VENTURA COUNTY — The Coalition for Family Harmony, which provides victims of family violence in Ventura County with the means to help escape from abuse, will continue to offer services to the community using modified communication and counseling techniques during the coronavirus crisis.
“We our following the guidelines outlined by Ventura County Public Health and the CDC,” says Dr. Caroline Prijatel-Sutton, Coalition For Family Harmony executive director. “For individual and most group counseling sessions, we will be using HIPAA-compliant web-based models and tele-counseling. If clients don’t have Internet or telephone access, we’ll work with them directly to meet their needs. It will be on a case-by-case basis.”
The Coalition runs the only Rape Crisis Center and 24-hour rape crisis hotline in Ventura County. The hotline will remain open with trained bilingual operators. The Rape Crisis Center will conduct emergency response through tele-counseling or in person. Emergency shelter services for survivors of domestic violence are available with consideration to room space availability. Transitional housing services remain fully operational.
The new communication procedures went into effect March 17 and will remain in place until further notice. “We want the public to know that we are still here in times of family crisis,” says Prijatel-Sutton. “Through these new procedures, our goal is to continue to provide services without compromising the health and safety of our staff and clients.”
The bilingual hotline number is 800-300-2181 and available for domestic violence and rape crisis advocacy and support. Coalition For Family Harmony business hours remain the same, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Call 805-983-6014 for questions regarding services or visit www.TheCoalition.org