Intervention Center for persons threatened by domestic violence (IC), České Budějovice Diocesan Charity

Founded as one of 15 ICs which sprang up after the law established the institute of evicting a violent person from a joint abode, the Center began to operate on January 1, 2007. No later than within 48 hours of receiving a copy of the official Eviction Order, the Center is obligated to offer help to the person threatened by violent behavior.

The Center can render its help also without first receiving the Eviction Order, if so required by a person endangered by violent behavior of another person sharing the same abode.

The service is provided free of charge. At the early stage of the service provision the clients will talk to their key Center workers in an attempt to agree on the character of the Center's assistance; to formulate the objective of the client's visiting the Center; and to specify the steps expected to meet the objective. The cooperation thus established will be terminated when the specified objective is accomplished, or in case the client or the Center decide to terminate it. The service is rendered by appropriately qualified social workers.

Included in the service is an effort aimed to build up cooperation and exchange information among the Center, the providers of other social services, agencies engaged in social & legal protection of children, communities & municipalities, Police of the Czech Republic and the Municipal Police, and any other Local Government authorities. The Center is supposed to put together an interdisciplinary team charged to tackle the issues of domestic violence in the Region and coordinate the team's activities.

The service should help the clients to cope with their critical situations caused by domestic violence, to make the clients safe, and to assist them in restoring their everyday lives.

The service is available also anonymously. Discreetness of the Center's staff can be taken for granted. The staff members are instructed to respect the clients' decisions and not to impose upon them their own solutions. In case a client comes up with a solution that the Center's workers consider risky or disadvantageous for her or him, they will make the client aware of the risks and disadvantages.

Social services are rendered on the premises and in the field.