Remedies Renewing Lives

Mission:
Remedies is a health and human services agency that helps adults and their children deal with problems arising from substance abuse or domestic violence.

More specifically the agency seeks to:

1.Through intervention, prevent the continuing cycles of domestic violence and substance abuse.
2.Facilitate the coordination of services for those people experiencing these problems with others who are also trying to help with these problems.
3.Inform and educate the community about substance abuse and domestic violence and serve as an advocate for those experiencing these problems.
The Agency is a private, not-for-profit -501 (c) (3) – organization governed by a voluntary Board of Directors. It was founded in 1955 and incorporated in 1959.

Services We Provide:
Remedies substance abuse treatment programs offer adult and adolescent outpatient and intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment and ancillary methadone or Suboxone medication services.

Our domestic violence program provides the following services: 24-hour emergency shelter; crisis hotline; medical advocacy; legal advocacy; individual and group counseling; economic, educational and employment assistance; life and parenting skills; children’s counseling; educational advocacy; structured activities for the children to bond with the custodial parent; screening and advocacy for an array of children’s needs, both physical and developmental; specialized programming relative to victims with substance abuse or mental illness.

We go the extra mile for children in shelter to meet their educational needs. Upon entry to the shelter, families with children are asked to permit contact with the local school district so that education can continue seamlessly. We advocate with the child’s school district for transportation from the shelter and back each day. If the child is not enrolled in school we provide transportation to the Student Assistance Center for enrollment and then to the selected school for registration. If the child is too young for school, we work with the Early Childhood Program to have the child screened for delays relative to the exposure to trauma and see what services the program or even Head Start has to offer the toddler. If it is unsafe for the child to attend school, arrangements will be made for home schooling within the shelter including tutoring. Assistance with school supplies, lunches and uniforms is also provided.

Our staff provide very specific legal advocacy at the Domestic Violence Assistance Center (DVAC) in the lower level of the Winnebago County Courthouse. The process begins by examining each victim’s situation. Through education about domestic violence and the process of legal remedies available by getting an Order of Protection (OP) the victim can best determine if she will be safer with an Order of Protection or if in fact an order would make her more unsafe. From there, the victim is assisted with completing the online order of protection process where the facts of the case are stated and particular remedies to make the victim safe are selected. Currently, all petitions for an OP (a total of 30 to 35 printed pages) are completed online which can be quite intimidating for victims of abuse. The victim is then assisted with providing the Clerks’ Office with their petition and also accompanied to court for the hearing, obtaining a copy of the OP and seeing that the Civil Process division receives the OP for serving. In two weeks, when the Emergency OP is about to expire, advocates remind the victim of the next court date and accompany the victim to that hearing which will include facing her abuser in court. During CY 2009 staff assisted with 1084 orders of protection at the DVAC and were successful in having 72% of the victims return for the final order.

If a victim can attain safety through an order of protection, the more costly intervention of a shelter stay can be avoided. An order of protection is particularly helpful in keeping the abuser away from the victim and children after his arrest for domestic violence and release on bond.

Our staff also provides training, public outreach and institutional advocacy specific to the legal and other systems.