FVI wants to make sure that every family is able to lead safe and healthy lives.  To accomplish this, we train medical professionals, advocates and lay persons on the prevention, recognition and response to family violence.

Some of our activities include:

• Training for medical students through new curriculum at IUSM
• Training for all house staff and IUSM
• Grand Rounds training about family violence for local area hospitals
• Statewide training efforts for child protection services and child advocacy center
• Training of Indiana law enforcement officials in child abuse and neglect detection and investigation, and recognition of domestic violence and elder abuse
• Safe-sleep awareness for advocates and new parents
• New parent education, including "Healthiest Baby on the Block" and "Soothing Babies Safely"
• Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Investigation training for law enforcement, DCS, and coroners
• Training for Healthy Families Indiana (HFI) home visitors
• Mandated Reporter training to teach healthcare workers how to recognize, respond to and report their suspicions of child abuse and neglect
• Brown bag lunch sessions to educate the public about current topics in domestic violence
• HFI Training and Technical Assistance Project (HFIT & TAP) which supports HFI sites with training and technical assistance
• Shaken baby prevention efforts
• Conflict resolution classes for adolescents and teens
• Educational sessions in Spanish for Latinas in and around Marion County about all aspects of family violence and how to access help
• Collaboration with the Purdue CARe (Communities Against Rape) initiative to assist migrant laborers throughout the state
• Creation of telenovelas for Latino audiences that include information on family violence
• Collaboration with law enforcement officials about appropriate and culturally sensitive ways to deal with domestic violence victims
• Training sessions throughout Indiana for law enforcement officials about domestic violence
• Peer education programs for high school students by IUSM medical students to enable the high school students to educate their classmates, friends, neighbors, families, and communities about family violence
• Continuing Medical Education (CME) courses around the state for physicians and other health care providers
• Presentations by Drs. Fife and Laskey on recognition and management of family violence at the 2007 Indiana State Medical Association annual meeting in September
• Education about workplace violence recognition and prevention
• Educational presentations targeting physicians and legal professionals in rural Southern Indiana

Our most recent large-scale educational presentation dealt with the topic of sexual predators online.  It received widespread media coverage and multiple requests for the training to be repeated across the state.  Read about it here or here. 

If you are interested in learning about any of our educational opportunities, please email us.

 _{Law enforcement, coroners, & DCS working together
to learn a scene re-enactment technique at a recent SUIDI training.}