(1) A board is hereby created which shall be known as the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition, hereinafter referred to as "board."
(2) The board is established for the purpose of coordinating individuals and public and private groups and agencies to develop and facilitate a broad-based collaborative community program, the primary goal being prevention of interpersonal violence. The mission of the board is to create a culture of safety and empowered stakeholders through advocacy, education, collaboration, and service coordination for communities impacted by interpersonal violence.
The focus of the board shall encompass the following types of interpersonal violence:
(a) Dating and intimate partner violence;
(b) Sexual violence and exploitation;
(c) Stalking;
(d) Child abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or abduction within the context of intimate partner violence;
(e) Abuse of vulnerable adults within the context of intimate partner violence;
(f) Human trafficking;
(g) Sexual harassment;
(h) Any other area of human abuse and/or exploitation that may be identified as a problem by the board.
For purposes of this ordinance, the terms "violence" and "abuse" include, in addition to physical and sexual violence, the use of threats, financial exploitation, psychological abuse and coercion by one (1) person to dominate, control and/or exploit another person.
The primary objectives of the board shall be:
(a) To develop and facilitate an effective community-wide system of prevention and intervention that is responsive to the needs of victims of interpersonal violence and those they care about;
(b) To identify and coordinate the roles and services of local agencies or offices which provide services to interpersonal violence victims and perpetrators; to facilitate coordination and communication of best practices among community and systems-based agencies;
(c) To monitor, evaluate, and promote the quality and effectiveness of services and protections in the community;
(d) To promote a clear understanding of interpersonal violence, current laws, and resources, available in the community and the impact on the community; and
(e) To serve as a network for information and resource sharing for interpersonal violence issues.
In order to achieve these objectives, the board shall perform a number of functions, including working with other local groups to provide educational and public information programs and seminars to enhance public awareness regarding the issues outlined above and community resources and interventions to prevent victimization; encouraging the development of community programs; providing prevention and intervention program models and consultation to organizations and agencies; accepting grant funds and donations from public and private sources to fund programs aimed at prevention of interpersonal violence; entering into contracts with public or private agencies to fulfill requirements of various state or federal laws regarding interpersonal violence; conducting a biennial internal evaluation of the function, responsibilities and performance of the board in order to improve the services provided by the board, and in other ways providing direction and coordination to public and private efforts to achieve a cohesive community response to the issue of interpersonal violence. The board shall utilize trained volunteers and existing community resources whenever practicable in carrying out its purpose.
(Ord. No. 40-85, § 1, 2-21-85; Ord. No. 81-86, § 1, 5-29-86; Ord. No. 69-2014, § 1, 6-19-14; Ord. No. 51-2019 , § 1, 7-9-19)