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Office space in the courthouse for YWCA legal advocate could happen by summer

JANESVILLE — Latondria was in an abusive relationship.

She was stalked. She was verbally, emotionally and sometimes physical abused.

The 42-year-old woman had had enough.

“My abuser wouldn’t stop bothering me. I felt like I needed protection,’’ she said.

So Latondria sought help from the legal advocate at the YWCA of Rock County.

“She told me about a restraining order and how it would help,’’ she said.

But the help didn’t stop there.

The legal advocate “told me what to do, where to go, explained what would happen and things of that nature,’’ said Latondria, who asked that her last name not be published to protect her identity.

Without help, Latondria said, she never would have gone through the process of getting a restraining order.

That’s one reason why the YWCA wants office space in the Rock County Courthouse for a legal advocate.

Only one in four abuse victims the Y works with seeks help through the legal system, said Kerri Parker, executive director.

“Our goal is to increase that to a four, provide support where it’s most needed,’’ she said.

A legal advocate housed in the courthouse could help victims file paperwork, attend court hearings and provide assistance through every step of the process in ways the off-site advocate can’t, Parker said.

The advocate is a person on the side of the victim in the middle of a very confusing system, she said.

Latondria agreed: “I was scared to death because I had to see my abuser. She (the legal advocate) was right by my side letting me know everything was going to be OK. She really helped me through it.”

The YWCA’s legal advocate works out of YWCA building at 1735 S. Washington St. but spends much of her 20-hour work week traveling to and from the courthouse, Parker said.

The hope is to use a $30,000 grant to make the legal advocate full-time and increase several other Y positions.

How much money will be awarded should be known by June.

Meanwhile, the Y staff will be working on back-up plans in case funding falls through, Parker said.

Rock County administration already has agreed to provide space in the courthouse for a legal advocate at no cost.

“This is one of my highest priorities for alternatives to violence—to increase service where we’re seeing the most rapidly increasing need,’’ Parker said.

The Y’s walk-in domestic violence services doubled from 2007 to 2008. Legal advocacy restraining order cases went up 37 percent, Parker said.

And with the current economic conditions, the Y wants to make its staff more available to clients.

“The reality is,” Parker said, “when family stresses go up, any violent or controlling tendencies in a relationship is likely to get worse.”