HCDVCC’s Supplemental Safety Planning Tools Project Goes Statewide!

In early 2020, when COVID first hit, HCDVCC began purchasing RING cameras for high-risk survivors who were identified by our Domestic Violence High Risk Team (DVHRT). The cameras were an inexpensive way to provide an additional layer of safety to a survivor when resources were stretched thin. The camera was incorporated into a survivor’s safety plan and quickly became “an extra set of eyes” and a powerful tool in providing additional security to a survivor’s home. It also validated any harassment, stalking or violent incidents she/he/they may have experienced if a survivor chose to pursue legal/criminal justice options.

When advocates heard back from survivors that the RING camera was a helpful tool for them, advocacy specialist, Susan Hickey, with HCDVCC, decided to reach out to the RING camera company to see if they might be interested in donating a few cameras to help HCDVCC with their efforts. Her outreach to the RING corporation proved to be extremely successful. Not only did the RING corporation respond enthusiastically to Susan’s request by providing a donation of 500 cameras to HCDVCC, they also donated free lifetime subscriptions to the program.

Thanks to this fantastic donation from RING, HCDVCC was able to reach out to other local DV providers to include them in this generous offer as well. In April, HCDVCC partnered with several other DV agencies in the community and launched The Supplemental Safety Planning Tools Project. It is a program designed to increase safety for survivors by including a camera into a survivor’s personalized safety plan.

Since the program’s launch in April 2021, nine domestic violence agencies in the Harris and surrounding counties have partnered with HCDVCC to participate in the project. And thanks to the work of these nine different agencies, 601 individuals have benefited from this camera donation.

Susan’s efforts and success with this project in Harris County provided a solid foundation to introduce RING to other partners like the Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) to see if there was an interest and an opportunity to take this program to survivors throughout our state. After months of planning and consultation, a press conference was held at HCDVCC’s offices on Monday, December 13, 2021 where RING executives, Gloria Terry, TCFV’s executive director, and U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee announced thrilling news. The RING partnership is going statewide! Soon high-risk survivors in Ft. Bend County, Grayson County and El Paso County will also benefit from this amazing tool and service. HCDVCC is tremendously proud of Susan Hickey’s hard work to make this program possible, and to the dedication of the RING camera company to ensuring that all survivors of domestic violence have access to this powerful tool. HCDVCC looks forward to our continued collaboration with RING, TCFV and other dv agencies to ensure survivors receive this type of technology that may help bring some valuable peace of mind.

For more information about this project, or to become a partner, please contact Susan or go to the SSPT site.