Family Violence Coordinating Council (FVCC)

The Family Violence Coordinating Council (FVCC) is a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional forum for the coordination of domestic violence intervention efforts within Multnomah County.  Founded in 1987, the Council now has over 40 member agencies, including criminal justice, health care, victim services, alcohol and drug treatment and children's service agencies.

The FVCC works to ensure the safety, well-being, and stability of all members of families - especially women and children- in Multnomah County by ending family violence. The council focuses primarily on violence against former or current adult intimate partners. This violence may include emotional, physical, or sexual abuse and is generally referred to as domestic violence. Abuse may include threats, harm, injury, harassment, exertion of power and control, terrorism, or damage to living beings or property.

The FVCC provides consultation and technical assistance to Multnomah County and the City of Portland, professionals working in the field of domestic and sexual violence intervention, and community groups who want to get involved in ending domestic and sexual violence.

Vision:  To ensure the safety, well-being, and stability of all members of families--especially women and children--in Multnomah County eliminating family violence.

Mission:  To promote public policies and facilitate and coordinate public and private efforts to prevent, respond to, and end family violence in Multnomah County.

Role of the Council

The Council will focus its efforts in four broad areas:

System Coordination

  • Facilitate the coordination of public information gathering and sharing through the council’s membership, meetings and events
  • Provide and maintain membership opportunities for networking and multi-disciplinary activities to solve problems and share approaches to address domestic and sexual violence
  • Identify unmet needs and implement strategies to close the gaps within available resources

Policy and Leadership – Practices and Standards

  • Advise policy makers within local government, regional government, law enforcement and corrections about policy issues and resource needs relating to domestic and sexual violence
  • Identify, examine and work to correct institutional policies that may harm survivors of domestic and sexual violence
  • Identify promising practices to improve current services and responses to survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and develop appropriate standards
  • Identify and implement strategies to increase access to social, medical, and legal supports for marginalized and underserved communities

Education and Training

  • Provide opportunities for the free-flow exchange of information and provide training among members
  • Establish sub-committees to address specific topics to increase awareness within the council and the greater public
  • Identify and implement system and community training opportunities to educate partners to the effects of domestic and sexual violence and promote greater awareness

Prevention

  • Develop public service announcements to educate community and bring awareness to domestic and sexual violence
  • Engage community through media sources such as newspaper, television and social media
  • Participate in evaluation and assessment of batterer’s intervention programs and strategies
  • Partner with educational service providers to educate our youth about safe relationships and domestic and sexual violence

Membership

Subcommittees

Training Subcommittee

Purpose: The Training Subcommittee meets monthly to plan continuum training related to domestic violence, sexual violence and sex trafficking.  

Prevention and Public Awareness

Purpose: All things prevention. Networking, skill sharing, curriculum review. 

Sexual Assault Advisory Committee (SAAC)

Purpose: SAAC is a collaborative of community-based survivor service providers. Our purpose is to improve access to services and resources to ensure that survivors feel safe, heard, empowered and valued. 

Civil Court

Purpose: All things civil court at the intersection of DSV/Family Violence

Fatality Review Board (membership by invite only)

If you have history with the board in the past please contact us to discuss future membership.

For more information about joining any of the FVCC Subcommittees, please email dsvco.info@multco.us

Training

Subscribe to the FVCC Newsletter to get monthly information about training through the FVCC and other organizations. 

Contact Us

Multnomah County Domestic and Sexual Violence Coordination Office dsvco.info@multco.us

History