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Adopt and present a resolution recognizing October 2025 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Solano County (Supervisor Brown)
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Published Notice Required? Yes ___ No _X _
Public Hearing Required? Yes ___ No _X _
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Solano County District Attorney’s Office and the Family Justice Center - Solano recommend that the Board of Supervisors adopt and present a resolution recognizing October 2025 as “Domestic Violence Awareness Month” in Solano County.
SUMMARY:
In October 1987, the first Domestic Violence Awareness month was observed. This month has since been set aside to raise public awareness about the prevalence and cost of domestic violence, the need for prevention, and the availability of services for victims of abuse. There is a need to raise public awareness and to reduce children’s exposure to violence; therefore, the District Attorney’s Office and the Family Justice Center - Solano recommend that the Board of Supervisors adopt and present a resolution recognizing October 2025 as “Domestic Violence Awareness Month.”
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no cost to adopt the resolution. The costs associated with preparing the agenda item are nominal and absorbed by the department’s FY2025/26 Working Budget. The costs associated with preparation and purchase of the resolution materials are included in the Board’s FY2025/26 Working Budget.
DISCUSSION:
Somewhere in America a woman is battered, usually by her intimate partner, every 9 seconds. Domestic violence is not a private matter; it is a crime. It is one of the most common, yet least reported, crimes in the United States. It can happen to anyone, of any profession, education level, economic status, age, race, or religion. It occurs at the same rate in gay and lesbian relationships as it does in heterosexual relationships. Although not as common, violence against men by women also exists. Batterers not only hurt their partners, but their children as well. Estimates show that child abuse is 15 times more likely to occur in families where domestic violence is present. Children who witness domestic violence often grow up believing that physical cruelty in relationships is acceptable behavior, and thus they tend to perpetuate a cycle of violence in their own relationships. More than 3 million children are at risk of exposure to intimate partner violence each year.
October 2025 marks the 39th commemoration of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Agencies and organizations from across America will encourage support and understanding from all Americans and will commemorate victims of domestic violence and those who serve them. For Domestic Violence Awareness Month 2025, the Domestic Violence Awareness Project Advisory Group is pleased to introduce a new theme: With Survivors, Always | Con sobrevivientes. Siempre. This theme allows us to explore what it means to be in partnership with survivors toward safety, support, and solidarity. It is both a love letter and a call to action for those committed to advocating for survivors’ needs and rights.
Survivors deserve safety - When we advocate for survivors’ safety, we must consider all that safety encompasses: physical, emotional, spiritual, and financial. Survivors have a right to live in homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, and institutions that are free of violence.
Survivors deserve support - Living through and healing from trauma can be a lifelong journey. And new threats to their safety can resurface trauma reactions in profound ways. Survivors are deserving of support and care at all stages of their lives as they navigate both these echoes and emerging new threats.
Survivors deserve solidarity - Nobody should have to stand alone in the face of hardship. Community connectedness is critical to effective advocacy. We must continue to show up for survivors, no matter what.
Progress against domestic violence relies heavily on public awareness and changing community attitudes. Solano County’s network of victim service agencies work to ease the physical and emotional pain inflicted on victims of domestic violence, collaborate to raise awareness to put an end to this abusive behavior, and educate the public with which they have contact on family violence prevention strategies designed to break cycles of violence. The Family Justice Center - Solano is a warm and welcoming one-stop center where multiple co-located direct-service partners provide a full range of trauma-informed services for children, youth and adults affected by domestic violence. These agencies work together to ease the physical and emotional pain inflicted on victims of domestic violence and are collaborating to raise awareness to put an end to this abusive behavior. We honor Domestic Violence Awareness Month by promoting peace in our own families, homes, and communities. Let us renew our commitment to end domestic violence - in every corner of Solano County.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board of Supervisors could choose to:
1. Not adopt the resolution; however, this alternative is not recommended as the resolution recognizes local efforts which are consistent with the Board’s mission; and/or
2. Proclaim another month as Domestic Violence Awareness Month; however, this alternative is not recommended since the month of October 2025 has been nationally designated as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Contra Costa Family Justice Alliance, the lead agency for the Solano Family Justice Center, works collaboratively with and recognizes the efforts of the District Attorney’s Office Victim Witness Unit, the County Administrator’s Office, Office of Family Violence Prevention, the Fairfield Police Department’s Domestic Violence Unit, Fighting Back Partnership, SafeQuest Solano, Travis Air Force Base’s Family Advocacy Office, Kaiser Permanente’s Family Violence Prevention Team, the Vacaville Police Department FIRST Office, Solano Advocates for Victims of Violence (SAVV), Victims Empowerment Support Team (VEST), SANE SART, Solano County Health & Social Services, and many others that serve who serve the county and families affected by domestic violence.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION