NPC Recognizes Domestic Violence Awareness Month

National Park College (NPC) will host a series of events this month in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month in partnership with Michelle Lawrence, Prosecuting Attorney, Ouachita Children, Youth and Family Services, and the Garland County Domestic Violence Task Force.

The Silent Witness Project will be on display Wednesday and Thursday, October 23-24, 2019 in the Student Commons building. The project is sponsored by the Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence and was created in 1997. It consists of life-sized plywood silhouettes that represent a victim murdered by an intimate partner this year and tells the victim’s story on a shield attached to the silhouette.

A training session for members of the law enforcement community will be held Wednesday, October 23 from 8:00 a.m. to noon in the Student Commons Conference Center on the first floor. Registration is required at https://cal.np.edu/event/law-enforcement-training/.

Sherry Williamson, child abuse project coordinator for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will present “The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children” at 9:00 a.m. A panel discussion will follow beginning at 10:15 a.m. including Laura Abbott, Advocate; Tracey Childress, Executive Director of the Mercy Child Advocacy Center; Charlotte Vining Douglas, Former Arkansas House of Representative and Advisor for Child Advocacy Centers; Amy Higgins, Clinical Director for Ouachita Children, Youth and Family Services; Angela Street, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney; Jason Stachey, Hot Springs Police Department Chief; and Karla Gentry, LPC, Mental Health Professional.

The events will conclude with a proclamation from Mayor Pat McCabe at 11:30 a.m. All events are free and open to the public.