Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA) 101

This training is designed for attorneys, judges, prosecutors, service providers, and other advocates to learn more about the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA). The DVSJA, enacted in New York in May of 2019, expands judicial discretion and sentencing alternatives for survivors convicted of crimes related to abuse, and allows currently incarcerated survivors to be resentenced and released earlier. It is the first sentencing reform of its kind in the country, and one of the only sentencing reform efforts to include survivors convicted of serious violent crimes and offenses involving harm to people other than an abuser.

Each training is modified to meet the needs, experiences and perspectives of the group participating. Potential training topics include:

• Organizing History - Legislative Campaign & Advocacy

• Sentencing Relief: Eligibility, Criteria & Reduced Ranges

• DVSJA at time of sentencing

• DVSJA post-conviction

• How to build a narrative for DVSJA sentencing cases 

• Use of Experts/Interdisciplinary Support

Trauma of Incarceration: Providing Culturally Competent Services When Working with People in Jail or Prison.

This workshop was designed to help individuals, advocates, and organizations better understand the dynamics of incarceration and its impact on people, particularly on survivors of domestic violence. The training helps attendees build a practice that is trauma-informed and culturally competent when they work with people who are incarcerated or have been incarcerated. In this 90 minute interactive workshop,  participants explore what a strengths-based approach looks like with respect to formerly and currently incarcerated people and addresses the needs of a marginalized and underserved segment of the domestic violence survivor community.

The workshop covers: 

• The experience of  both short and long-term incarceration;

• How the trauma of incarceration mimics the trauma of domestic violence;

• How to best work with and support someone who has experienced the trauma of incarceration while they are incarcerated and also post-release.