HLS 15RS-4409 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 210
BY REPRESENTATIVE BARROW
DOMESTIC ABUSE: Authorizes the Louisiana State University Women's Center to
conduct a review and SWOT analysis of the state domestic violence coalition
1 A RESOLUTION
2To authorize and direct the Louisiana State University Women's Center to conduct a review
3 and SWOT analysis of the state domestic violence coalition of Louisiana and provide
4 its findings in the form of a written report to the House Committee on Health and
5 Welfare no later than February 1, 2016.
6 WHEREAS, the House of Representatives of the Louisiana Legislature has long
7recognized the need to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of this state; and
8 WHEREAS, the House of Representatives recognizes the need of Louisiana citizens
9to feel safe in their own homes and recognizes that too often Louisiana residents are abused
10by the people with whom they are most closely associated; and
11 WHEREAS, the House of Representatives recognizes the social need to address the
12issue of domestic violence that is directed primarily against women; and
13 WHEREAS, domestic violence assails an individual's right to privacy, dignity,
14security, and humanity, inflicts physical, emotional, and financial injury on its victims, and
15exists in every segment of our population; and
16 WHEREAS, the mission of the Louisiana State University Women's Center includes
17the advancement of women and women's well being through the active examination of issues
18related to women and by serving as a conduit to connect students, faculty, staff, and
19community members with the information that they need to make educated choices in their
20lives; and
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HR NO. 210
1 WHEREAS, a SWOT analysis is a structured survey method used to evaluate the
2strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a project through specifying
3the objective of the project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable
4and unfavorable to achieve that objective; and
5 WHEREAS, the aim of a SWOT analysis is to identify the internal factors of a
6project comprised of the strengths, the characteristics of the project that give it an advantage
7over others, and weaknesses, the characteristics that place the project at a disadvantage
8relative to others; and the external factors of the project comprised of the opportunities, the
9elements that the project can use to its advantage, and the threats, the elements in the
10environment that can cause trouble for the project; and
11 WHEREAS, a SWOT analysis can be used effectively to build organization or
12strategy to best accomplish the desired goal by matching the project's resources and
13capabilities to the environment in which it operates; and
14 WHEREAS, federal law mandates the creation of state domestic violence coalitions
15which serve as statewide leaders in the efforts to end domestic violence by connecting local
16domestic violence service providers and are valuable resources for information about
17services, programs, legislation, and policies that support survivors of domestic violence; and
18 WHEREAS, one of the goals of state domestic violence coalitions is to improve
19domestic violence intervention and prevention in their states by ensuring cross-coordinated,
20best practice solutions are implemented and sustained; and
21 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence is the state domestic
22violence coalition of Louisiana and is a statewide coalition of shelters, nonresidential
23programs, and individuals who work together to deter domestic violence behavior; and
24 WHEREAS, in 2012, there was an increase of eight hundred crisis calls to the
25statewide domestic violence assistance hotline, about a fifteen percent rise over 2011; and
26together Louisiana's eighteen domestic violence centers received over thirty-five thousand
27calls in 2012; and
28 WHEREAS, in a survey of one twenty-four-hour period on September 17, 2013, in
29Louisiana, there were seven hundred twenty-one domestic violence victims and their
30children who received services; three hundred thirty-four calls to domestic violence hotlines
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HR NO. 210
1were answered; one hundred sixty-seven requests from domestic violence victims were
2turned down because programs did not have the resources to provide them; and thirty-four
3percent of unmet requests were from victims who had chosen to flee their abusers, and were
4seeking safe emergency or transitional housing; and
5 WHEREAS, it is crucial that a comprehensive review of the state domestic violence
6coalition of Louisiana as the single point of coordination for all existing public and private
7domestic violence programs be undertaken to identify gaps in prevention and intervention
8services and to increase coordination among public and private programs to strengthen
9prevention and intervention services in Louisiana.
10 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
11Legislature of Louisiana does hereby authorize and direct the Louisiana State University
12Women's Center to conduct a review and SWOT analysis of the state domestic violence
13coalition of Louisiana, the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, to ensure that
14the organization is reaching its fullest potential as the umbrella organization for coordination
15of domestic violence programs in all areas including but not limited to the use of best
16practices, allotment and use of funding, coalition board structure, and training provided for
17service providers.
18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the women's center shall provide its findings in
19the form of a written report to the House Committee on Health and Welfare no later than
20February 1, 2016.
21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
22director of the Louisiana State University Women's Center.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 210 Original 2015 Regular Session Barrow
Authorizes and directs the LSU Women's Center to conduct a review and SWOT analysis
of the state domestic violence coalition and provide its findings in the form of a written
report to the House health and welfare committee no later than Feb. 1, 2016.
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