Programs

CVTC works in collaboration with two other SLR Hospital programs: the Center for Comprehensive Care (HIV/AIDS Center) and NiteStar, an interactive theater program. This project implements a comprehensive screening, assessment, intervention and prevention program for HIV patients who have past or current histories of intimate partner and/or sexual violence. This innovative project received funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and incorporates the trauma treatment model of CVTC and the training talents of NiteStar into the clinical structure of the HIV Center. In addition, a research component has been designed to evaluate the relationship between HIV and intimate partner and sexual violence. This is an extraordinarily innovative program which has potential for replication across the country.

CAAV is a community-based program involving collaboration with the New York Police Department, the Violence Intervention Project in East Harlem, the Urban Justice Center's Family Violence Project and CVTC. Its mission is to provide legal advocacy and support to victims of domestic violence as soon as possible after a domestic violence police report is made. In conjunction with CAAV, CVTC offers the services of a legal advocate who is trained to give information and provide advocacy on the legal options available to survivors of domestic violence. New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault: CVTC is the supporting agency for this non-profit organization, which provides advocacy, education and research on sexual assault to strengthen the anti-sexual violence community.

CVTC has a continuing commitment to educate the public and interested professionals about the psychological consequences of violence. CVTC has established a series of workshops to train health care professionals in the treatment of sexual assault, domestic violence and childhood sexual abuse. Staff members frequently lecture to colleges, hospitals and mental health institutes on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Rape Trauma Syndrome and Battered Woman Syndrome. CVTC staff and volunteers are available to speak at churches, high schools, colleges, tenant and block association meetings and other community groups. Staff members frequently appear on local and national radio and television programs. CVTC has been featured in magazine articles, newspapers and professional journals.

The Crime Victims Treatment Center's Resource Center has one of the most comprehensive collections on victimology in New York State. It contains an inventory of over 1,000 books, 32 professional journals, 3,000 articles, abstracts and bibliographies. A monitor and VCR are available for viewing more than 50 videos. Subject areas include sexual assault, incest, child abuse, bias crime, and domestic violence. The Resource Center is open to students, professionals and the general public by appointment.

CVTC's director, Susan Xenarios, is co-chairperson for the Downstate Coalition for Crime Victims, Board Member for the NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault and presently serves on the Advisory Council for the NYS Crime Victims Board, the NYS Department of Health Rape Crisis Advisory Executive Council, the NYS Violence Against Women Advisory, the NYS Attorney General's Advisory for Crime Victims, NYS Coalitions Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, the NYS Mental Health Association Consortium, and the NYC Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Advisory Board.