2022 was a momentous year for the families that Healing the Home is privileged to serve. In our first full year as a 501c3, our team was able to roll-out Knox County’s very first program designed to assist women who struggle with abusive conduct. Additionally, our interventionists launched a pilot “Impaired Abusers” group- aimed specifically at addressing co-occurring Substance Use Disorders and Family Abuse-related Trauma. Overall, the organization grew our client base by nearly 250%; integrating new innovative approaches to domestic violence intervention; while remaining steadfast in our use of evidence-based strategies.
Our agency broadened its impact in the community, opening an additional location, and forming new partnerships throughout the year; but most importantly, we were afforded the opportunity to walk with more wounded East Tennessee families- in times that were challenging, joyous, highly volatile, heartbreaking, and rewarding.
Through their bravery and commitment to themselves and to their loved ones, the vast majority of our clients were able to begin confronting the root causes of their issues; demonstrating quantifiable, marked improvements and positive changes in the way they think, feel, and behave.
As a result, over the last year, most of our clients were reunited with their children, and have begun to put the pieces of their lives back together.
Healing the Home remains both excited and prepared to face the challenges ahead, as 2022 has brought us one step closer to the cessation of family abuse in East Tennessee.
In 2022, Healing the Home served 118 families identified as “High Risk” for violence and abuse in the home. This included 92 family members that identified as male, and 26 who identify as female. (63% of these clients had active criminal charges.)
In 2022, each family member who entered Healing the Home’s program received an average of 34.5 intervention hours. (25 group hours, 9.5 individual hours) These times vary, based on the unique needs of each client served.
Each client in 2022 was referred to one of three programs: Men’s groups, Women’s Groups, and our Impaired Abusers Groups. Of these, our total attendance for intervention sessions in 2022, was 2260; for an average of 19 groups per family.
While Family Abuse, (including Physical Domestic Violence) impacts families, irrespective of socioeconomic background, age, race and identity, the common thread that binds all of our clients (victim AND offender) is TRAUMA. According to 2022 intake interviews, 100% of our clients have experienced some form of family abuse prior to their most recent episode. As a result Healing the Home has implemented trauma education into every program curriculum.
At Healing the Home, our “clients” may be adults, but those who benefit from our support are more often than not, children under 18. Nearly 90% of Healing the Home’s clients in 2022 were parents of minor children. According to studies, the STRONGEST prognostic tool to determine whether a child will grow up to experience Intimate Partner Violence, is past exposure to Family Abuse. Without intervention, our clients’ children will be forced to live in foster care or to return to an unsafe home.
2022 marked the beginning of our partnership with the Metro Drug Coalition and the launch of our “Impaired Abusers” hybrid program. During this trial period, Healing the Home focused specifically on the symbiotic relationship between abusive homes, isolation and substance use disorders in 26 families.
This hybrid curriculum enabled our clients to begin developing emotional intimacy and meaningful relationships with healthy friends and accountability partners. (Skills proven to reduce recidivism and relapse rates.*) Plans to expand this program through 2023 are underway.
