About Us
Mission | History
| Project Information | Staff
| Contact Information
The mission of the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA) is
to support research, education, and access to violence related
resources.
For more information about the mission and focus of MINCAVA, consider
reviewing some of these materials:
Under the direction of Jeffrey
L. Edleson, Ph.D., the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse was
established in 1994 by the Minnesota State Legislature with a charge "to
improve the quality of higher education related to violence." During its first
years, the Center's initial and only project was the Violence Education
Project. The project included a discipline-specific needs assessment about
higher education, a web- based library of educational resources, a grant
program to fund the development of new violence-related higher education
curricula, higher education conferences, and worked to change continuing
education and licensing requirements.
MINCAVA is considered a leader in innovative violence-related education,
research and Internet publishing and now coordinates four nationally and
internationally renowned projects.
The MINCAVA Electronic Clearinghouse provides an
extensive pool of up-to-date educational resources about all types of
violence, including higher education syllabi, published research, funding
sources, upcoming training events, individuals or organizations which serve
as resources, and searchable databases with over 1000 training manuals,
videos and other education resources
Violence Against Women Online
Resources is a cooperative project between the Center and the United
States Department of Justice, Office of Justice
Programs, Office on Violence
Against Women . This site provides state-of-the art resource materials
about effective interventions, services, and coordinated community responses
to violence against women for criminal justice professionals, state
coalitions, tribal coalitions and victim advocacy groups .
The Link Project is an internationally
recognized research, demonstration and information dissemination project .
This project examines the experiences of families in which both children and
their mothers have been maltreated. The project reports systematically
collected information on children and domestic violence and builds
collaborative relationships between child protection, domestic violence and
court services.
As an extension of this research, MINCAVA also coordinates the
technical assistance and information dissemination for
the Minnesota Rural Project for Women and Child
Safety.
VAWnet (Applied Research Forum)
publishes online research summaries, discussions, and other resources for
domestic violence and sexual assault coalition staff members, as well as
members of other allied national organizations throughout the United
States
Courtney Allensworth, Document Development Coordinator
Courtney Allensworth comes to MINCAVA with over four years experience working on domestic violence issues. Her duties as a Women’s Advocate have accorded her experience in crisis line staffing, individual counseling, and legal advocacy.
Courtney holds a bachelor’s degree in History from Luther College and a master’s degree in Women’s Studies from the University at Albany, State University of New York. While a graduate student, she completed extensive analysis and critique of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). In particular, the VAWA’s allocations for domestic violence programs and survivors.
Passionate about community education and outreach, Courtney has spoken to suburban high school students, educators, and administrators on the importance of improving classroom climate for LGBT students.Courtney is also a certified National Coalition Building Institute diversity trainer, and as such, has hosted many workshops challenging folks to overcome their biases.
Jeffrey Edleson, PhD - Director
Jeffrey L. Edleson is a Professor in the University of Minnesota School of Social Work and Director of the
Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse . He is one of the world’s leading authorities on children exposed to domestic violence and has published over 100 articles and 10 books on domestic violence, groupwork, and program evaluation. He was a member of the National Research Council's Panel on Research on Violence Against Women. He has served as a consultant to the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Edleson is an Associate Editor of the journal Violence Against Women and has served on the editorial boards of several other journals. His most recent books are entitled Domestic Violence in the Lives of Children: The Future of Research, Intervention, and Social Policy (2001, co-edited with Sandra Graham-Bermann, American Psychological Association Books), Sourcebook on Violence Against Women (2001, co-edited with Claire Renzetti and Raquel Kennedy Bergen, Sage Publications), and Domestic Violence: Classic Papers (2005, co-edited with Claire Renzetti and Raquel Kennedy Bergen, Allyn-Bacon). He has just published a new book entitled Parenting by Men Who Batterer Women: New Directions in Assessment and Intervention (2007, co-edited with Oliver J. Williams, Oxford University Press) and has just completed the multi-volume Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Violence (2008, co-edited with Claire Renzetti, Sage Reference).
Jennifer Witt, MSW - Associate Director
Jennifer Witt currently directs a U.S. Department of Justice-Office on Violence Against Women Technical Assistance project which works to produce Internet based content on violence against women. She also oversees development of applied research documents for the National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (VAWnet). This is a series of highly used, research oriented documents directed towards advocates and service providers regarding the most current research on domestic violence. Lastly, Jennifer teaches in the University of Minnesota’s Family Violence Prevention program.
Jennifer is a graduate of the University of WI at La Crosse and received her Masters of Social Work from the University of Minnesota. She has worked in both domestic violence and sexual assault prevention. These positions have ranged from direct service provision, coordinating a Coordinated Community Response (CCR) to Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, and state-wide systems advocacy. Jennifer has also worked on various community organizing and public education projects within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.
Kevin Bullock, Internet Systems Designer and Administrator
Kevin Bullock develops and maintains MINCAVA's Web resources (
Violence Against Women Online Resources and the
MINCAVA Electronic Clearinghouse). He joined
MINCAVA after completing his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science at
Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2004. Before graduating, Kevin worked for the
MSU Women's Center as a Web developer, making their Web site easier to use and more accessible for people with disabilities. He enjoys using his technical skills to aid in the struggle against violence. Kevin uses his free time to play guitar, read, and engage in action for social justice.
Lindsey Fritsch, Research Assistant
Lindsey is a first year MSW student at the University of Minnesota, pursuing a direct practice concentration in health and mental health services. She attended the University of Minnesota for her undergraduate degree where she graduated with a bachelor of individualized studies focusing on Gender & Sexuality, Race & Ethnicity, and Social Justice. After graduation she spent 10 months as an AmeriCorps *National Civilian Community Corps member assisting victims of hurricane Katrina with disaster relief services. Currently, Lindsey is working at Tubman Family Alliance and Chrysalis Center for her first internship placement, where she will be serving as a shelter advocate working to end violence by educating and assisting families touched by domestic abuse. Lindsey is our Violence Against Women Online Resources (VAWOR) Calendar and Directory Assistant, connecting direct service providers with resources and training materials on violence against women.
Narae Shin, MA - Research Assistant
Narae Shin is working on the Child Exposure to Domestic Violence research project within the
School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota. Narae is first-year doctoral student who holds a MA in Social Welfare from
Seoul National University. In her past professional experience, Narae worked at The Family Violence and Sexual Assault Center in Gyunggy-do, Korea as counselor of the treatment program for court-mandated domestic violence offenders and counselor of the treatment program for court-mandated juvenile sexual offenders.
Priya Saihgal, Research Assistant
Priya was born in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. She spent her early years in Trinidad before coming to the United States with her family. Priya earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Minnesota. This will be her first year in the M.S.W. program with a concentration in direct practice. Her first internship placement is at Tubman Family Alliance & Chrysalis Center aimed at preventing and ending violence in families. Prior to attending graduate school, Priya has worked in various social welfare settings advocating for people with developmental disabilities as well as economically disadvantaged single mothers. Priya has also volunteered with the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse and was part of the redesign team for the new MINCAVA Electronic Clearinghouse. Priya’s current projects for the electronic clearinghouse involve updating information, answering information requests, and posting new contents. She will also be a part of the Violence Against Women Online Resources (VAWOR) Project. Her work will involve updating documents, creating an international advisory board, and the redesign and implementation of the new VAW website.
Sheetal Rana, Research Assistant
Sheetal Rana is a doctoral student at the School of Social Work. Sheetal is from Nepal and has a Master’s degree in Sociology from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Sheetal’s work experiences include fieldwork and research on community based development in Nepal and research on international social development issues for the World Bank, Washington D.C. Sheetal works 10 hours a week on the VAWnet Applied Research project.
Sylvia O'Brien, Gallaway Fellow
Sylvia is a first year MSW student at the University of Minnesota. Her
concentration is community practice. Sylvia earned a B.S. in Psychology
with a minor in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from University
of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She has worked with victims in medical and
academic settings and with perpatrators as a co-faciliator for a men's
abuse program. She also participated in La Crosse's community
coordinated response groups for sexual assault and domestic violence.
After graduation she was hired by UW-La Crosse through a VAWA campus
grant to serve as an educator, trainer, and advocate at Western
Technical College for the newly formed CLOVER consortium. Her work with
this VAWA grant furthered her interest in research and policy around
issues of interpersonal violence, compelling her return to school for an
advanced degree. Sylvia works with the CEDV project.
Youa Her, Research Assistant
Youa is a first year MSW student at the University of MN in the direct practice concentration. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of MN in Family Social Science with a minor in Family Violence Prevention. Her experience has ranged from providing advocacy services to battered immigrant and refugee women and children, working with felony level victims of domestic violence at the Minneapolis Police Department in the Family Violence Unit, working with victims of domestic violence at the Domestic Abuse Service Center in Hennepin County and working with MFIP participants to develop safety plans for the Family Violence Waiver. Her work has also included community education/outreach and prevention. Youa will be working on the Violence Against Women Online Resources (VAWOR) project at MINCAVA.
Zeb Henderson Shreve, Research Assistant
Zeb Henderson Shreve is a first year MSW student. She holds a B.A. in Latin
American Studies from Smith College. She has worked with survivors of
domestic violence since 1998, when she accidentally fell in love with the
work while interning at a bilingual, bicultural shelter in St. Paul, MN.
Since then, she has worked as an advocate in legal, medical, community and
school settings and as a community education and professional training
coordinator for a domestic violence service provider. She is also a modern
dancer and looks forward to the day when she has time to perform again.
Our center is located in the School of
Social Work at the University of
Minnesota and we can be contacted at:
MINCAVA - Minnesota Center Against Violence & Abuse
School of Social Work, University of Minnesota
105 Peters Hall, 1404 Gortner Avenue
St. Paul, Minnesota 55108-6142 USA
tel: 612-624-0721 fax: 612-625-4288
Email Us
Map of Peters Hall and surrounding
area
