• The 2005 Sarasota Film Festival will feature the SCOPE documentary on family violence.  As part of its community outreach programming, local actors are working with film festival staff to create a theater piece based on stories from the documentary film.  Audience members at area high schools will have the opportunity to participate and change the ending of the skit by play-acting appropriate responses to domestic violence warning signs.
   
• A faith-based subcommittee has formed to determine how to maximize involvement of the faith community in addressing family violence.  Committee members are planning a breakfast for faith leaders in the spring.
   
• SPARCC offered free training in the dynamics and recognition of domestic violence to local hair stylists and nail technicians who are in a unique position with their clientele to identify abuse and refer victims for free, confidential services.  
   
• Family Violence: Not in My Backyard!, a community event involving over 80 community partners, was attended by over 800 residents of Manatee and Sarasota County .  The event featured exhibits by local service providers, the documentary film, "Battered, Bruised and Broken" and a panel of domestic violence experts and survivors.  The event, which was widely publicized on TV and local newspapers, was perhaps the largest single domestic violence awareness event in our area's history
   
• The full, 34-minute SCOPE documentary film on Family Violence, "Battered, Bruised and Broken," can now be viewed on SCOPE's website: www.scopexcel.org.
   
• Sarasota County awarded a $20,000 grant to the Domestic Violence Intervention Project, a counseling program at SPARCC.  This first-time grant from the County will defer costs for low-income families who need counseling services to address anger and power and control issues.
   
• SCOPE Implementation Task Force members have made presentations to a number of community organizations, including Rotary, Kiwanas, Nokomis Area Civic Association, and Teen Court.  Presentations are scheduled for Guardian Ad Litem, CHIP, and area high schools.  Task force members have developed a powerpoint presentation and a discussion group "toolkit", which are available at no cost.  For more information, call Joe Naraditsky at 365-8751.
   
• SCOPE Task force members will make quarterly reports to the Community Alliance about ways that member agencies can help reduce domestic violence in our community.  Pine Shores Presbyterian Church generously underwrote the purchase of copies of "Battered, Bruised, and Broken" for all members of the Community Alliance. 
   
• SCOPE Task force members are working with the Criminal Justice Committee to create a group that would improve coordination in the domestic violence system and help address existing gaps in care.

UPCOMING IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:

• An elder abuse training program sponsored by the Department of Elder Affairs
   
• Ongoing presentations on family violence to groups such as Guardian Ad Litem and Keiser College students
   
• Creating a family violence webpage with links to valuable community resources on family violence