Outreach helps cope with partner abuse
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

No one knows better how to listen than someone who has traveled the same path of tears, according to Wanda Whitcomb, victim services community educator for the Newton Outreach office of Family Services.

Research says a woman will leave her abusive partner seven times before she finally stays gone. In her first marriage, Whitcomb filed for divorce seven times, "before it stuck," she said. "That gives me empathy, because I know how hard it is."

The Newton Outreach Center is part of the Tri-County Family Services program for Newton, Tyler and Jasper.

Jasper has the Pineywoods Safe House at an undisclosed location, where women and their children can take shelter while in transition to safer lives.

Tyler County also has an Outreach office and Woodville has Jeanne's Boutique, a resale shop that benefits Family Services not only through sales but also by furnishing clothes and necessary items to victims.

"When a woman leaves an abusive situation, she often has nothing more than the shoes on her feet," Whitcomb says. "I can fax the shop in Woodville the sizes for the woman and her children and get clothes for them right away. The Lakes Area Hospice resale shop in Jasper will also send clothes and shoes."

Even though most of the resources focus on helping battered women, Whitcomb says men can be abused, too, and in fact her first client when she took the job in Newton was a man.

"We can't put men in the same shelter, but we found him alternate accommodations," Whitcomb said. "Elder abuse is also a growing problem, whether the abuse is by their intimate partner, their grown child or another family member."

When she took the job in Newton, Whitcomb was told to expect 20 clients a year; she served 80. The first four months of this year, she has already seen 55. Some women call directly; others are referred by law agencies such as the sheriff's department.

The Outreach program aims "to supply whatever they need." That can include an escape plan to transport the woman and her children to a safe place, transitional food and housing, crisis counseling, and emergency financial assistance.

Outreach works with the Texas Workforce to help the woman find a job or get training and education so that she can successfully support herself and her family.

"I go with them to court for emotional support, and I've testified as an expert witness," Whitcomb said.

Whitcomb is sometimes up at 2 a.m., anywhere in the three counties, arranging transport. She may call in deputies for backup in highrisk situations. Once the victim is away from the abuser, the agency assesses what is needed and provides it.

The woman usually has nothing, perhaps not even her driver's license. She may need help with substance abuse, parenting classes, or medical needs. Outreach will arrange legal aid to obtain protective orders. Outreach partners with other programs to subsidize housing for up to two years while the woman transitions to being self-sufficient.

The successes are what keeps Whitcomb passionate about her work. She says she frequently receives calls from women who have "graduated" to better lives, and women bring their children by the office to say hello to the woman who may have saved their lives ... because the flip side of the equation is that, in Texas last year, 153 women were killed by their partners. The women who died were as young as 16 and as old as 82.

"The sad fact is that men's violence against their intimate female partner is the leading cause of injury for women, and is responsible for 35 percent of all emergency room visits by women," according to Whitcomb, who is quoting statistics from the American Medical Association.

Breaking the cycle

Family Services now offers a Violence Intervention Education Program (VIEP) through Outreach to break the cycle of violence. Studies show that children raised in an abusive home often follow the pattern, Whitcomb said.

"The boys will become aggressive and the girls passive," she said, "although occasionally it's the opposite."

Abusers often don't recognize they have a problem. It's the woman fault, "you made me do this to you," and of course they always swear it won't happen again, according to Whitcomb.

Whitcomb says some women don't want to leave the abuser for the children's sake, but statistics say 70 percent of batterers will eventually batter the children as well.

Whitcomb has made the rounds explaining to judges and law enforcement officers what the VIEP program can do.

"It helps men take responsibility for their actions. It works with them to change their personal belief systems and challenges them to create change in their personal lives and home environment," Whitcomb said.

Whitcomb said the program has a 90 percent success rate if men complete the 26 weekly classes.

"Our goal is not to separate the family," Whitcomb said. (She has been accused of everything from kidnapping to brainwashing when removing victims from an abuser.) "Our goal is to make the family safe together," she explains.

For more information, the Newton Outreach number, which also serves Jasper, is 379-8488. The 24-hour confidential hotline is 800-621- 8882. All services are free of charge.