02/09/06
By Lauren Taylor

DUNDALK

The Family Crisis Center in Dundalk, which helps people who are fleeing from abusive relationships, has extended the length of stay for residents beyond a month, allowing them more time to find a job and new place to live.

Residents can now stay at the shelter for up to 90 days, an increase from 31 days. Being able to stay longer will give some people more time to make use of services and establish themselves in a new situation.

The center doesn't foresee any problems extending the amount of time people may stay, because often people who have been referred to the shelter don't show up, leaving room to accommodate longer stays, officials said.

Nor do managers foresee everyone using the full 90-day period.

"We had a sense that the people that need (the 90 days) won't be a large percentage," said Ruth Gunn, assistant director at the center.

If the Dundalk shelter should fill up, however, people will be referred to homeless shelters or other domestic violence shelters that also provide a safe haven during a break from an abuser.

"It's very dangerous to flee during a violent confrontation," said Douglas Murphy, executive director at the center.

"We accept that obstacles to leave are very large,"Murphy said. "It's a daunting thing to uproot yourself and your kids and be without financial resources."

The crisis center offers shelter on a first-come, first-served basis, providing 31 beds in rooms which remain open during the day.

Last year, the crisis shelter accommodated 457 residents - two-thirds of whom were children. Residents were victims of domestic, child or elder abuse.

Shelter residents may come to Baltimore from across the country, referred by a national or local hotline or even on their own accord, said Gunn, who plans to retire in June.

The center recently hired Lisa Muscara as the new assistant director and also plans to hire a financial manager.

When people arrive at the crisis shelter, they are put on five days of probation, allowing the staff to evaluate their needs and see how they can effectively use the 31 days of shelter.

After the initial time period, the resident is reevaluated to see if an additional 30 days is needed, with another evaluation at the end of 60 days. If more than a 90-day stay is necessary, the resident would move to transitional housing.

Inexpensive housing is hard to find in Baltimore, something the 90-day limit should help address, Murphy said.

The shelter's location is kept secret to prevent abusive spouses from finding their families. Children at the shelter are admitted without records to county public schools, since transferred records could be traced by an abusive parent.

"We keep it as anonymous as we can," Murphy said.

For shelter residents who need long-term help, the center runs a transitional housing program, which allows up to two families to stay for up to 18 months in a church's unoccupied parsonage.

In 2005, the transitional shelter housed six women and 14 children, who stayed for an average of nine months. Many were foreign nationals without green cards who came to the U.S. relying on their husbands, Murphy said. The center helps them get their green cards and find work.

"Sometimes they can't go home to their own country," he said.

The crisis center and shelter operate on money from the county's Office of Community Conservation, the Victims of Crime Act and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well foundation grants. Additionally, a portion of the county's marriage license fee is divided between the county's three crisis shelters.

The county rents the crisis center office space in Dundalk for only $1 each year. A few years ago, Baltimore County planned to build the shelter a new building, but backed down in the face of community resistance, Murphy said.

longtime resource

The Family Crisis Center - which now serves more than 1,700 people - was started in 1979 through a grassroots effort led by the community and the Church of the Brethren. With a $60,000 grant and renovations to an existing building, the staff of six, plus volunteers, offered a crisis hotline and family psychotherapy services.

The center is now staffed by 20 people and offers family psychotherapy, safe shelter, victim advocacy, a new behaviors group, community education and crisis hotline counseling.

Working in conjunction with Baltimore County Police in the Parkville, White Marsh, Essex and Dundalk precincts, the victim advocates follow up domestic violence cases, encouraging victims to use the center's services.

Because abusive behavior "starts pretty early," the center has a "Get a Grip" anger management program for children up to age 18, Murphy said.

Judges refer repeat adult abusers to the Family Crisis Center's New Behaviors group to learn how to control their anger and aggressive behavior, Murphy said. First-time offenders are ordered by judges to attend a four-hour Healthy Relationship program. Both programs are also open to self-referred people as well.

A full-time lawyer provides legal counseling at the center, thanks to a $30,000 grant from the Altria Doors of Hope program. Since February, the attorney has helped 35 people with legal services.

The center - along with Turnaround Inc. in Towson and the Family and Children's Services in of Central Maryland in Woodlawn - staffs the Baltimore/Carroll County Domestic Violence Rape Crisis Hotline, which received 4,971 calls last year.

Victims may call the hotline (410-828-6390) 24 hours a day, seven days a week and receive crisis counseling and assistance finding shelter.

E-mail Lauren Taylor at Lauren Taylor@patuxent.com