It is the responsibility of all healthcare professionals to stay informed about resources such as shelters, mental health services, and programs for victims of domestic violence in their region.
ZeroV: Kentucky United Against Violence (formerly Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence)
ZeroV coordinates the efforts of 15 regional domestic violence programs in Kentucky that offer shelter and comprehensive services and runs a certification program for all domestic violence program staff. These programs assist with legal information and resources, counseling and support groups, case management, safety planning, and programs to assist victims to become autonomous (KCADV, n.d.-b).
The ZeroV also collaborates with the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault programs, schools, Children’s Advocacy Centers, local professionals, and community groups to increase understanding of domestic violence issues. ZeroV and its members have also worked to help pass legislation related to domestic violence, such as laws addressing warrantless arrest, emergency protective orders, mandated reporting, and marital rape.
The ZeroV website provides comprehensive information to the public and professionals about domestic violence prevention and resources, including:
- Training institute
- Legislative advocacy
- Housing programs
- Economic empowerment program
- Batterer intervention provider program
- Meaningful access for undocumented persons
- Referral information
- Protective orders information
- Risk minimization
- VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday, a notification system that alerts victims about a change in custody of an offender)
- Statistics
- Public assistance
- Publications
- Training materials
- Phone numbers
Safety Plans
A safety plan is something that an abuse victim can begin working on at any time. In a safety plan, the individual develops personalized and practical steps, both physical and psychological, to take while in the relationship, when planning to leave, and after leaving.
Although developing a safety plan may be beyond the scope or time constraints of most healthcare professionals, it is important that they are aware of the importance of such a plan and offer to refer patients to an individual or agency that can help them create one. A safety plan is intended to help a patient stay safe at all stages of the relationship. Nurses and other healthcare professionals should keep such forms and/or information available with other resources for domestic abuse victims.
Details on the elements of a safety plan, along with forms that a victim can use to create a plan, are available online. (See “Resources” at the end of this course.)
Protective Orders
In Kentucky, protective orders are issued under the civil law system. A protective order is a document that is signed by a judge and directs a specific person to stay away from the person who is seeking the protection in order to prevent additional acts of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
The “petitioner” files for protection against the “respondent” and requests that the respondent have no contact (by phone, text, email, social media, or through friends or family) with the petitioner, children, or others who need protection. The respondent may also be required to stay away from the petitioner’s home, school, work, or other designated areas. The respondent is required to leave a shared home and stop the abuse.
There are two types of protective orders:
- Domestic Violence Order: This type of order may be filed by spouses, former spouses, parents, children, grandparents, and grandchildren. Couples who have lived together or who have children in common may also file for a domestic violence order.
- Interpersonal Protective Order: This type of protective order is for people who are in or were in a dating relationship, for people who have been stalked, and for people who have been sexually assaulted.
Both types of protective orders are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. During business hours they may be obtained in the circuit clerk’s office of the county where a petitioner lives or the county to which a petitioner has fled to escape abuse. During nonbusiness hours the petitioner may contact local law enforcement or a domestic violence program. The petitioner completes a form, which is reviewed by a judge. The petitioner is then contacted regarding a court hearing, and law enforcement serves paperwork to the respondent. A temporary or emergency protective order is issued until the court hearing and the respondent may be arrested if the order is violated in the interim.
Petitioners may register for VINE PO (Victim Information Notification Everyday Protective Order) by phone or online (see “Resources” at the end of this course) and will receive an email or phone call notification that the respondent has received the paperwork and the court date. After the hearing, the judge may grant a long-term order that may last for up to three years. The petitioner must file a request to extend the order. There are no fees charged to the petitioner for a protective order (KCADV, 2017).
Associated Protections for Victims
In 2017, KRS 383.300/302 was amended to create lease protections to tenants who hold a domestic violence–related protective order to terminate a lease with 30 days’ notice to landlords. The law allows such tenants to change the locks at their own expense if they notify the landlord and provide them with a key. The law also allows landlords to bar abusers from the property and evict abusers based on orders of protection (KCADV, n.d.-c).
Crime Compensation Funds
The Kentucky Claims Commission (KCC) provides victims with crime compensation funds, assisting victims of violent crime who have no other resources to pay for the medical, funeral, counseling, dental, or other expenses resulting from the crime. Assistance also provides for lost wages of the victim or loss of support for someone dependent on the victim. The payments are made to either service providers or to claimants. The KCC aims to provide trauma-informed services to claimants, showing empathy during a traumatic period of their lives (KY PPC, n.d.).