Local resources available for victims of domestic abuse

DES MOINES, Iowa — On Tuesday morning an officer involved shooting left one officer in serious, but stable, condition in a hospital and a man who allegedly violated a no contact order dead.

Authorities identified the individual as 45-year-old Weston Derby of Bellevue, Nebraska . Police say the call was a domestic dispute, and that Derby had violated a no contact order.

In the metro there are several different organizations that provide resources to those that are victims of domestic abuse or violence.

Children & Families of Iowa is one of them, giving shelter to domestic abuse victims, providing job training, childcare and more.

“Our emergency shelter, we have 48 beds and we assist those in Polk and Warren counties that are fleeing intimate partner violence,” said Shawna Morgan, the Director for Domestic Violence Services at Children & Families of Iowa. “I can tell you that outreach services are being utilized at a higher rate. Shelter services remain steady.”

4,700 individuals in Polk and Warren County alone used services from Children & Families of Iowa. Often times, individuals have their own specific circumstances and no resource or help offered is one size fits all.

“So this really speaks to the complexity of intimate partner violence, because sometimes a survivor will think that getting a simple no contact order is only going to provide more danger because it’s going to escalate,” said Morgan. “Whereas other victims may feel that it is an immediate call for help, that if I call, the police are going to come and they’re going to take him away, which is the way that it should work.”

The organization helps out those seeking a civil no contact order. There is a Children & Families of Iowa hotline you are able to call 24/7 at 514-243-6147. You can also go to the website to find out more information.

“Call for help. A lot of times they might say I called and they didn’t do anything. Call again. Call, call, call because it can save your life if you don’t feel safe in the place you are in,” said Morgan.

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