As our educators spend time teaching in schools, they see the direct impact of the lessons they’re teaching and how students are responding to them. A couple of our educators have shared some stories and experiences where they feel their efforts in teaching about healthy relationships is paying off.
Shellie, Education Director
“I love teaching Healthy Relationships! There is nothing better than having a moving discussion with youth where they are able to identify the behaviors that they themselves and those around them display. Teaching healthy relationships allows students to recognize how they can continue to have healthy behavior and to adjust behavior that could be potentially harmful. In teaching healthy relationships, we get the opportunity to prevent potential future victims, but also future perpetrators.
An experience I had many years ago still burns clearly in my mind. After teaching a class at a local school, one of the students I had interacted with over a number of presentations approached me to share that she was concerned that she had never been in love. I was aware that this student was in a committed relationship from previous comments she had made and I asked her why she felt that way. She told me that she and her boyfriend had never had a screaming and yelling fight that they needed to have a passionate make up after. This student didn’t have great examples of relationships at home, so she had turned to songs and movies that displayed “love” such as The Notebook, or the Taylor Swifts Song, The Way I Loved You, to define what love looked like. Media had set the expectation that these unhealthy behaviors were the goal to be reached in a relationship. This was a prime example of the need for healthy relationships curriculum to be taught for youth.”
Lindsey, Educator
“The healthy relationships curriculum is important because it, in my opinion, is one of the best foundational skills youth and everyone really can learn and grow into in order to feel safe, respected, have equal power and control in their relationships–which we know prevents violence. They learn to recognize warning signs of unhealthy relationships and the building blocks to a healthy relationship. Obviously, a person can know all of these skills and still unfortunately find themselves in unhealthy and abusive relationships, but hopefully they will be able to recognize when they are in it and the resources to help them get out of that relationship and that it isn’t their fault.
I really love seeing the “aha” moments when I teach healthy relationships because “love” is often portrayed as this toxic, unhealthy obsession and persistence with a person. We see it in movies and music and books, if nothing else, this curriculum helps them be more aware as they are interacting with others and in relationships with others.”
Ashley, Educator
“One reason teaching about healthy relationships is important is because most kids and youth are unfortunately surrounded by unhealthy relationships or relationship behaviors- whether this is at home, amongst peers, in the media, or all of the above. Abusive and unhealthy behaviors are too often normalized in our society. By letting kids know these behaviors are not “normal” and teaching them the characteristics of a healthy relationship we help them realize that they deserve a healthy relationship themselves. They are better able to recognize red flags and warning signs and to look for the characteristics that make up a healthy relationship. Healthy relationships then lead to less abuse and violence in our communities.”
Introducing Lindsay Kirby & Shauna Karren
We are excited to introduce two new additions to the CAPSA board, Shauna Karren and Lindsay Kirby. These dedicated individuals bring a wealth of experience and perspective that will greatly benefit our organization and contribute to our continued growth and success.
Shauna Karren is an experienced professional with a background in employee training and human resources. With over seven years at Utah State University and nearly 16 years at Conservice, she has a proven track record of building and leading successful programs. Her passion for providing resources to individuals who have experienced abuse, led to the formation of the CAPSA-Conservice partnership. Through this partnership we provide trainings to employees, have signage throughout their building, and are equipped to provide a confidential on-site response to support survivors. With a Bachelor’s degree in business management and a Master’s degree in instructional design, Shauna brings a wealth of expertise and knowledge to the board.
Lindsay Kirby is a proud wife, mother, and dedicated community leader. With a background in the financial industry and her own business, Kirby Creative Accounting, she has a lot of experience and a commitment to giving back. She and her husband became home sponsors for CAPSA in memory of her father-in-law, who passed away from cancer in 2019. Lindsay is eager to continue serving the Cache Valley community through her involvement with CAPSA.
We are grateful for the support of our board members, who play a critical role in helping us to make a positive impact in the lives of those we serve. The work we do is life-changing and is made possible by this support and leadership.
Thank you Lindsay and Shauna, and welcome to CAPSA’s board!
What Does CAPSA Stand For?
CAPSA stands for Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse
In 1976, two high-profile rape cases occurred on Utah State University’s campus. This troubled many community members, and deciding to act, they created the Cache Valley Rape Crisis Team. The team was a hotline and calls were directed toward the University’s Women’s Center.
In 1979, Utah passed a spousal abuse act, which made domestic violence illegal. With this legislation, both the need and funding for domestic violence shelters increased. The response team changed its name to Citizens Against Physical & Sexual Abuse, and community members began housing individuals within their own homes.
From there CAPSA has grown into a 34-bed domestic violence shelter with caseworkers and a therapy program. We also have a housing program, child advocacy, and an education department dedicated to educating youth in hopes to prevent future violence. CAPSA is a team of some of the best people who have a passion for serving our community and helping people heal from abuse.
A few of our team members share what CAPSA means to them
Brenna, Children and Youth Services Manager
“CAPSA gives a sense of hope. I love coming to work every day knowing that I can make a difference in the lives of children and youth. Their voices deserve to be heard and are often overlooked. I am happy to build relationships with our young generation in hopes to set them up for success in every aspect of their life.”
Victoria, Diversity Caseworker
“I think CAPSA for me means a place of healing and hope no matter where you come from or your immigration status, everyone is welcome here to heal and move forward.”
Maddie, Community Engagement Coordinator
“To me, CAPSA represents a true sense of hope in the face of hardship. In a world where we’re all constantly inundated with horrifying headlines and shockingly sad stories, it’s really easy to start feeling overwhelmed and to wonder where to even begin helping everyone who needs it. It’s really nice to work at a place like CAPSA, where helping survivors of abuse is the sole focus, but a major emphasis is also placed on self-care. We know that taking care of ourselves is critical to doing the work we do as successfully as possible.”
CAPSA Educators Share Stories of Why Healthy Relationships Curriculum is Important
As our educators spend time teaching in schools, they see the direct impact of the lessons they’re teaching and how students are responding to them. A couple of our educators have shared some stories and experiences where they feel their efforts in teaching about healthy relationships is paying off.
Shellie, Education Director
“I love teaching Healthy Relationships! There is nothing better than having a moving discussion with youth where they are able to identify the behaviors that they themselves and those around them display. Teaching healthy relationships allows students to recognize how they can continue to have healthy behavior and to adjust behavior that could be potentially harmful. In teaching healthy relationships, we get the opportunity to prevent potential future victims, but also future perpetrators.
An experience I had many years ago still burns clearly in my mind. After teaching a class at a local school, one of the students I had interacted with over a number of presentations approached me to share that she was concerned that she had never been in love. I was aware that this student was in a committed relationship from previous comments she had made and I asked her why she felt that way. She told me that she and her boyfriend had never had a screaming and yelling fight that they needed to have a passionate make up after. This student didn’t have great examples of relationships at home, so she had turned to songs and movies that displayed “love” such as The Notebook, or the Taylor Swifts Song, The Way I Loved You, to define what love looked like. Media had set the expectation that these unhealthy behaviors were the goal to be reached in a relationship. This was a prime example of the need for healthy relationships curriculum to be taught for youth.”
Lindsey, Educator
“The healthy relationships curriculum is important because it, in my opinion, is one of the best foundational skills youth and everyone really can learn and grow into in order to feel safe, respected, have equal power and control in their relationships–which we know prevents violence. They learn to recognize warning signs of unhealthy relationships and the building blocks to a healthy relationship. Obviously, a person can know all of these skills and still unfortunately find themselves in unhealthy and abusive relationships, but hopefully they will be able to recognize when they are in it and the resources to help them get out of that relationship and that it isn’t their fault.
I really love seeing the “aha” moments when I teach healthy relationships because “love” is often portrayed as this toxic, unhealthy obsession and persistence with a person. We see it in movies and music and books, if nothing else, this curriculum helps them be more aware as they are interacting with others and in relationships with others.”
Ashley, Educator
“One reason teaching about healthy relationships is important is because most kids and youth are unfortunately surrounded by unhealthy relationships or relationship behaviors- whether this is at home, amongst peers, in the media, or all of the above. Abusive and unhealthy behaviors are too often normalized in our society. By letting kids know these behaviors are not “normal” and teaching them the characteristics of a healthy relationship we help them realize that they deserve a healthy relationship themselves. They are better able to recognize red flags and warning signs and to look for the characteristics that make up a healthy relationship. Healthy relationships then lead to less abuse and violence in our communities.”
CAPSA Teaches about Healthy Relationships to Prevent Teen Dating Violence
CAPSA’s Education Department Shares What They Teach About Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships
Lindsey, one of our educators, recently taught about healthy relationships to a class at Mountain Crest High School. During her lesson, students learned what makes up a healthy relationship such as trust, communication, boundaries, and respect. During this lesson, they also had the chance to come up with examples of unhealthy relationships and share with the class – such as the intensity of Edward towards Bella in Twilight or the controlling aspect of the mother in Tangled. We believe it is vital for teenagers and young adults to understand the dynamics of healthy relationships so they know what to look out for in their own relationships.
In addition to Healthy Relationships, CAPSA’s prevention educators present on many other topics. If you are interested in setting up a presentation for your students or youth group, reach out to shellie@capsa.org.
How the Lethality Assessment Protocol Helps Survivors
What is the Lethality Assessment Protocol?
The Lethality Assessment is an 11-item questionnaire that is used for intimate partner violence. When officers respond to a domestic violence call, they use this assessment to determine if someone is in immediate, life-threatening danger. If so, they then refer this person to CAPSA where we can offer them immediate shelter and resources.
CAPSA’s Partnership with Local Law Enforcement
Research done by Jacqueline Campbell found that only 4% of DV murder victims nationwide had ever accessed domestic violence program services. Because of this, CAPSA, Cache County Sherriff’s Office and Logan City Police Department piloted LAP for Utah with Utah Domestic Violence Coalition in 2015. Now, 13 other community based DV agencies have partnered with over 60 law enforcement Agencies with additional jurisdictions joining every year.
CAPSA partners with local law enforcement to ensure that survivors who are in dangerous situations are referred immediately to CAPSA. The screening of certain risk factors allows us to predict lethality and take the necessary steps to help survivors in these situations.
How the Lethality Assessment Protocol Helped a Survivor
Law enforcement recently referred a victim of domestic violence to Capsa through the Lethality Assessment Protocol. The officer had concern that there was more going on in the situation than was disclosed and expressed his concern for the victim’s safety. After learning about confidentiality and building rapport with her caseworker, she ended up disclosing much more serious abuse than she had initially shared with the officer. She had concerns about what would happen with her kids and her financial situation if her spouse was to be arrested. The caseworker was able to work through an action plan to address those concerns and provided her with the option of making another police report. With the support of the caseworker and the officer she was able to see the dangerousness of her situation and receive support to start a life free from abuse.
Secondary Survivors are Survivors
CAPSA’s mission is to support and empower survivors as they go through the healing process, this includes secondary survivors who are caring for loved ones.
Who is a Secondary Survivor?
A secondary survivor is someone who has been exposed to abuse through witnessing an abusive event or someone they are close to disclosing the experience to them. Often, this refers to someone who is helping support the survivor through the healing process, such as a close friend, a relative, or even a parent. They may experience some of the same side effects of dealing with trauma such as depression, anxiety, and emotions related to abuse and healing.
Secondary survivors sometimes struggle with the emotions they feel, concerned that they are taking away from the survivor’s experience but the truth is there is no right way to feel when dealing with abuse. Secondary survivors may feel all, some, or none of the emotion’s survivors feel, and all these are valid responses.
How Does CAPSA Support Secondary Survivors?
CAPSA provides support and empowerment through services designed to meet the needs of survivors dealing with abuse, including secondary survivors. CAPSA’s therapy program is available, and our therapists recognize the difficulty that can come with being a secondary survivor.
Often, secondary survivors focus on finding healing for their loved ones. CAPSA offers therapy and advocacy to ensure this does not come at the expense of themselves. Friends and family move together and heal together, and ensuring the health and safety of secondary survivors benefits the survivors they worry about as well.
CAPSA’s therapists work with secondary survivors to ensure they have the knowledge and skills needed to be supportive and help them work through the emotional impacts of abuse.
If you are supporting a loved one through abuse and the healing process, know that you are not alone. CAPSA is here to provide support, information, and advice, and help you understand the process. You can contact CAPSA by calling 435-753-2500 to speak with a trained advocate and get the help you need.
Warning Signs of Human Trafficking
Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Every year, millions of men, women and children are trafficked.
CAPSA supports survivors of human trafficking because human trafficking is abuse. Human trafficking is about exploitation; a victim can be trafficked without ever leaving their home.
Two forms of human trafficking include sexual exploitation & labor trafficking. Sexual exploitation is a form of sexual abuse in which a person(s), of any age takes advantage of a power imbalance to force or entice a person into engaging in sexual activity in return for something. Labor trafficking is using force, fraud, or coercion to compel an individual to provide involuntary labor or services.
Warning Signs of Labor Trafficking
Warning Signs of Sexual Exploitation
We encourage you to be aware of warning signs so that you can help a friend or loved one in need. If you or someone you know is being trafficked or has been trafficked, please call CAPSA at 435-753-2500.
Thank You for Giving the Gift of Hope
Thank you for your gift of hope
Thank you to everyone who has given the gift of hope to survivors this year. Your generosity and kindness are truly appreciated by those who are seeking safety and support during a difficult time in their lives.
CAPSA offers essential resources for survivors of domestic abuse, providing a safe and supportive environment for individuals and families to heal and rebuild their lives. CAPSA offers a range of services, including temporary housing, counseling, and more.
Your generosity aides CAPSA in helping survivors
CAPSA requires a dedicated team of professionals and volunteers, as well as financial resources to cover the cost of operations. That’s where you come in. Your donations, whether monetary or in the form of necessary supplies, make a real difference in the lives of those seeking refuge here.
Your gift of hope is a reminder that there is help available, and that there are people who care and are willing to offer support. It gives survivors the strength and resilience they need to overcome their circumstances and move forward with their lives.
St. Nicks Shop
Because of your generosity, CAPSA is able to provide a St. Nicks Shop for our clients and their children where they can pick out toys for Christmas. Often times survivors are focused on the next step in front of them, and during the holidays we strive to provide as much magic as possible for survivors and their families.
So, thank you once again for your generosity and compassion. Your contribution is truly appreciated and will make a lasting impact on the lives of those seeking safety and support at CAPSA.
Caseworker
Job Title: Caseworker
Reports To: Social Service Director
Employment Terms: Full time (40 hrs/week)
Salary Range: $17 – $2o Per hour
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, or another related field. Social Service Worker (SSW) licensure preferred. Ability to work in crisis situations. Excellent communication skills, both oral and written. Ability to build positive working relationships with teammates and community partners. A working knowledge of trauma, including rape, domestic violence and human trafficking victimization. Spanish speaking is also preferred.
Position Purpose
CAPSA’s mission is to prevent abuse, end abuse, and support survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. CAPSA’s caseworkers support this mission by providing trauma-informed advocacy for survivors and by working collaboratively with the survivor’s support system, other CAPSA staff, and/or other professionals to ensure any survivor receives needed support and safety.
Case Management
Documentation
Training
General Duties
Apply Now
To apply, use the below button and select the specific job.
Please note: The application requires you to upload your resume (PDF or Word) and list professional references. Please have these items ready before starting your application.
For questions, send an email to info@capsa.org.
Therapist
Job Title: Therapist
Reports To: Clinical Services Director
Employment Terms: Full time (40 hrs/week)
Salary Range: $26 – $29 Per hour
Qualifications:
Master’s degree in Social Work or related field. Licensed as LCSW, LMFT, CMHC, and/or PsyD (CSW, MFT, or ACMHC minimum, supervision can be provided). A working knowledge of trauma, including rape and domestic violence victimization, and knowledge of common diagnoses for survivors of trauma are preferred but not required. Spanish speaking is also preferred.
Position Purpose:
CAPSA’s mission is to prevent abuse, end abuse, and support survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking in recovering from the trauma of abuse. CAPSA’s therapists support this mission by providing evidence-based and trauma-informed therapy for survivors in individual and group settings; providing community trainings to support and expand the understanding of trauma informed therapy practices, continuously striving for personal development as a therapist, and working collaboratively with the survivor’s support system, other CAPSA staff, and/or other professionals to ensure the survivor receives needed support.
Therapy:
Documentation:
Training:
General Duties:
Apply Now
To apply, use the below button and select the specific job.
Please note: The application requires you to upload your resume (PDF or Word) and list professional references. Please have these items ready before starting your application.
For questions, send an email to info@capsa.org.