Formation of the Texas Council on Family Violence

The Texas Council on Family Violence was fortunate to begin its work early, as the movement to end violence against women moved into the United States. In April 1978, Deborah Tucker hosted the first meeting for TCFV as the Executive Director of the Austin Center for Battered Women. The Austin Center for Battered Women later merged with the Austin Rape Crisis Center and is now The SAFE Alliance.

Prior to the formation meeting, several of the founding members of TCFV began to analyze the challenges for battered women and their children, many while responding to sexual violence. The Austin Rape Crisis Center, the first rape crisis center in Texas, opened in 1974, and immediately began to receive calls from sexual assault victims as well as from those caught in an abusive relationship. Victims would ask , “Can you help me? I wasn’t raped by a stranger… I was beaten and raped by my husband.” As other communities in Texas organized to respond to sexual violence, they too began to recognize the existence and need for services for victims of domestic violence.

Representatives from nine Texas communities – Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Waco – resolved to form an organization that would provide a unified statewide presence. At first, the group chose the name Texas Commission on Family Violence and set out to incorporate at the Secretary of State’s Office. The application to incorporate was denied because it was not possible to be called a Commission unless the entity was appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. Thus, TCFV named themselves the Council, not knowing that in most other states the name Coalition would be chosen for statewide efforts.

We sought to create opportunities for cooperation, coordination and collaboration with one another  as well as with myriad organizations coming into contact with victims, offenders and their children. We also sought  to improve laws and policies to hold offenders accountable and increase the safety of victims. Our original motto was Share What You Have, Ask for What You Need.

Toby Myers with the Houston Area Women’s Center was selected as the first Board Chair. As a formerly battered woman who was providing help to others, she embodied the combination of personal experience, formal education (doctorate) and professional services (counseling) that we knew would help articulate the mission and build the organization. Toby consistently brought passion, persistence, and perspective to the Board.

The Beginning of Policy Advocacy for the Texas Council on Family Violence

From the beginning, TCFV knew we would be approaching the Texas legislature to ask for changes in the laws as well as to create financial support from the State for prevention and intervention. Gwen Gordon of Waco was appointed the Coordinator Legislative Liaison.

In 1979, TCFV began work with Senator Chet Brooks of Houston/Galveston to establish a pilot funding program through the Texas Department of Human Services (TDHS). This program allowed for an appropriation of $200,000, which permitted the initial nine agencies to receive funding. In 1981, the following legislative session, Senator Brooks co-sponsored a bill with Representative Mary Polk of El Paso to establish the Family Violence Program in the TDHS, now part of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). This bill aligned closely with the recommendations made by TCFV. It provided ongoing funding for family violence services while establishing a precedent with the state coalition and the state agency of cooperative work. With leadership from Senator Brooks, Representative Polk, and many others, The Texas Legislature increased the funding to $1,000,000 and made it possible to support more than 30 programs. All subsequent legislative sessions have continued to increase funding and the number of programs receiving state support.

TCFV was also visible in the Capitol in legislation establishing protective orders, even though we were initially unsuccessful at including a criminal sanction for their violation. In 1981 we pushed for criminal sanctions. After that session, violating a protective order carried the consequence of a Class A misdemeanor.

From that point forward, TCFV advocated policy improvements and found important allies to propose needed changes. Some of the leaders in the Texas movement have also become members of the Texas Legislature: Juan Hinojosa, now a Texas Senator from McAllen, helped to start Mujeres Unidas/Women Together, sponsored significant legislation for TCFV, advocated for funding for programs and later served on the Board of TCFV.

The Beginning of Technical Assistance and Training for TCFV

Simultaneously, TCFV emphasized its technical assistance and training to support advancement of the direct services to victims as well as the prevention of family violence. A three-year challenge grant from the Levi Strauss Foundation made a staffed office possible beginning January 1, 1982. It was matched with donations from the Haas Foundation, The Trull Foundation, and dues from programs and members who believed in our mission. Eve McArthur and Debby Tucker, both from the Austin Center, became the initial staff of TCFV.

We began responding to calls for technical assistance and day-to-day problem-solving. We toured every shelter and family violence program in the state over the course of that first year and wrote manuals, such as A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Administering a Family Violence Shelter. When we wrote to the legislation to fund local programs, we also set aside 6% of what the Legislature appropriated for TDHS, and later HHSC, to administer the program. Another 6% was set aside to provide technical assistance and training. TDHS contracted with TCFV to provide significant technical assistance and support for  the local programs. With this approach of establishing special purpose set-asides, as funding grew for services, both the state government and the state coalition would also grow to further support the advancement of the work.

The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, the Beginning of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and the passage of the Violence Against Women Act

From our experience in Texas, we knew how effective it was to establish designated funding for the state domestic violence coalition within the statute supporting funding for direct services. This led to our advocacy to include a similar set-aside for funding of state-level work at the federal level. When the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) was first passed in 1984, we included a set-aside of 2.5% of what Congress appropriated to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families to specifically fund state domestic violence coalitions divided equally among all states and territories. Before the creation of the set-aside funding for state coalitions in FVPSA, only half of the states had established an office to perform state-level work and coordination. By the time we came together to form the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), almost every state had an office for their state coalition.

In 1989, TCFV advocated for the establishment of the Battering Intervention and Prevention Project (BIPP) and secured the initial allocation of $400,000 to provide funding for 14 programs working with men committing violence against family and household members. This was one of the first, if not the first, state funding of civilian programs for intervention with offenders. There were some remarkable people involved in this effort, including Toby Myers, who were directing the battering intervention program at Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse. In addition, national organizations and stakeholders such as Men Stopping Violence, Emerge, and Dr. Edward Gondolf advised TCFV in the development of the legislation and the program standards.

The NNEDV led the effort to develop the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), initially passed in 1994. The NNEDV worked  closely with the Vice President, then Senator, Joe Biden, as well as House co-sponsor Senator, then Representative, Charles Schumer, and Representative Patricia Schroeder to write the legislation. Representative Jack Brooks of Beaumont, Texas who chaired the Judiciary Committee in the House was also crucial to the passage .

Founding of the National Domestic Violence Hotline

TCFV worked closely with Senator Edward Kennedy to draft legislation to provide federal funding for a national hotline. The original hotline operated by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence closed when their funding ran out. TCFV stepped up to re-establish a hotline. One exciting last-minute development in the passage of VAWA was the agreement to amend Senator Kennedy’s Hotline legislation onto VAWA and have it pass as well in 1994. In August 1995, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Community Services, awarded a grant to TCFV to establish the National Domestic Violence Hotline. In February 1996, the Hotline opened.

Today, after 40 years, TCFV has made significant contributions to the movement to end violence against women in Texas, the United States, and the rest of the world.