This post was prompted by an article put out nearly two years ago by George Washington University’s Communications Services, domain name “GWUToday.GW.edu,” that I only noticed nearly two years later.

I’ll show how I came across certain information and decided this might as well be an example to talk about how “task forces” are presented to the public.  I thought this would be a “short and sweet” simple, straightforward post, until I looked at not only the task force members, but also the Chair of the task force, and her boss, the former Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo.  That information has already resulted in at least two off-ramped posts.

Dog In the Manger (Phrases.Co.UK) explains that Aesop may not even have existed, but so what, now ….Img added 15April2022

Here, I set the larger context and express my personal opposition** to the established habits of GWU, NFVLC, and its newly installed Endowed Professor, Ms. Meier, found this time (May, 29, 2020) expounding upon things beyond her level of expertise without citing references (or even being required to), while having historically done a half-&ssed (that is, at least HALF the relevant information has been sat on, not divulged), “dog-in-the-manger”*** job of reporting and driving “family court reform” policy somewhere in the realm of fantasy, pretense, and extreme poetic license demanded at all points.

**(Why lose an opportunity when handed such a prime example?)

***dog-in-the-manger may not have been originally Aesop’s Fable, but its basic meaning is: “a person who selfishly withholds from others something useless to himself.” (or, herself…)

Why do I apply it here? Look behind the public relations pieces, understand the background:

You can’t see the level of “poetic license” demanded of the public without looking behind a few curtains. The background exists in things read seeking it — not just responding to the theatrics and scripts we are delivered routinely.  People who don’t do much more than that type of response may have little grasp of what kinds of backgrounds can be looked up and looked at (for free, public-access, assuming an internet connection) by type.  In this blog, I feature accounting-based, not cause-based literacy for dealing with the cause-based campaigns, including paid-for media and recruitment of others to add to it, free-referrals.

To perceive background information, including what is not but should be divulged for a balance of power with government operations, requires taking a closer look at and having an entity-focused vocabulary to describe the workings of governments, universities (i.e., creating “centers”) and contrasting information there with information is presented for public consumption, that is, when [for example] the public may be wondering where its (the public’s) tax dollars=the governments’ (plural) tax-receipts went and why the Violence Against Women Act grantees have been historically collaborating with federally funded fatherhood promotion grantees, USA.

What’s “Family Court Reform” (or true “VAW” prevention)

(or “empirical” or even “scientifically sound” — a.k.a. logical –)

About the  “we STILL just don’t want to talk about it?” policy?

THIS POST IS:

Title and link will be repeated below in the post and at the bottom.

The points made here apply to other kinds of task forces.  I emphasize developing and maintaining awareness of how information about who’s setting policy (and why) is presented….and what that likely represents.

Task force lists, like donor lists, partner/sponsor lists and (too often) even lists of “Our Team” (Board members of an organization) don’t really show the  “relationships within relationships.”

This task force member lists doesn’t distinguish task force member affiliations by whether the affiliation is to a clearinghouse, resource center or ‘project’ (that are not entities — meaning, they cover for who is, in each case) or whether they do represent entities.  This could easily be handled (shown up front) by including (where it’s a business entity) the suffix representing that entity:  If an “Inc.,” “Inc.” or an LLC or LLP, “LLP,” and where it’s not, the name of the underlying entity running the program.

Often geographic information is missing and as is almost almost always information on how many and which (if not ALL) of said task force member’s listed affiliations  — whether entities or not entities — are in effect public-funded projects run as private corporations or associations.  For this New York State task force, isn’t it relevant to whether the state or the federal government sets policy which members, or their affiliations mentioned weren’t residents of New York State?  For example, here, Washington, D.C. is obviously not New York State.

This information is ALWAYS relevant, so why is it SO OFTEN withheld?

Who determined, and since when (in the internet age) that the public just doesn’t need to know, and shouldn’t be told or even encouraged to even think about such basic categories of existence?

It’s a problem, and tells the public “Don’t bother trying to put together what’s actually taking place within and in the name of the purposes of government, whether the United States federal, or individual states or how and where they interact.”

HOW I FOUND THIS INFO:

I saw the information about a new task force only from my habitual curiosity about who, what, when, and where within a university news is posted; that’s how I learned (although nearly two years later) that a COVID-19 Task Force for Domestic Violence Response had been formed in New York State, and that a George Washington University Law Professor who’d barely — it seems only mid-2019 — persuaded the university to back her in supporting and naming another “National Center” to stop or prevent family violence.

This non-entity center** is conveniently named and organized to support Joan Meier’s approach to the problematic  family court disgraces: scandalous minimization/denial of high-lethality risk, domestic violence, child abuse issues, leading to insanely criminal acts against women, children, AND men

That response, innately seeks to (further) enshrine and preserve the basic meat-grinder institution of the family courts (USA), insisting that with just some more trainings and tweaks it could be made “SAFE” for children.

That is what Kayden’s Law – VAWA (Reauthorization) campaign claimed for passing the federal, and now claims (present tense) as a reasonable cause for  getting the federal standard ensconced* in state laws, state by state.  (Now taken to another post, link only active when it’s published.  This is a reminder, brief, and not meant to be in-depth, but to back up what I just said, above..)

Talk about a mis-nomer, and avoidance label:

The ‘Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence,’ VAWA Tweak [is] Yet Another Federal Fable ℅  NFVLC (2019, fka DVLEAP 2003f), NSPC (website 2022), and Dear Friends [April 15, 2022]. (short-link ends “-eg9”)

Subtitle: NFVLC (started 2019, Anonymously Endowed 2020?) seeks to Affix (Ensconce, Enshrine) to State Laws, So it’s Said, “for the Kids.”  I review this and state my opposition.

Enough preview of the more immediate context….

GWUToday.GWU.edu (webpage footer; the top is news. See About/Mission” statement.

GWToday.GWU.edu is the university’s external/internal official communications channel: I understand it to be their public relations. Before starting this post I read and looked at all listed Staff bio blurbs to get a better sense who was running it. The website will have those links; I also saved it to pdf for future reference at:  About | GW Today | The George Washington University (Staff, incl Exec Dir, Sr. Man[a]ging Editors, & others (See Also bio blurbs)~~2022.Apr. 05 (Pdf, a second clink to load may be required. The link is my filename, not the website’s).

George Washington Today serves as the primary source of news and information for George Washington University students, faculty, staff and alumni. Through original journalism and communications from the GW administration, George Washington Today offers a range of stories and information about university operations, campus events, higher education trends and articles that showcase members of the GW community.

Again, this post is:

Subtitle:  In-bred (with the DV-orgs network) Task Forces Chaired by Governor’s Office Council Chairs

Sub-subtitle:  Lists in this format are designed to impress — not inform.  I’ll show in Table Format to illustrate WHY, and, whatever format the lists come in, how (we) should be mentally understanding them in columns with a few extra columns to check off “category.”

It’s also smack in the middle of the “relationships within relationships” section I wrote (quoting an earlier post), just another lesson in the same “Relationships — public/private etc. — within relationships” Level 101.  ENTRY level…

Here are a few more titles I tried which reflect my concerns and astonishment:

• Window Frames on Websites Matter!
• Does appointment to a Task Force named at Domestic Violence COVID-19 Response make one an instant COVID-19 Global Expert with no need to cite sources on any data?  
  • No, but it makes another reportable for GWUToday.GW.Edu and another mention for Joan Meier.  Anyhow, about that task force…
• May 29, 2020, GWUToday.GW.edu (University Public Relations): Joan Meier, Specialty, Family Law Appeals on DV Response, On New NY State Task Force Talks Global COVID-19 DV Expert,
• New York State’s COVID-19 DV Task Force (Announced 5/20/20), Chaired by Top Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Most Loyal ‘Enforcer’ Secretary to Governor Melissa DeRosa ~~>BEFORE She,Then He, finally Resigned (8/2021) Amid Sex Abuse and Other Significant Scandals. (Let’s Talk..)

This was going to be a “quick-and-easy” post until I, feeling responsible, looked up not only the task force members but also the chairperson, which led to a variety of headlines showing the context of a shakeup at the Governor’s level (where Chairperson of this task force was operating. I off-ramped that discussion to a new post** leaving my more innocent version and understanding of the task force here, to be published first…Some references to it remain here but I will discuss more fully on another post.

I also took a (quick!) look at New York State’s “OPDV” (Office for Prevention of Domestic Violence).  It puts out reports in short, or long format.  I included two reports as footnotes: (Dec. 2021) report from the Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Forensic Child Custody (only 16 pages) and “Report on Public Hearings for Accountability for Those Who Cause Harm” (Also Dec., 2021, much longer).

Both are interesting for current developments and (one of them) history of the “batterers’ intervention movement.”  The main content (though it takes a while to get to it) is formatting a task force list as tables with (ideally), links to those affiliations which have known websites.  Perhaps the footnotes will become their own separate (short) posts…

“How You Got This Post” has to do with closing open windows and paying attention to the windowframes (information on the top and sides of any main article quoted).

On April 4-5, I published a 10,000 word post, “NSPC — ‘Coalition’ Meaning What? Rebranding the Same Themes …While Channeling (vs. Exposing) AFCC Lingo …? [Post begun Feb. 6, 2022].

It took about two months to finalize; while working on it, I published nine other posts derived from the content. I may have off-ramped so much of its guts into other posts that what was left, while still 10,000 words, may not have been the most compelling statement.  I manually copied those nine February -March  off-ramped post titles (with links) right onto that the original National Safe Parent Coalition (sic) (“NSPC” post I’d started February 6).

As I was writing, the subject matter and websites were evolving, coalition members (sic) were eagerly promoting each other, and NFVLC (and vice versa) and, being better funded, constantly disseminating publicity about the campaign.  Being a “coalition” with members, naturally the aligned members with their own social media accounts, continued the promotions.

The NSPC can’t really be fully separated from the “National Family Violence Law Center (sic) (“NFVLC”), and got into my NSPC post although not mentioned named in the title.  NFVLC, besides participating in the victory dance around #VAWA reauthorization (with Kayden’s Law) and getting lots of media mention, also vigorously featured as many international references and cites pointing to (primarily Joan Meier’s) work on parental alienation, and as much “expert status” mentions as possible.

Besides the various articles I was already aware of (and had responded to on this blog, or mentioned), throughout February and March, I was more active on Twitter, keeping my input and perspective out there as possible, interacting with others, and (when not doing that or this blog — or my own life, too) speaking at length by phone or more direct communication with a very few other mothers I knew, or had just come to know, along common ground.

Having put out thus ten in-depth posts in two months on a topic still new to me (in its coalition/violence center forms) I was both relieved and, having other posts in this same (same themed) pipelines, started closing open windows and thinking how to work more efficiently for the next round.

In closing open browser windows and tabs, one showing NFVLC content (that I’d posted) led to noticing “just a little bit more” of context, which inspired this post.

“How You Got This Post,” (cont’d.)

Closing the window for an April 1, announcement by George Washington University** [next quote] about George Washington University, I took another look at the website’s windowframe, (website top, bottom and sides), noticed the “GWUToday.GWU.edu” domain name, looked at GWUToday’s description and editors,

then saw and read one of the two “related” links on the same page [see below next quote].

**an April 1, announcement by George Washington University 

(Anonymous donor to provide $2.75 million for an Endowed Professorship for the NFVLC; Inaugural Professor for this position, Joan Meier, installed with testimony and appreciation by Law School Dean, University President and the Provost: Top and major part of the article quotes the Law School Dean, then:)

---

…GW Provost Christopher Alan Bracey also expressed his appreciation for Meier, saying he realized almost immediately after meeting her that she was “a fellow traveler on the road to social justice reform in American society.”

President Mark S. Wrighton reflected on the importance of endowed professorships before formally installing Meier in her newly endowed professorship.

“This professorship will last as long as the university itself,” Wrighton said. “This is a permanent commitment, and this purpose is extremely important.” He praised the high standard set by Meier and expressed thanks to the donor, who was then presented with a commemorative medallion.

I’d already posted and quoted this.  Closing excess open windows, but taking time to look around at their context, through one of two these related links dated May 29, 2020, I learned of another task force –this one in New York State —  to which Ms. Meier^ has been appointed. ((^GWUToday calls her that, so I can too. although this “Ms.” is also a Clinical Professor of Law with a J.D.).  

Here are links to the May 29, article and to the May 20, 2020, New York State announcement of the task force.  I’m providing first the links, and later, the same, only pages printed to pdf, in two different insets.

The same two references, but saved as pdfs (preserves the articles in case the links change):

(I just looked at REFUGE (including latest accounts) at CompaniesHouse.gov.uk. It says it started in 1971, but the record says 1979 as Chiswick Family Rescue (with name change in 1993).  It has recently (March 2022) moved, and its income between 2020 and 2021 (Accounts through May, 2021) have almost quadrupled.  You can look yourself.  Not main point of this post…

May 29, 2020 at GWU:

“Family Violence Increases during Pandemic | GW Law professor Joan S. Meier is documenting how COVID-19 is affecting families around the country.”

On what basis? GWUToday interviewed her for a piece on COVID-19 impact on domestic violence and its trends.As you can see by those two dates (May 20 Task Force Announced; May 29, interview) GWUToday lost no time in boasting about its professor’s connections and getting some feedback. Later in the article (shown below) we learn that it’s summarizing a webinar which is part of a series allowing professors to comment how COVID-19 affected their (respective) areas of expertise.

I’m discussing the article by numbered paragraphs so I can respond.

“Family Violence Increases during Pandemic | GW Law professor Joan S. Meier is documenting how COVID-19 is affecting families around the country.” [Title, Subtitle] by Tatyana Hopkins.

[large photo, silhouette, no specific person, then]

[Paragraph 1] Quarantine has been incredibly dangerous for adults and children in abusive relationships and households around the world,** said Joan S. Meier, a professor of clinical law and director of the National Family Violence Law Center*** at the George Washington University Law School.

**I’m not here to debate this.  Almost anyone who knows anything about domestic violence (especially those dealing or who have dealt with it) could figure that out.  I guess “around the world” was just an extra flourish to show she was concerned for the whole world and knowledgeable about it.

***Notice the immediate reference to the National Family Violence Law Center as Meier’s area of expertise. Somehow, both university and the clinical law professor’s interests have intersected and overlapped: She promotes it, they promote her; a mutually symbiotic relationship, long-established through her previous nonprofit run through / at GWU has now morphed into a “national family violence law center.”  Whatever that is….  See my previous posts (and there will be more) on this topic, February-March, 2022.

The NFVLC being so new, the word “new” perhaps should’ve been attached to it. From what I can tell, it didn’t start before 2019 (because it’s largely based on an article published by Meier IN 2019…). Without any such qualifying adjective (in 2020 regarding a center only begun in 2019) — unless the whole GWU campus and alumni already know this — it gives the center an impression of extra weight/gravity/significance/authority, as though it’s been there for years; just a fixture in the law school…

[Para. 2 – Meier mentions data from a single charity in the UK, “REFUGE” (no footnote, no specifics), Para. 3 – Meier comments on “police in France.” and “calls in China” (no footnote, no specifics.]

“REFUGE” and FRANCE mentioned in passing.  My paragraph-by-paragraph Quote-&-Response continues below my short explanations of the significance of the REFUGE mention, in case this isn’t common knowledge to my readers.

Erin Pizzey Wiki, ex-feminist and men’s rights activist (says the violence is reciprocal), was banned from the charity she created: a name to know about. Her son Amos Pizzey also has a Wiki, but it has one of the strongest flags I’ve ever read (“website may have been written in response to payment for it, which violates our policy”).  [Excess links removed in following quote]. A unique and memorable life (see the Wiki).  Those concerned about domestic violence and shelter movements (USA, UK), should know about her role setting it in motion… Only included here because Meier cited it near the top of her 5/29/2020 interview as quoted at GWUToday.GW.edu.

Erin Pizzey Wikipedia (viewed Apr. 12, 2022).

Erin Patria Margaret Pizzey (/ˈpɪtsi/;^[2] born 19 February 1939) is an English ex-feminist and men’s rights advocate, domestic abuse advocate, and novelist.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} She is known for having started the first and currently the largest domestic violence shelter in the modern world, Refuge, then known as Chiswick Women’s Aid, in 1971.^[8][1][9]

Pizzey has been the subject of death threats and boycotts because her experience and research into the issue led her to conclude that most domestic violence is reciprocal, and that women are equally as capable of violence as men. Pizzey has said that the threats were from militant feminists.^[10][11][12] She has also said that she is banned from the refuge she started.^[13][14]

Haven House^[15] in California, founded in 1964, is often cited as the first women’s refuge (called women’s shelters in Canada and the U.S.) in the modern world, but at the time of their founding, they only worked to help the mentally ill transition from committed life in a hospital to life in the outside world. By contrast, the refuge started by Erin Pizzey was focused on removing victims of domestic abuse from their abusers, in an attempt to break the cycle.

(Read the rest of her Wikipedia here:)

The second reference is to the situation in France on which, naturally (?–really?), running the NFVLC and being a Clinical Law Professor for nearly 30 years in D.C., USA, and having started a nonprofit housed and supported there in multiple ways (student help, stable salary for founder meanwhile, having a 501©3 attracts donations, I’m referring to DVLEAP.org) now qualifies one to speak on the situation in France.

Para. 4 (two short sentences, quoted below) is a direct quote beginning with the word “So,” referring (?) to, I guess, the vague references to the UK, France and China with not one indicator how she knows or is any authority on any of this.

Meier is certainly not being a direct witness, but speaks as though she is somehow an authority on the COVID-19 related domestic violence surges on three different continents … or just possibly is in close personal touch with others who are equally knowledgeable for the UK (no country specified), France, and China (no region specificied) in three different countries.  (What about the rest of Europe?  How about Canada or Mexico, South America, Africa, the rest of Asia, Russia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Australia/New Zealand: while at it, why not toss in a few references to show some real international scope?)

While talking international, Meier’s position references a national (as in, United States of America) family violence law center.

It’s so preposterous. I guess, readers are supposed to assume the speaker is such an expert she has no need to provide proof. Nor did GWUToday author Tatyana Hopkins (and, obviously, some editor) seem to feel any need to include any proof. Collegial benefit of the doubt, I guess!  Here’s Paragraph 4:

“So, we know domestic violence is surging, generally, for all kinds of reasons,” she said. “People are pressed up together, people are very stressed, people are losing their jobs, and victims have no place to escape.”

“OK, then. So far, having not proved (only said) that DV is surging and not identified who’s meant by “we” in “we know” (it could be, the NFVLC, the recently-appointed Task Force, people in general, or it could be, literally, anyone: the collective “we know”)… it seems next, maybe someone decided he or she had better say SOMEthing to bolster Meier’s credibility — (which brings us to Para. 5]

[Para. 5] Recently appointed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D)* to a new domestic violence task force to address needed system reforms during COVID-19 and beyond,Ms. Meier discussed how COVID-19 is impacting families, particularly in the area of domestic violence, Wednesday during a webinar.** Hosted by GW Law, the series*** gives law school faculty the opportunity to talk about how the pandemic is affecting their areas of expertise.

Sarah Rose, assistant director of the law school’s alumni relations, moderated the discussion.

I wonder where Meier gets her stats from.  So far, the track record on “stats” from Ms. Meier-led nonprofits and collaborators and now, campaign websites, is “not exactly precise…” or documented:  58,000 kids a year, or for the NSPC (which NFVLC recommends, and whose members give testimonials to it), the claims are large and somehow neatly rounded up to the thousands — with not one shred of proof or specific language enough to even go find some.

I guess adding the phrase “empirical” several times in a row in describing her own work and the upcoming purpose of the National Family Violence Law Center (!) is supposed to compensate for some of this lack of proof, habitual (in conversation when being quoted) failure to document her own statements.

Anyhow, from “Family Violence Increases during Pandemic | GW Law professor Joan S. Meier is documenting how COVID-19 is affecting families around the country.” (cont’d.),  

Para.5, Sentence 1:  As it says, Ms. Meier’s discussion of “needed system reforms during COVID-19 and beyond” comes in the immediate reference to her position on a task force only set up the week before by the Governor of the State of New York, and his top, non-elected, aide since 2017, “Secretary to the Governor” Melissa DeRosa, also running (started also in 2017 as, I learned then-President Trump shutting down the national office of similar name) the New York State Council on Women & Girls.  So, we have a council and then a task force.

The CHAIRPERSON of this Task Force also chairs another Council.  About that individual:

– – –

Councils launch task forces to report and recommend system changes:  it’s what councils do.  So do the “Commissions” or “Initiatives” within the state-level executive branches in various states (Connecticut, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Ohio) on Fatherhood.

Such as Fatherhood Promo, NEW YORK STYLE….

New York’s Fatherhood promotion (I showed several years back) is run, at least in part, through the OTDA (Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance) (link is dated 2009-2010), as I learned trying to figure out who or what ran the federal “Fatherhood.gov” website, labeled “National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse” then — as it still is, now. I maybe should say “Marriage/fatherhood” but I discovered the gentleman running this was associated specifically with the website “Fatherhood.gov” and running his own business labeled “Fathers, Inc.,” so I believe the emphasis was a bit more male-dominant…

If you search “fatherhood” on that OTDA.NY.Gov, you’ll find more recent references to what I reported earlier: Social Services Districts utilitizing FFFS (Flexible Fund for Family Services) for TANF-purposes. It’s still effective (Cuomo or no Cuomo as Governor, although his name is on these Administrative Memoranda).  I’ll off-ramp the discussion: It’s not that complicated to explain, but doing so here would lengthen the post too much. I’m providing just one link and a few quotes for a reminder:

WHAT is a “Resource,” Corporately Speaking? National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (“NRFC”) // Fatherhood.gov [Publ. Oct. 30, 2012]. (short-link ends “-1cH”).  THis one shows others who were reporting this funding many years ago, and that the DV groups & Fatherhood groups were collaborating (see PEERTA networks).

The search results I’m quoting near the top are from Administrative Directive Memorandum, (21-ADM-03) i.e., talking to the heads of those “Social Services Districts,” i.e., Social Services District Commissioners — in New York State — on how to report and submit budget plans for the use of $964 million allocated “to each district” (more likely, across all districts, but it says “to each district”).

Why?

With TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) BLOCK grants to the state comes TANF Diversions.

That’s the world we’re in here, the Administrative Directives make it abundantly clear.  Would this MAYBE be relevant to the fields of family law (appeals, custody decision-making) and domestic violence, “ya think?”  Maybe you should ask Clinical Law Professor Joan Meier what she thinks… I’d love to be (b)cc’d if you get a  response; I certainly haven’t been to date. I’d also asked why no mention of AFCC years ago…. as being in any way related to the “parental alienation” problems she’s made a career protesting.

The Flexible Fund for Family Services (FFFS) has been enacted in the 2021-2022 State Fiscal Year (SFY) Budget in the amount of $964,000,000, which is equivalent to the SFY 2020-2021 appropriation. The FFFS 2021-2022 district allocations are included in Attachment 1. This Administrative Directive (ADM) provides social services districts (districts) with pertinent planning information, the forms and instructions for completing and submitting the SFY 2021-2022 FFFS plan, and instruction on submitting claims. This ADM also provides guidance on the collection of required performance and accountability data.

[II. Purpose, Para. 2]:

Districts must submit their completed SFY 2021-2022 FFFS Plan via the FFFS System for review and approval by the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) and the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) by July 21, 2021.

So, it’s just shown two different offices:  OTDA and OCFS involved in this.

IV. Background

The $964,000,000 in SFY 2021-2022 FFFS funds are allocated by the state to each district to support a range of services to address the needs of low-income families consistent with local priorities. The programs/services that may be funded by FFFS are:

FFFS are under TANF, I think.  But they can’t be direct assistance — which TANF handles.  The word is ‘FLEXIBLE Funding for Families’.  But even FFFS purposes must be under the four purposes of TANF, i.e.

TANF FFFS Eligible Programs and Services:

All programs funded directly through the FFFS must serve at least one of the following four TANF purposes:

1. Provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives.
2. End the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage.
3. Prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies.
4. Encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.

Allowable services supported with FFFS must meet the federal definition of non-assistance.

Here’s federal definition of “assistance” — basically direct help for basic needs (The original source includes some links now provided in this quote):

Assistance for federal TANF purposes consists of any payment or benefit designed to meet ongoing basic needs – food, clothing, shelter, utilities, household goods, personal care items, and general incidental expenses. Assistance also includes supportive services such as transportation or child care provided to unemployed individuals. Assistance paid to a household is counted toward the 60- month state time limit. Payment types defined as assistance (see 09 ADM-04), when paid to a trackable individual in a trackable case type, will trigger time limit counts, be reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) as assistance, be reimbursed with assigned child support collections, and include the case in the calculation of the federal work participation rate.

Obviously it’s important not to trigger a count towards the 60-monthb (five-year) time limit on direct assistance under “TANF” if possible to avoid.  Read the above paragraph — for individuals being so tracked, the government (as administered and reported to the federal HHS) trigger attempts to collect child support.  See how this circular, cycle works?  (“custody-case-churning” comes to mind).

The FFFS funds are NOT to go to basic assistance but to other types of supports, it sounds like:

Districts must ensure that current local procedures include information on the use of non-assistance diversion payment codes, as appropriate, for families who apply for Temporary Assistance (TA), are categorically eligible for TANF-funded services and whose circumstances meet the eligibility requirement for diversion assistance, as described in 03 INF-35. This will also prevent such families from being included in the participation rate calculation.

Be that as it may, under TANF Purpose 4 (obviously), are (on page 10, of 21-ADM-03, found right after the paragraph in preventing out-of-wedlock pregnancies (i.e., sex education, abstinence promotion ….) — please read each phrase in the following paragraph:  which of them PERHAPS just might apply to family court, divorce and custody, or domestic violence cases (involving children/divorce/custody and visitation issues — and child support) situations here?  

A nice, straightforward post will be a relief after the long birth pains of “NSPC …”Coalition” — meaning WHAT…? (-dEA).”  Its member list is my example to demonstrate how Task Forces are presented in a less than practical (and often incomplete) way.  There is a far more useful way (table with columns). While we won’t be getting that, we should think in those terms when reading the lists. I certainly do and think perhaps a simple chart will show.

I’m already aware of about half the entities named here; many are in the domestic violence field, of course.

These organization or resource names will come up time and again because the network, they are (often) government-funded, and their own websites often refer to a page listing others in the same network and because they advertise, with public awareness campaigns, social media, and more.

Therefore, …

if “domestic violence prevention” or “why aren’t family courts protecting kids (and the non-abusive parents) or “What the ____ is going on — we already have been “preventing family violence” for decades now, yet people are still murdering others around custody-exchanges, or imminent divorces.  What the ____ are all the Violence Against Women Act programs DOING, let alone what are they doing differently for COVID-19? times”  — or even just “What the ____ are we paying taxes for if it’s not reducing crime?” is your interest, looking for and at least mentally (but better – on paper or computer) making and taking notes of who’s who, and getting effective, legitimate LABELS for the same (by “LABELS” I mean categories of existence or non-existence, location (“location, location..”) and source of funds, the usual basics — will help.  This post should help… I promise it’s simpler than average, for me!

The Task Force members also interested me because one member for the New York State task force has connections to specific sponsorship of a journalism program (at University of Southern California School of Journalism) focused on COVID-19 journalism, which I’d noticed and looked at before.  The entire school is named after its benefactors:  The Annenbergs:  ” USC-Annenberg School of Journalism and Communications.” There’s also another culturally-focused (response to domestic violence) nonprofit I believe is from California; I remember when it was spun off from an existing entity there many years ago.

So, task forces — who’s on them, who appoints them and what, in fact, do they do?

I also took a quick look (my first, recently) in to the New York Office for Prevention of Domestic Violence and, as footnotes, two recent reports from it: One is on what were formerly called “Batterers Intervention Programs” but now: “Report on Public Hearings for Accountability for Those Who Cause Harm” (long), the other, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Forensic Child Custody (short), both December, 2021.  In case you missed it, New York State had a famous Model Batterers Intervention Program, and its co-founder (also co-funder of the NYS Coalition Against Domestic Violence) Phyllis B. Frank gives sensible testimony on the Report.

Now as its own post (link become active only when I publish it).  For now, this just tells you where I’ve parked it meanwhile.

OPDV.NY.Gov (My First Impressions, and Two Recent Reports) [Begun mid-April, 2022]. (short-link ends: “-eg0”; final digit is a zero not a Capital “O”).

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My points would apply to any other similar list of “task forces” or “commissions” (or even Staff or Boards of Director lists on websites).  The people involved have affiliations (like, their employers or businesses they run), but most lists focus on the people’s names, not the affiliations.  As a personal challenge, I hope to get this post done within 24 hours.  It’s fairly straightfoward.

Either that or GWU is eager (as is “NFVLC leader”) to shore up its reputation as having international connections by referencing situations outside the USA… (while ignoring — my usual complaint — the ones INSIDE it for decades…).

This article told me about the task force, so a quick search led to the announcement — of course I looked up the task force, and seeing its list, am challenging myself to put out a related post that does NOT take two months to publish. Ideally, one half day to convey the basic message.

(At first), the heart of this post is a look at the task force.  As you can see, the page is a short announcement dated only May 20, 2020.

Understanding entities and the tax-exempt sector’s connections to the tax-exempt sector commonly known as “government” is basic responsible citizenship.  More “responsible citizenship” might eliminate any number of righteously-named grants systems to tax-exempts supposed to be solving each and every social problem through trainings and behavioral modifications — and the research and evaluations and consulting to go with it — and the impenetrable maze of what EXACTLY do governments do with their revenues, and how account for them…

Link, with the full title displayed on the colorful page. Title decorations, my color scheme. Main domain name https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/ …

Following Spike in Domestic Violence During COVID-19 Pandemic, Secretary to the Governor Melissa Derosa & NYS Council on Women & Girls Launch Task Force to Find Innovative Solutions to Crisis

I’ve underlined affiliations I’ve looked at and up before; they should be familiar names to anyone concerned about domestic violence.  What I bet fewer people realize is the role the “Senior Fellow, USC-Annenberg School of Journalism and Communications” has to do with promoting COVID-19 DV journalism, as a sponsored field (Cindy Lieve listed below).  I saw it, looked into, saw sponsored journalism at a (private — USC is private) school named after the Annenbergs, which topic I’d explored and done (many) drill-downs on before, in the context of (as I recall, about 2016-2017) the private nonprofits funding and running the nonprofits which seek to reform public school education.

(The Annenberg empire and foundations are a force to be reckoned with and at times (see Chicago Education Fund around the turn of this century) can be devious. One Annenberg went to jail to preserve the wealth for his son, etc. They also exert influence at the (private, as I recall) University of Pennsylvania.  Fascinating situations..

Some are known (business) Entities, Some Not… What else is new?

I’ll copy the closing paragraphs below this list. This list copied from an earlier (May) announcement might not match exactly all the names on the two images above, taken from one in June, 2020. (i.e., Task force members sometimes chang/I did not check, though)).

• Scott Berkowitz – Founder and President, Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN)
• Alejandra Y. Castillo, Esq. – CEO, YWCA USA
• Karma Cottman – Executive Director, Ujima, Inc: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community
• Nathaniel M. Fields – President and CEO, Urban Resource Institute (URI)
• Ruth M. Glenn – President and CEO, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV)
• Peg Hacskaylo – Founder and CEO, National Alliance for Safe Housing (NASH)
• Jim Henderson – Probation and Domestic Violence Expert, Battered Women’s Justice Project
• Grace Huang, JD – Policy Director, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence
• Tandra R. LaGrone – Executive Director, In Our Own Voices
• Cindi Leive – Senior Fellow, USC-Annenberg School of Journalism and Communications
• Tonya Lovelace, MA – CEO, Women of Color Network Inc (WOCN)
• David Mandel – Executive Director, Safe & Together Institute
• Karol V. Mason – President, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• Joan S. Meier – Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School and Director, National Family Violence Law Center at GW
• Connie Neal – Executive Director, New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NYSCADV)
• Ana L. Oliveira – President and CEO, The New York Women’s Foundation
• Leslye Orloff – Director, National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project at American University Washington College of Law
• Farzana Safiullah – CEO, National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV)
• Lynn Hecht Schafran, JD – Legal Director and Director, National Judicial Education Program at Legal Momentum, The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund
• Lucy Rain Simpson – Executive Director, National Indigenous Women’s Resource Network (NIWRN)
• Joe Torre – Co-Founder and Chairman, The Safe at Home Foundation and Special Advisor to Major League Baseball (MLB)
• Patricia Tototzintle – CEO, Casa de Esperanza/National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Community
• Deborah D. Tucker, MPA – President, National Center on Domestic & Sexual Violence (NCDSV)
• Deborah J. Vagins – President and CEO, National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV)
• Troy Vincent – Executive Vice President of Football Operations, NFL and National Advocate to End Domestic Violence
• Carole Warshaw, M.D. – Director, National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health
• Joanne Zannoni – Executive Director, New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NYSCASA)

The list, like many lists, is alpha by last name, with three different basic data elements (or “Fields”):

1. INDIVIDUAL’S NAME FirstName+LastName+(Any advanced degrees).
2. INDIVIDUAL’s TITLE, at “
3. INDIVIDUAL’s ORGANIZATION, if it is one (if it’s an entity).

#1 of 2, NYS Task Force to respond to DV in Times of COVID19 (accompanies June,2020 Report)

#2 of 2, NYS Task Force to respond to DV in Times of COVID19 (accompanies June,2020 Report)

The list doesn’t link to any of the affiliations — but why shouldn’t it? The list doesn’t distinguish a project or resource or clearinghouse (i.e. basically, a website) from an entity. I see a few in the list that weren’t (last I looked) entities but resources.  This clouds (EVERY time) who they represent.  The one that most disturbs me (because I looked so hard for it) and is also mentioned on the DVRN (Domestic Violence Resource Network) is with Carole Warshaw, M.D. (National Center on DV, Trauma, & Mental Health.  It might be associated with (or at) the Hektoen Institute in Illinois (Chicago area).

It does not include geographic reference unless in the organization name.  Several of these are NOT within New York State.  That’s fine, but it should be shown more clearly.

The organizations lack any suffix (, Inc., typically, in the USA) thus labeling them as a business entity, or not one. It’d really be more helpful if the list were sorted alpha by the entity or affiliation name.  With a more “rapid-response” way to see WTF are those involved in terms of who they work for, how likely is it the the public would also know how dependent on government grants they are?

The first impression I get from this list (apart from some names, and more organizations or “resource centers” I recognize) is how few individuals outside the basic list of privatized networked domestic violence organizations are included. I wonder how the list was compiled…  With such a list, responses such as the June 2020 report gives:  more resources, more flexibility, totally re-imagine the DV network and (not said, but I can see where it comes in) don’t forget to bring along the fatherhood coalition fundings (in NY, this would come in part under the NY OTDA; I’ve blogged it)…

Without taking the time to re-sort, here’s the same list with a few columns added and (where known) links. I can’t DO this all the time, but it is how I think when I see such lists. I’m adding a geography (State) and “Entity? Yes/No?) Column.  Most of these seem to be tax-exempt entities and nonprofits, but as you can see, neither Joan Meier (as representing the NFVLC) is (except that the university itself is a nonprofit), nor David Mandel; he operates as an LLC under his own name using the dba “Safe & Together Institute.”  Which is a Connecticut, not New York State entity, although no question, these are neighbor states and not a long commute away.

Copying and adjusting the table takes a long time, so I hope you appreciate the effort!

WHICH EFFORT MAY NOW BE FOUND (as soon as I publish = right after this one):

‘Table Talk’ Helps You Quickly Analyze Any Task Force*, Council, Commission, etc. (*Here, New York’s Task Force for a COVID-19 DV Response): Add Columns for Entity/Non-Entity, Website, Legal Domicile, and (For Size/Operations), Even Some Tax Returns [Begun Apr. 15, 2022].. (short-link ends “-egn”)

Note: after working a LONG time on the table (not just setting it up, but also filling it out, entry by entry — with the list shown above), I decided (probably) to post “as-is” though incomplete, because what I continued to find (among the entities I did NOT yet know, listed above) continued to provoke disgust and dismay at how these programs are being run, how very consistently they do NOT post recent their latest (if any Forms 990) (and many withhold audited financial statements except “on request” in addition to withholding EIN#s), when those Forms 990 (though rarely the most recent ones due) are located, several more “related entities” show up, i.e., Schedule R would show; and while some are more government funded than others, consistent mis-leading self-representation as to what they are actually doing.

Recent name-changes (March 2022, for one), another didn’t even register with the IRS until last spring, 2021 — hasn’t produced a single tax return yet, but while referencing its HHS backing (specific grant number), I had to go look that up — it was delivered to the state (actually, District of Columbia) “CADV” which is also behind on its reporting.

I don’t know what’s up with the IRS — whether it’s just not taking most filings even up through fiscal years beginning 2020 (which, by definition, would’ve ended sometime in 2021).

I think where I lost the motivation to continue this Table Talk project (as interesting as it is…) for free, was reading about one entity dedicated to “Safe Housing” Alliances — pulling together, it says, the United States HHS, DOJ and HUD — while I am myself about to engage in another housing scramble — within the next 30 days, and (I say) improperly forced out of a lease for reporting over-billings, despite paying all my rent. I know already that excuses will be made to withhold (a nearly $1,000) security deposit, and have to manage an overlapping move too — I literally haven’t yet decided whether to remain in this state, or move to a nearby one, and away from urban areas and (after this experience) any property run by real estate developers out for a quick buck and willing to engage in extortion and/or fraud (with no proper billing controls) — with services contractors — to make it, no matter how wealthy they already are (as it happens, this building’s owners: it’s a high rise) already….

And, taken from the above post, (not published yet, as of 4/17/2022, but basically complete:

How USA Has Standardized, Professionalized and Privatized the Basic Response to Domestic Violence, with Built-in Biases and Strategically Chosen Blind Spots (Quick by-Recall Summary, Apr. 17, 2022). )(short-link ends “-ei7”),

This one is well-developed, and reviews some principles of organization in the field, as well as a series of posts I wrote in 2017, and (I realize many won’t like this, but I think it pertains), when I was reminded of the BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce, International, colloquially, “the Bank of Crooks and Criminals, Inc.”), some of the largest financial fraud in recent history — international in scope: the Bank of England shut it down in ? 1990, and the USA, in 1991 — I posted several links and reviews of the situation, which we would do well NOT to forget — how it was pulled off — when similar situations are showing up throughout government, in different proportions.  Most especially, intricate mazes of money flowing to and from governments in ways that just cannot be realistically accounted for, OR tracked.

There were other posts developed from this one, I do not know that I’ve listed all the “off-ramped / in draft” titles and links somewhere above.

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Closing paragraphs from OPDV.NY.Gov May 20 2020 Announcement: (above “contact” information):

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary social distancing guidelines, domestic violence victims are even more vulnerable and unsafe while isolated at home without being able to get away from their abuser and there has been a reported uptick in the number of domestic violence cases in the state. Calls to the state’s domestic violence hotline are up 30 percent in April compared to last year and calls increased 18 percent from February to March 2020. State Police also report domestic violence incident calls were up 15 percent in March compared to last year. Additionally, a 12 percent increase in intimate partner victimizations were reported by large police departments outside of New York City for the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, according to the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services.

“Due to the pandemic and necessary social distancing guidelines attributes the cause of a situation which, it seems, prompts the creation of a domestic violence task force.  As it turns out, the task force (combined of mostly people already “in the profession” of domestic violence prevention — and that’s a public-funded, vested interest — A later announcement, June 20, 2020, explains that the purpose now includes “overhauling the 40-year-old system for more individualized responses..”  Convenient…. (See next image).

OPDV.NY.Gov June 20,2020, Melissa DeRoas Issues Task Force Recommendations for Approach to Services for DV Survivors (Task Force only formed the month before. DeRosa resigned the following August (2021) amid reports of scandals for retaliating against women reporting sexual abuse by then-Gov. Cuomo (who resigned shortly after).. See my Posts mid-April, 2022.

Percents without reference to absolute numbers are less informative than with them.  With no reference to absolute numbers, and the announcement not footnoted, absent any cites or sources, it’s ALL “hearsay” however probable it might be.  Good to remember.  A “reported uptick in the number of domestic violence cases in the state” means someone or some source (probably groups of them), reported.  “Domestic violence cases” come in different kinds — by now we should all know — some are criminal, some are not, and handled within domestic relations.  Failure hear to qualify which are referred to AT ALL is an indicator that this just might be propaganda.  It might be true, but so far as NOT informed public is concerned, it also might not be.

Since NYS on PAUSE went into effect, OPDV and many state agency partners have been working diligently to pursue strategies for putting safety information in front of victims in places that such information would not normally be available, including on social media accounts of public utilities or tax/finance. Additionally, major efforts have been underway to get safety flyers with the Hotline number hung up in essential retailers, such as grocery stores, pharmacies and home repair stores, among others.

In April, the state launched a domestic violence hotline and a new text program and confidential online service to aid victims of abuse and provide potential lifesaving ways to get help. New Yorkers seeking help can call 1-800-942-6906, text 844-997-2121 or chat with a professional on the new confidential website at www.opdv.ny.gov. The text and online services will be staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with OPDV staff who are experts in the area of domestic violence.

This is a news announcement from the governor’s office.  the OPDV was the only link (no links to Task Force members).  FYI, “OPDV.ny” stands for the Office FOR Prevention of Domestic Violence:

The Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (OPDV), created in 1992, is the country’s only executive level state agency dedicated to the issue of domestic violence. It replaced the former Governor’s Commission on Domestic Violence established in 1983.

The NYS Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence’s work is completed under four main bureaus: Sexual Assault Prevention, Policy, and Programming; Domestic Violence Prevention, Policy, and Programming; External Affairs, and; Law and Public Safety.

More comments (at this first look) on the OPDV.NY.gov, I just wrote them out but will “Footnote” for the purpose of this QUICK post on the above Task Force… I’m calling it: “LGH|FCM (= me) on OPDV.NY.GOV First Impressions, Specific Recent Reports.”  

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THIS POST IS: (To go back to the top, click on the title):

Noticing GWUToday (5/29/20) Promoting Joan Meier, NFVLC as now a ‘COVID-19 Global Response to DV’ Quotable Expert’ Led Me (2 Years Later) to New York State’s (OPDV.NY.gov) Task Force Members List (Announced 5/20/2020). [Begun Apr. 5, 2022, Publ. April 18]. (short-link ends “-eaA”)  Published 4/18 at about 10,000 words.