2024 Tennessee FJC Conference Workshops

Tuesday, April 30th

9:00 – 10:30 AM: Keynote Session: This is Where I Learned Not to Sleep Quest for Justice, Journey Towards Healing – Mark Wynn

Domestic violence has an evident and long-term impact on adult victims as well as children who witness violence. This keynote/plenary presentation will explore the complex relationship between childhood exposure to family violence, policing, and efforts to break the cycle of violence. The film This is Where I Learned Not to Sleep follows retired Nashville (TN) Lieutenant Mark Wynn as he revisits his haunting childhood through his work to reform police response to family violence. Lt. Wynn started the first domestic violence division in the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department and presents his quest for justice and journey towards healing while providing effective strategies for police response to family violence.

10:30 AM – 10:45 AM: Break

10:45 – 12:00 PM: General Session – Scott County FJC: High-Risk Domestic Violence Court

Scott County is one of the smallest counties in the state yet has established an impressive, coordinated community response to serve survivors of domestic violence in their community while holding offenders accountable. At the heart of these efforts is their domestic violence court and a dedicated core team that work seamlessly to ensure successful outcomes for individual survivors and in essence the community at large. During this session you will hear from members of the domestic violence core court team and learn what it took to build this response; how they have been able to continue and grow their efforts; what their court looks like and how you can replicate this trauma-informed court intervention in your community.

12:00 – 1:00 PM: Networking Lunch

1:00 – 1:45 PM: Workshop – Maximizing Our Resources: Guided Conversations on Innovative Practices & Emerging Issues

This workshop is crafted to encourage conversation between attendees, guests, and statewide experts on innovative projects, solutions, strategies, and best practices happening in your communities and across the state. Participants will be grouped by discipline and/or longevity for this session.

1:45 – 2:00 PM: Break

2:00 – 3:30 PM: Breakout Sessions (Choose One to Attend)

Forced Criminality: Assessing Individual Culpability Through the Lens of Labor Trafficking – Lou Longhitano, Aequitas
Systems professionals have come to recognize that forced criminality of persons sold in the illicit sex trade is sex trafficking. However, they have been slow to acknowledge that the same control dynamics inflicted upon those with other roles in the sex trade or in other illicit businesses is labor trafficking. This presentation will challenge participants to apply a lens of force, fraud, and coercion in a broader array of contexts to better identify labor trafficking in our communities; to better assess whether workers are culpable voluntary participants or victims of labor trafficking and forced criminality; and in order to achieve justice more consistently.
TN-FJC Forced Criminality Handout

CPR For Your CCR: Breathing life back into the vital and irreplaceable body that is your communities coordinated response to domestic & sexual violence – Mark Wynn
With forty-five years of front-line experience as an advocate, survivor and police officer Lt. Wynn knows that domestic and sexual violence cannot be stopped or prevented by one segment of the community, there must be devoted and focused partnerships among many disparate groups and individuals to create a truly responsive community that saves lives. Discover what makes an effective and sustainable CCR and explore ways to reinvigorate the relationships, commitments and drive needed to make effective and long-lasting change in your communities’ response to domestic & sexual violence. Working together for a common goal is no easy task. This workshop will examine the benefits of positive, cooperative, and trusting relationships between advocacy, law enforcement, and stakeholders that you may have never considered!
CPR for CCR -PowerPoint

3:30 – 3:45 PM: Break

3:45 – 4:30 PM: Breakout Sessions (Choose One to Attend)

Challenges in Prosecuting Human Trafficking: Roundtable Q&A – Lou Longhitano, Aequitas
This will be an open discussion about challenges to identifying and building prosecutable cases of sex and labor trafficking offenses. Hopefully, we will also find some strategies to confront these challenges. No script. No slides. We will confront whatever issues the participants want to talk about.
Peer Support Group
Your Reality Film Screening
Your Reality is a multi-award winning short psychological thriller that tackles the current topic of Gaslighting, with the goal to raise awareness of this dangerous emotional abuse and help you recognize its signs. The film follows a successful young marketing executive, who after moving in with her charming photographer boyfriend is in danger of losing everything, as she becomes increasingly unsure of her ability to trust her own memory.
Refresh Your Mind – Hike, Boat-Ride or Yoga

4:30 – 6:00 PM: Break

6:00 PM: Networking Dinner

Wednesday, May 1st

8 – 8:45 AM: Breakfast Networking

8:45 – 10:15 AM: General Session: The Modern Batterer – Lundy Bancroft

This presentation begins by examining the established profile of men who abuse women, describing the power dynamics and the psychologically poisoned atmosphere that an abuser creates for children in the home. We then look at some of the specific risks to children that are likely to be present in the batterer’s parenting style, including the high overlap with physical and sexual abuse. Next we examine the impact the batterer has on the parenting of the abused woman, and consider the binds she faces in attempting to protect her children. We confront the myth that the children’s problems are solved when their mother leaves the batterer, which connects to other misconceptions that can cause well-intentioned interventions to turn dangerous. We finish by giving an overview of best practices to effectively promote safety and healing for children and their mothers.

The Modern Batterer

10:15 – 10:30 AM: Break

10:30 – 11:45 PM: Workshop – Maximizing Our Resources: Guided Conversations on Innovative Practices & Emerging Issues

This workshop is crafted to encourage conversation between attendees, guests, and statewide experts on innovative projects, solutions, strategies, and best practices happening in your communities and across the state. Participants will be given the opportunity to choose from the topics listed below:

BIP
Community Outreach and Buy-In
DADRT
Elder Abuse
Empowering Survivors to Use their Voices
Gender Based Violence
Funding
How Abusers use Abusive Tactics after Separation
Issues Facing Rural Communities
LAP
Issues Related to Marginalized Groups
Mental Health Issues
Sexual Assault Response Teams (SART)
Supporting Staff and Community with Homicides and Critical Incidents

11:45 – 1:00 PM: Networking Lunch

1:00 – 2:30 PM Breakout Sessions (Choose One to Attend)

The Parent Batterer – Lundy Bancroft
The tactics and justifications used by men who batter change with time and are influenced by cultural trends. Compared to abusers of twenty-five years ago, the modern batterer is much more likely to: 1) Use high-tech means of surveillance and control of his partner; 2) Use the child custody system as a tactic of continued cruelty and abuse to women and their children; 3) Present himself as a sensitive, caring, “gentle” man who is “in touch with his feelings” and/or is spiritual; 4) Misuse social system against his partner (such as by having her arrested, reporting her to CPS, and other tactics); 5) Exert his influence to skew public policy and research. This workshop explores the trends in these areas and provides suggestions for constructive response.
The Batterer as Parent
Know More, Do More: Identifying and Responding to Stalking – Natalie Ivey, SPARCC Breakout
Stalking is a prevalent, dangerous, and often misunderstood crime. This session explores the dynamics of stalking, focusing on the highly contextual nature of the crime by discussing common tactics used by perpetrators, stalking’s co-occurrence with domestic and sexual violence as well as tools to plan for victim safety and hold offenders accountable. Participants of this session will be better able to identify stalking behaviors and dynamics, recognize the intersection of stalking with other crimes, and apply strategies for working with victims of stalking.
Identifying and Responding to Stalking

Evidence Based Prosecution and Law Enforcement Working Together– Kaylin Render, Office of the District Attorney for the Second Judicial District
This session will cover domestic violence crimes ranging from domestic assaults, stalking, strangulation, murder and everything in between and is suitable for law enforcement, advocates, lawyers and all members of the domestic violence community. Case studies, discussions on the law and changes in the law, ways to strengthen a case from the investigation through the prosecution, photos of victims, examples of an actual 911 call and even an actual recording of a domestic murder will all be presented.
Render-PowerPoint

2:30 – 2:45 PM: Break

2:45 – 4:15 PM: Breakout Sessions (Choose One to Attend)

BIP: River of Cruelty Model – Steve and Dorthy Halley, Family Peace Initiative
This presentation will provide an overview of the River of Cruelty Model, examining how cruelty is passed from person to person and generation to generation. Using an experiential approach, participants will learn the core principles of the “River of Cruelty Model” and examine the impact of trauma on an individual’s life experiences. Attendees will experience the application of the core principles of the “River of Cruelty Model”, explore the impact of trauma on beliefs and behaviors, and examine the progression from childhood experiences to adult behaviors.
RiverofCruelty-PowerPoint

Left Hand, Meet Right Hand: Building a Coordinated Response to Stalking – Natalie Ivey, SPARCC
Keeping victims safe and holding offenders accountable requires that diverse professionals – including (but not limited to) victim advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors, educators, and others – view their work through a “stalking lens,” take pro-active steps to incorporate a stalking response into their roles and work together. This session will provide practical strategies for building stalking into a coordinated community response (CCR). Participants will be better able to recognize the necessity of addressing stalking, gain practical skills to better identify and respond to stalking, and apply strategies for working across agencies and disciplines to support survivors of stalking and hold stalking offenders accountable.
Building a CCR to Stalking

The 3 OPs of Tennessee Legal Aid – Taryne Tillinghast and Rebecca Tocca, Legal Aid
This presentation considers the Legal Aid programs that exist in the state of Tennessee, the types of legal problems that clients can receive assistance with, and the process that your clients can expect when they reach out for our free legal services. We will complete a deep dive into the three types of Orders of Protections that exist in Tennessee and the difference between OPs and Restraining Orders. Then, we will discuss how the drafting of Orders of Protection Petitions and other referral documents can be done in a way to help attorneys quickly pick up a case and assist. Finally, there will be discussion groups to review case examples and consider important facts to help ensure that our clients are being guided towards the appropriate options for them.
Three OP’s Presentation

4:15 – 6:00 PM: Break

6:00 – 7:00 PM: Awards Presentation and Networking Dinner

Thursday, May 2nd

8:00 AM: Continental Breakfast provided by the hotel in the restaurant

8:30 – 10:00 AM: Optional Comprehensive Workshops (Pre-Registration Required):

Fatality Review: Case Study – Becky Bullard and Heather Herrmann, Nashville Office of Family Safety
Fatality Reviews are multidisciplinary, wide-angle case studies that encourage the open discovery of information. They are often conducted in a climate that focuses on prevention and may involve the convening of multidisciplinary teams to review cases. Join us for an immersive training session tailored for multi-disciplinary professionals aimed at deepening understanding and response to domestic violence fatalities. Through an engaging case study and mock case review, participants will gain insights into the complexities surrounding domestic violence incidents, honing their skills in identifying risk factors, intervention strategies, and collaborative approaches for prevention. This training equips attendees with invaluable tools and knowledge to effectively contribute to domestic violence fatality review processes and ultimately enhance community responses to this critical issue.
BIP Implementation – Steve and Dorthy Halley, Family Peace Initiative
Using an experiential approach built on the River of Cruelty Model, this workshop will explore the fundamentals of the Internal-focused dialogue, including working with feelings, connecting to the power of the “Golden Shadow Message” and understanding the power of Alice Millers “Enlightened Witness”. Participants will learn practical skills that can be applied immediately to their work. Participants will learn how to incorporate emotional expression into work with those who cause harm, the fundamentals of the internal-focused dialogue, explore the impact of “enlightened witnesses”, and the application of the “Golden Shadow Message.”
FamilyPeaceInitiave-PowerPoint