with Latino clients.Fifty agencies responded to the question “what do you see as some of the greatest challenges facing your community in successfully addressing domestic violence in Latino populations?” Common themes included undocumented clients’ needs and barriers, fears of law enforcement and social services by the undocumented, lack of helpful attorneys, and needs for bilingual therapists, advocates, and staff. The following are their responses (some edited or shortened for relevancy): * The economic challenges non-documented women face * Overcoming barriers associated with machismo, finding attorney’s to help with immigration, fear of deportation* Bilingual therapists* In need of bilingual advocate* Transportation, income, fear of deportation, lack of services for immigration status assistance* Interpreters* Very limited resources in area to meet needs* Finding funding for interpreters* Limited resources to conduct outreach for Latino population, no Hispanic advocates* Finding qualified bilingual, bicultural staff* Language barrier, lack of bilingual advocates, materials in Spanish for clients* Having a full-time staff member who is bilingual* Lack of bilingual therapists and cross-cultural training* Lack of resources for undocumented shelter residents, lack of permanent housing options* Legal assistance and advice for Spanish speaking clients * Fear of being deported for coming to agency in a rural agency* Being in a rural location* Dispelling myths about immigration, retaining bilingual staff, keeping services accessible* Impacts of machismo and religious beliefs about marriage, immigration policies and factors* Increased enforcement of immigration employment policy causing difficulties for clients to find work or school* Outreach to Latino populations in rural areas* Fear to make police reports, lack of social security number causing problems accessing resources* Lack of funding for community awareness and prevention programs* Embarrassment and religion factors contributing to lack of reporting and awareness* Lack of enough bilingual staff* Immigration issues, education, language barriers* Providing outreach and information to Latino populations, translation services* Limited number of bilingual advocates, lack of transportation and reporting* Clients being undocumented* Lack of community resources for undocumented clients, how to serve those that cannot get a Uvisa* Lack of Spanish speaking therapists, difficulties doing outreach* Lack of law enforcement and other personnel that can speak Spanish* Institutional resistance for undocumented clients, discriminatory attitudes of shelter staff against the undocumented* Lack of appropriate, affordable housing* Recruiting Spanish speaking staff* Latinos lack of trust for the “system”, cultural norms about the normalcy of domestic violence* Public perception, anti-immigrant sentiments, misinformation in the Latino community, lack of bilingual staff, lack of resources for the undocumented* Non-profit status and being able to obtain funding when most clients are undocumented* Housing, health care, legal aid, food bank* Lack of resources for increasingly growing population* Fear of police, fear or deportation, lack of Spanish speaking staff, prejudice, lack of employment* Lack of Spanish speaking personnel at agencies they link with in the community* Lack of information in Spanish for clients, not reporting for fear of deportation* Lack of ability to find resources for undocumented clients* Domestic violence education for population, misperceptions in the community of agency reporting their immigration status, cultural norms* Language barriers from other service providers, lack of education in population, fear of deportation, police that do not speak SpanishV. TRANSLATIONThe following graph depicts the responses for what agencies feel be most useful for their agency to have in Spanish for brochures or pamphlets. The lowest priority (on a five point Likert scale) was brochures or pamphlets on child witnesses. Interestingly, another low priority topic was child abuse and neglect. Conversely, the highest ranked topic was legal system information, followed by immigration remedies in VAWA, crime victims’ rights, and safety planning. Ranking of other topics can be seen depicted on the following graph.VI. INTERPRETATIONNinety-four percent of agencies have access to someone who can interpret for monolingual Spanish speaking clients, while 6% indicated they do not. The following chart indicates how respondents interpret for their clients. In the “other” category, the three respondents indicated “local professional interpreter on staff,” “I am the advocate’s coordinator Spanish native speaker,” and “language bank.”LOCAL INTERPRETER Due to the low response rate for the following classifications of interpreters, no graphs will be displayed.Only a small fraction of respondents responded to the next question (n = 5) and of which they all indicated that their interpreter is trained in domestic violence. Two respondents reported that their local interpreter is certified, while the other three indicated their local interpreter was not. Four respondents indicated they have 24-hour coverage from their local interpreter, and one indicated they did not. When asked approximately how much coverage do they have from this person out of the day, the one respondent answered that they had 8 hours of coverage per day. LOCAL PERSONThree respondents indicated that their local person has not received training on interpreting, and two selected that their local person was trained in domestic violence, and one indicated that they had not. Two respondents reported that their local person is available for 24 hour coverage, and one respondent indicated they were not available 24 hours a day. One agency responded to the question of approximately how much of the day they had coverage and their response was “most of the day.”INTERPRETATION SERVICEIn response to the question, “does the service you use train their interpreters in domestic violence,” 3 agencies responded and indicated that it does not. When asked about where they received their services, 3 agencies responded and indicated Certified Languages International, Language Line (used to be called AT&T Language Line), and AT&T. Three responded yes when asked if they had 24-hour coverage with these services. BILINGUAL STAFF MEMBERFifty-four percent of agencies reported their bilingual staff member is trained in interpretation, while 46% indicated their staff member was not.Ninety-seven percent of agencies stated their bilingual staff member is trained in domestic violence.Sixty-six percent of agencies reported that they have 24-hour coverage, while 34% do not. As can be seen in the following graph, 8 agencies indicated they have 8 hours a day of coverage, 2 indicated they have 9, and 2 stated they have 12 hours a day of coverage.OTHER INTERPRETATION QUESTIONSThose who replied that they did not have access to interpretation were asked if having access to interpretation services was a need for their agency. Two agencies indicated that it was.Question 6 asked why there was not a need for interpretation services at the agency. One individual responded, stating that they have access to a language line. In response to question 7, “what keeps you from having interpretation available?” 2 agencies responded, one indicating the cost of interpretation services, the other indicating that they have access to a language line.VII. TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE NEEDSFor the question indicating the importance of the following training topics for the agency, respondents were asked to indicate the importance of the following topics on a 5-point Likert scale (from left to right, anchoring points are, very important, neutral, to not very useful). Thirty-two percent of agencies stated that it was “very likely” they would send their staff to a national conference of Latinos and domestic violence, while 24% indicated “highly unlikely”, and 44% stated “it depends.”Respondents indicated that cost and agenda were the most important factors in their decision to send staff to a conference, with keynote speakers being rated of the least importance. For the open-ended question asking respondents to identify additional comments or ideas for training, 8 agencies indicated:Information on LGBT issues for Latinos and domestic violenceHow to obtain funding for programsAssessment of services and population parameters in local area, culturally relevant servicesTrainings for Latino population and agency staffTraining for bilingual staff on immigration issuesOpportunities to share ideas and experiencesHow to obtain funding for programsKeeping a task force engaged and motivatedFor the question regarding what agencies would like assistance with, 25 responded and indicated: referral lists, VAWA assistance, program curriculum assistance for rural outreach programs, cultural and religious information on Latinos, training in general, training related to cultural diversity, financial and legal assistance for Spanish speaking victims, transitioning undocumented victims back into the community, advocacy training, outreach services, best practices for serving Latino communities, using media for outreach, working with Latinas who have substance abuse or mental health issues, interpreter training, organizational readiness assessment, video tapes in Spanish about domestic violence, LEP’s, recruiting and hiring Latino staff, more trainings, tutorials for training about immigration, resources for specific Latino community close to individual agency, domestic abuse and child abuse issue information for Latinos, services for Latina clients who are undocumented, law enforcement training information for UVisas, and cultural sensitivity training for staff. VIII. TECHNICAL AND TRAINING ASSISTANCE RECOMMENDATIONS Considering half of all agencies indicated they provide domestic violence and sexual assault services, technical and training assistance should be geared towards both domains when applicable. Ninety-four percent of agencies had monolingual Spanish speaking clients receive services, this points to a need to have LEP plans, information in Spanish, and bilingual staff and therapists available.Ninety-six percent of agencies had clients who were undocumented, pointing to a need to provide information and training resources for U and T visas as well as other needs and services for the undocumentedForty-six percent indicated they do not have an LEP plan, which is a necessity considering the high percentage of monolingual Spanish speaking clientsTwenty percent of agencies offer no cross-cultural training at all, and only 22% offer Latino specific cross cultural training, thus indicating a need for training and information to aid agencies in developing their own cross cultural and Latino specific training. Agencies identified most frequently that undocumented clients’ needs and barriers, fears of law enforcement and social services by the undocumented, lack of helpful attorneys, and needs for bilingual therapists, advocates, and staff, are all areas in their communities that make it difficult to address domestic violence in Latino communities. These points need to be addressed within agencies, communities, and at an institutional level. Education and training can help these agencies and communities gain a fuller awareness of the needs, barriers, opportunities, and services available to help them with these concerns. Legal system information, immigration remedies in VAWA, crime victims’ rights, and safety planning were all identified as being the most needed brochures in Spanish. Resources to obtain these and others should be made available to agencies. Although 74% of agencies have used a bilingual staff member, only 54% of these are trained in interpretation. This points to a high need to assist these agencies in locating and training their personnel professionally so that they are aware of and sensitive to the issues endemic to interpretation. Thirty-four percent of agencies do not have 24-hour coverage for bilingual staff, and this means that there are gaps in coverage that may be denying clients services they desperately need. Assistance in locating and being able to financially afford a 24 bilingual staff member should be provided to agencies. The methods for receiving training on Latinos and domestic violence that were most popular were 5 to 10 minute audiocasts, webinars, teleconferences, and newsletters with relevant information. Therefore, these avenues should be provided to agencies as the more accessible and appealing the form of information, the more likely that they will be utilized. The five top rated topics for agencies includes: helping undocumented clients transition out of shelter, increasing access to services for Latino clients, immigration remedies for undocumented victims of violence (self-petitions, Uvisas, Tvisas), increasing law enforcements understand of the provision of VAWA, and engaging communities in ending violence against Latina women. Focusing on these topics and having lots of information available on them will help agencies hone in on what is impacting them the most, making the most of training and information. Agenda, cost, and location were rated as being the most important variables to consider when sending staff to a conference. These should be viewed in terms of making conferences appealing and accessible to most needy agencies and locations. Links to useful resources, short and always available trainings, and online training manuals were all rated as being the most useful web-based resources for their agency. These should be incorporated into websites and other domains dedicated to Latinos and domestic violence. ................
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