Prevention Services

  • Community Solutions provides prevention and outreach services to educate and engage our local communities regarding topics critical to the emotional wellbeing and physical health of our community. Our philosophy and practices align with the six levels of the Spectrum of Prevention: 1) Strengthening individual knowledge and skills; 2) Promoting community education; 3) Educating providers; 4) Fostering coalitions and networks; 5) Changing organization practices; and 6) Influencing policies and legislation.

    Every community member plays a critical role in creating healthy relationships that have the following characteristics: shared decision-making; respectful interactions when resolving conflicts; healthy boundaries; and allowing each individual to maintain a sense of self in their relationship.

    This page provides a variety of resources on healthy relationships and how you can get involved to make a change in your community. Below are tools, conversation starters, volunteer opportunities, and ways you can request more information. Click on each topic you would like to learn more about or scroll down to view all.

    • Talking To Your Kids About Healthy Relationships
    • Communities in Action
    • Survivor Leadership Opportunities
    • Outreach and Training Requests
    • Policy Advocacy and Reports

  • Talking To Your Kids About Healthy Relationships

    Educating children is one of the greatest joys and responsibilities a parent can have. An important goal of teaching children is empowering them to be independent thinkers and helping them to develop the foundational skills that will enable them to help themselves achieve their goals as adults.  

    Parents and caregivers play a critical role in providing a good example and teaching young people the importance of respectful, honest, and positive relationships: how to make responsible decisions regarding relationships, how to resolve conflicts, establishing good boundaries, and maintaining a sense of self in their relationships.  

    Talking to a child or teen about relationships can be awkward and have moments of uncomfortableness for both the child and parent. However, these conversations are vital to providing necessary information and guidance to your child.  Talking about healthy versus unhealthy behaviors can be incorporated into your everyday life; utilizing TV shows, media, conversations, and other teachable moments can help start conversations.  

    Below are some helpful videos with tips on talking to your children or check out our parent toolkit with great information and tips on ways to start the conversation at every age of your child’s development. 

    Here are some helpful resources (click on link to view video or document):

  • Communities in Action

    In the past five years, Community Solutions’ has worked with teams of youth and adult community members to develop community-led initiatives to prevent domestic and sexual violence from happening in our community using the Close to Home approach. Community Solutions helped to train, support, and guide our youth and adult leaders as they completed community assessments, talked with fellow community members, and built campaigns directed at areas of needs specific to their community. 

    Click on the links below to learn more about some of these campaigns:

  • Survivor Leadership Opportunities

    Community Solutions’ believes in centering survivor voices by creating spaces and leadership roles to  empower survivors to make change in our communities. If you are a survivor of gender-based violence and are interested in stepping into a leadership role, please consider the opportunities below:

    PROMOTORES PROGRAM
    Community Solutions implemented a Promotores program in early 2015 to reach traditionally marginalized and underserved individuals in San Benito County. Our Promotores are members of our communities with lived experienced. We help to recruit, train, and mentor our Promotores who then create change in their communities by providing community outreach and presentations and by serving as liaisons to link community members to services available for intimate partner abuse, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

    SURVIVOR LEADERSHIP ADVISORY COUNCILS
    Survivor Leadership Advisory Councils provide opportunities for survivors to participate in meetings and take an active role in policy and advocacy meetings within Santa Clara County. The Councils increase survivors’ voice and leadership in providing feedback and recommendations for systems change within the County.

    If you have additional questions, please contact us at: prevention.STV@communitysolutions.org

  • Outreach and Training Requests

    Community Solutions’ Solutions to Violence Division provides prevention and outreach services throughout Santa Clara and San Benito Counties. In addition to staffing resource tables, our team offers interactive workshops and professional trainings on healthy relationships, intimate partner abuse, sexual assault, human trafficking, and more.

    To learn more about our presentations, request a presentation, or schedule an outreach opportunity, please use our Outreach/Prevention Request Form.

    Here are some examples of presentation we offer:

    • Overview of Services (Santa Clara or San Benito County)
    • Intimate Partner Abuse 101 Professional Training
    • Sexual Assault 101 Professional Training
    • Human Trafficking 101 Professional Training
    • Intersections of Gender Based Violence for Youth
    • Talking to Your Child About Healthy Relationships
    • Parenting in the Digital Age

    Please contact us to schedule a presentation at least 3 weeks in advance of your planned date to ensure we can best accommodate your request. Presentations can be customized to  specific needs.

    If you have additional questions, please contact us at: prevention.STV@communitysolutions.org

  • Policy Advocacy and Reports

    Community Solutions’ violence prevention programs center on an intersectional framework that acknowledges different forms of gender-based violence as symptoms of a larger issue. Because gender-based violence can take many forms and generates complex intersections, it is important to ensure an intersectional framework in prevention efforts and to not treat each form of violence as mutually exclusive from another. Community Solutions’ Solutions to Violence Division is committed to upholding a collaborative and intersectional approach to gender-based violence.

    To create real change, we need to not only inform individuals, professionals and our community but also address policies and systematic structures that may be creating climates that perpetuate violence.

    Below is a sampling of policy and reporting efforts we are involved in. Click on each item for more information:

  • Call 877-363-7238 for support 24 hours a day!

    If you or someone you know needs support, call Community Solutions 24/7 at 877-363-7238 to speak with a confidential advocate. We offer free support services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking, including counseling, accompaniment, assistance with restraining orders, and much more.

“ At Community Solutions I met some wonderful women who helped me with my fears and helped me understand that I did not deserve to be abused by anyone. ”

Luz, age 50, Solutions to Violence

“ [Community Solutions] helped me with my problems and were there when I was having hard times. They have helped my family with a place to live and helped us pay some bills and buy some food when we needed it. ”

Serena, age 15, Child & Youth Behavioral Health

“ I cannot describe very well but all I know is that each day is getting better. Your program helps. ”

Jin, age 62, Adult Behavioral Health

“ Thanks to the program, I left the ugly house I was living in that had two small windows for the 8 of us, dirt floors, broken windows, no door, and the toilet always clogging. Now my children and I have a nice apartment where we have more space, privacy, and carpet where we can be barefoot. ”

Teresa, age 38, Solutions to Violence Supportive Housing Program
ESCAPE