Services include:
- Domestic Violence Counseling
- Sexual Assault Support Services
- Safety Planning
- Spiritual Counseling
- Financial Assistance
- Court Accompaniment
- Legal and Medical Advocacy
- Support Groups
- Information and Referral
- Outreach Programs for Adults, Teens and Youth
Zhensky Golos (Russian-speaking services)
This program ensures that Russian-speaking victims of domestic violence and sexual assault have access to a comprehensive system of care. Services are delivered in Russian, with special attention to the emotional and social needs of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. In addition to the services listed above, clients may utilize interpreter services so that they will not be denied access to needed services because of language barriers.
Teen Safe Programs
These programs empower teens in opposite or same-sex relationships to choose these relationships based on mutual respect, to recognize patterns of communication that are healthy versus controlling, and to see the direct influence that the media and our culture have on their concepts of the "ideal relationship." Teens may access individual or group services, which teach communication, fair fighting and refusal skills, as well as how to advocate for themselves assertively rather than aggressively or not at all.
SafetyNet: A Program for Exploited and Trafficked Persons
SafetyNet is a collaboration between JF&CS, the International Institute of Boston and the Victims of Violence Program at the Cambridge Health Alliance, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime. The goal is to assist victims of trafficking to navigate our systems, to make specialized services more available to victims, and to provide support and training to community members on the devastating effects of human trafficking.
Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery and occurs in every part of the world. Traffickers target people who have limited resources, primarily women and children, with the promise of a better life. Victims are then forced to live and work in inhumane conditions. An estimated 14,000 to 17,000 persons are trafficked into the United States every year according to the U.S. Department of State. Massachusetts is not immune to this problem. People are trafficked into this area as exploited laborers, domestic workers, mail order brides in servile marriages and sex workers.
Community Outreach
Kol Isha works collaboratively with other JF&CS programs, in the Jewish and Russian-speaking communities and with domestic violence agencies throughout Greater Boston. In addition, staff provides community education programs, workshops and training to synagogues, schools, shelters, senior-housing facilities, courts and other secular organizations. Kol Isha is a member program of Jane Doe Inc., the Trafficked Victims Outreach and Service Network, the Jewish Domestic Violence Coalition of Greater Boston, participates on multiple committees of the Governor's Commission on Sexual and Domestic Violence and Jewish Women International and provides consultation to similar programs across the country.
Newsletters
For more information, call 781-647-JFCS (5327) or email your questions via our contact us page.
