We’re grateful to announce that we’ve received a renewal grant from the Judith Filler Foundation supporting our Access to Treatment Initiative! This funding is a continuation of our 2021 grant from the Filler Foundation.
The Judith Filler Foundation was established by the estate of Judith Evelyn Filler to provide funding to non-profit, charitable organizations for projects and activities related to ending the death penalty in Texas. When the State of Texas ceases to enforce the death penalty, the purpose shall be to provide funding for projects devoted to the halting and eradication of other cruel practices that demean and degrade humankind.
With this funding, we are able to continue to draw public attention to the widespread traumatic impacts of the death penalty, and to continue to educate the mental health community in Texas and other states with active death penalties to work with loved ones of people sentenced to death or executed, and to contribute to broader efforts to make mental health services accessible to this extremely marginalized and underserved population. As always, this work will be led by our Access to Treatment Initiative Coordinator Susannah Sheffer, LMHC, whose vision, passion, and expertise have brought this urgently necessary project to fruition.
This year, we’ll be building on our past accomplishments by:
- Continuing to recruit therapists across Texas (and other states with capital punishment) to engage our resources and webinars on working in clinical settings with loved ones of people sentenced to death or executed.
- Growing our partnership with the YWCA of Greater Austin and Capital Area Counseling to provide additional training sessions to their licensed therapists, clinical interns, and clinicians in private practice. This has yielded the first known group of mental health professionals who have received such training and are ready to begin working with family members of individuals who have been sentenced to death or executed.
- Continuing to work with lawyers and advocates with personal connections to family members of individuals who have been sentenced to death or executed to inform them of opportunities for safe, supportive counseling, and continuing to provide clinical consultation to clinical interns working with these clients.
- Continuing to provide live and online presentations to professional groups, at annual conferences, and other interested groups of students, faculty, or practicing clinicians.
- Working with our partners at the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) to publicize our new joint resource, “Children Who Are Impacted by a Family Member’s Death Sentence or Execution: Information for Mental Health Professionals.” We will continue to work with NCTSN to develop other materials, and we’ll use this as a springboard for other such collaborations and development of educational materials, filling a tremendous gap in available resources.
If you’re a clinician or clinical intern who’s interested in learning more about the Access to Treatment Initiative, we encourage you to contact susannah@texasafterviolence.org.
