Laurel House

Legal support/emergency response/advocacylegal support: domestic abuse response team advocates provided court accompaniment, support, and other forms of legal advocacy to domestic violence survivors to help them navigate the criminal and civil justice systems. Laurel House advocates attended 93 criminal justice hearings and 286 protection from abuse order hearings for a total of almost 800 hours of legal advocacy and supports to program participants.emergency response: staff and volunteers are trained to respond to requests from hospital emergency rooms and law enforcement. Immediate crisis response was provided to 754 victims referred by law enforcement, emergency rooms, and other medical offices. Advocacy: the organization also advocates for social change. Examples of advocacy activities include: staff member participation in community tasks forces and other committee work to address issues related to domestic violence; communication with elected officials to keep them informed of domestic violence issues; training new volunteers as domestic violence advocates in the community; partnering with businesses and individuals who host events featuring Laurel House and messages of domestic violence awareness; and sponsoring an internship program that offers local college students practical experience in the field of domestic violence. A total of 23 graduate/undergraduate students particpated in the internship program this year. Laurel House engaged in 228 systems advocacy contacts for a total of 532 hours of working with allied professionals and partners on enhancing systemic responses to better support victims of domestic violence in our community.

Community education: Laurel House believes that our prevention and outreach activities are incredibly important when combatting domestic violence in our community. That is why, each year our community education team works hard to outreach to the large number of public-school districts, colleges, and private schools in montgomery county. Laurel House's community education department presented a total of 472 sessions including primary prevention programs, training sessions, and education/ awareness. In total, 7,124 individuals were reached. Laurel House staff spent 368 hours delivering community education.continued on schedule o:in total, Laurel House presented to 44 different agencies, including 27 different school-based and youth agencies, including 15 public school districts, 4 private schools, 7 colleges/ universities, 5 community organizations, and 2 businesses. In addition to our prevention work in school, we also provide community awareness and training to allied professionals and other partner organizations. This year, Laurel House provided 50 trainings to 725 allied professionals and attended 48 community-wide events helping to raise awareness about domestic violence and the vital services offered by Laurel House.

Emergency shelter/transitional housing:emergency shelter program: for those in immediate danger, our safe haven center, a 12-room emergency shelter owned outright by Laurel House, provides refuge for up to 27 individuals. This year Laurel House's safe haven center provided 7,429 nights of emergency shelter to 111 adults and 98 children. The emergency shelter is where our services intersect. Based at our shelter, our advocates not only support hotline callers but also provide case management for residents. Continued on schedule o:they help survivors secure vital documents, connect to internal and external services, prepare for job interviews, and work with our housing case manager to identify safe, stable housing options. Also, housed within the shelter is the housing case manager who works with survivors to find safe, affordable, and sustainable housing.transitional housing: this program provides a "bridge" between the residential shelter program and independent community living. Laurel House maintains apartments in montgomery county to House and support post-shelter families. In addition to subsidized rent, bridge housing families receive counseling and case management, as well as specialized services for their children. 14 families were housed in Laurel House's transitional housing apartments and participated in individual and group counseling, children's services, and individualized case management.

Counseling services/children's program:provided 8791 hours of individual and group counseling to domestic violence victims.provided 183 hours of specialized supportive services to 57 children who were affected by domestic violence.counseling services: trained domestic violence counselors are available in 5 different locations throughout montgomery county at no cost, to provide individual and group counseling to those affected by domestic violence, including dating violence. Counselors provided 8791 hours of counseling to victims of domestic violence, both to those living in the shelter and housing programs, and to those living in the community.children's program: the children's advocate is able to provide specialized support to any child whose parent participates in any Laurel House program. 292 hours of service were provided to the children of Laurel House clients. The children's advocate also provided support to parents of each of those children to ensure that they had the necessary skills and tools to meet their children's educational, developmental, and medical needs.