History of a Cause
The Council on Family Abuse, Inc. (COFA) incorporated on January 14, 1993. It was, and is, a collection of Franklin County community members who thought they had a way to coordinate the provision of services to the underserved of Frankfort and Franklin County.
The first few years of its existence COFA mainly provided financial support to social service agencies in the Frankfort/Franklin County area. That changed in 1998 when COFA purchased the Safe House. The Safe House is a safe place for victims of domestic violence to flee to. It allows them the opportunity to get back on their feet both financially and emotionally. At the time COFA purchased the Safe House it entered into an arrangement with Volunteers of America to provide a case worker to work with residents of the Safe House. The Case Worker would assist the resident in regaining their independence. The Case Worker provides referrals, and contact information, for social services agencies in the area and can provide transportation to doctor’s appointments, job interviews or meetings with other social service agencies.
COFA was successful enough providing direct services to victims that in 1999 it was able to secure funding from both the City of Frankfort and Franklin County. In 2000 the Council was able to secure a low interest mortgage from the Kentucky Housing Corporation for the Safe House. Financial support for the Safe House has come from several different sources. In 2001 COFA received a grant from the Kentucky Housing Corporation to make repairs to the facility, a grant from the Kentucky Colonels put on a new roof and recently a local business donated a video surveillance system for the Safe House and the company who sold the equipment installed it for free while a local church provided funds for the monthly monitoring fee.
The organization also has a history of community cooperation such as when Volunteers of America left town, COFA collaborated with the Simon House and the Women’s Shelter to procure and share a Case Worker. It supports law enforcement by providing equipment and training grants. COFA has purchased digital cameras for Frankfort PD, a video camera for the local State Police Post and training scholarships to both law enforcement and court personnel. These trainings allow law enforcement to better investigate crimes and the court personnel to better prosecute the criminals.
And finally it is an agency which advocates for changes and improvements to the local system. It provides domestic violence training to local law enforcement and has both the Sheriff and a senior officer of the Frankfort Police Department as Board Members. In the late nineties it researched and provided criminal history information to the County Attorney representing victims of Domestic Violence in EPO Hearings. Today state law mandates that the victim and the Court be provided with the Respondent’s criminal history with the statute requiring the Judge to consider it when deciding whether or not to grant a Domestic Violence Order. It was also the precursor to the current Multi-Team Meeting where agencies get together and share information on upcoming EPO hearings. In the early 2000’s COFA lobbied the Family Court Judge to make it a policy that the Court would not amend a No Contact DVO to a No Violent Contact DVO unless the Petitioner had completed the Victim’s Support Group at the Sunshine Center. The Court adopted that policy and it is still in effect. COFA lobbied for the policy that all children in families where domestic violence has been found be evaluated at the Sunshine Center and to receive counseling as needed, another policy the Court has adopted and is still in effect today.
This is but a synopsis of what the Council on Family Abuse has accomplished since 1993. And only a preview of what it will accomplish in the future!
The first few years of its existence COFA mainly provided financial support to social service agencies in the Frankfort/Franklin County area. That changed in 1998 when COFA purchased the Safe House. The Safe House is a safe place for victims of domestic violence to flee to. It allows them the opportunity to get back on their feet both financially and emotionally. At the time COFA purchased the Safe House it entered into an arrangement with Volunteers of America to provide a case worker to work with residents of the Safe House. The Case Worker would assist the resident in regaining their independence. The Case Worker provides referrals, and contact information, for social services agencies in the area and can provide transportation to doctor’s appointments, job interviews or meetings with other social service agencies.
COFA was successful enough providing direct services to victims that in 1999 it was able to secure funding from both the City of Frankfort and Franklin County. In 2000 the Council was able to secure a low interest mortgage from the Kentucky Housing Corporation for the Safe House. Financial support for the Safe House has come from several different sources. In 2001 COFA received a grant from the Kentucky Housing Corporation to make repairs to the facility, a grant from the Kentucky Colonels put on a new roof and recently a local business donated a video surveillance system for the Safe House and the company who sold the equipment installed it for free while a local church provided funds for the monthly monitoring fee.
The organization also has a history of community cooperation such as when Volunteers of America left town, COFA collaborated with the Simon House and the Women’s Shelter to procure and share a Case Worker. It supports law enforcement by providing equipment and training grants. COFA has purchased digital cameras for Frankfort PD, a video camera for the local State Police Post and training scholarships to both law enforcement and court personnel. These trainings allow law enforcement to better investigate crimes and the court personnel to better prosecute the criminals.
And finally it is an agency which advocates for changes and improvements to the local system. It provides domestic violence training to local law enforcement and has both the Sheriff and a senior officer of the Frankfort Police Department as Board Members. In the late nineties it researched and provided criminal history information to the County Attorney representing victims of Domestic Violence in EPO Hearings. Today state law mandates that the victim and the Court be provided with the Respondent’s criminal history with the statute requiring the Judge to consider it when deciding whether or not to grant a Domestic Violence Order. It was also the precursor to the current Multi-Team Meeting where agencies get together and share information on upcoming EPO hearings. In the early 2000’s COFA lobbied the Family Court Judge to make it a policy that the Court would not amend a No Contact DVO to a No Violent Contact DVO unless the Petitioner had completed the Victim’s Support Group at the Sunshine Center. The Court adopted that policy and it is still in effect. COFA lobbied for the policy that all children in families where domestic violence has been found be evaluated at the Sunshine Center and to receive counseling as needed, another policy the Court has adopted and is still in effect today.
This is but a synopsis of what the Council on Family Abuse has accomplished since 1993. And only a preview of what it will accomplish in the future!
