Article archive / July 1, 2013
Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 11. Source pages: 1, 5.
Community Leaders Talk About Violence Prevention June 28 Louisiana often ranked most violent state
The Louisiana Coalition for Violence Prevention hosted a meeting and training session for key community members on Friday, June 28 in Baton Rouge. The event was held at the Baton Rouge Area Foundation on North 4th Street.
Approximately 40 attendees from around the state represented psychology, counseling, social work, school psychology, psychiatry, law enforcement, legal, ministry, and research scientists. The participants listened to a presentation about violence, titled “Preventing Violence in Louisiana: Information, Ideas, and Inspiration,” and participated in a group discussion about the issues for the state.
“Violence is a mental health problem,” said Dr. John Simoneaux, the main presenter at the meeting and Coalition steering committee member. “Have we fixed the mental health problem?” he asked the group. “No,” he said. “The mistake we’ve made is that we haven’t delivered what we know –our knowledge and skills– to the public. We are the ones closest to the problem.”
“The person who goes out and kills someone, or kills five people––someone close to that person knew,” he said. Simoneaux is owner of Professional Training Resources, based in Pineville, LA.
He told the group that only 17 percent of the people in the state needing mental health services receive the necessary services.
“You are here because you, or your organization, are considered to be among the leaders in Louisiana of behavior science experts,” he said to attendees.
Dr. Bryan Gros, who introduced the steering committee members, said that this was a major step in bringing the behavioral health community together to deal with the issues of violence. “I’m privileged to be a part of this effort,” he said. Gros is past president of the Louisiana Psychological Association.
Cindy Nardini, licensed professional counselor and legislative chair for the Louisiana Counseling Association, explained that the Coalition’s efforts have been supported by the legislature in the form of a Senate Concurrent Resolution authored by Senator Mills. “We did not want a hard legislative measure, but only a soft show of support. We did not want to push people to do something they do not want to do.” She said the Coalition wanted to engage people voluntarily.
During the day, Simoneaux presented facts about violence in Louisiana. He noted that a May 7, 2012 issue of U.S.A. News identified Louisiana as the “Most Violent State in the U.S.” This was based on homicide rates, violent crime rates, and incarceration rates, as well as availability of firearms.
He reported that homicide was the second leading cause of death in Louisiana between 2008 and 2010, for persons between the ages of 10-24. And also that suicide is the third leading cause of death in the state for this age group.
The murder rate in New Orleans is 20% higher than Detroit, and nine times higher than New York and San Francisco, Simoneaux explained. And, Louisiana ranked 1st for gun violence and 2nd for murders of police officers.
Louisiana has 13,000 received domestic violence services, more than 3,500 orders for protection issued, and 1,562 forcible rapes reported, he said. In 2010 Louisiana ranked first in the nation with a homicide rate of 2.53 per 100,000 for females murdered by males, more than double the national average.
“We have a mental health problem,” he said. “ And a child-rearing problem, a family problem, a problem with our kin, and it is our responsibility to use our science, our skills, and our knowledge to deliver the answers and the help that we have to offer,” he noted.
The Coalition members proposed a plan to increase skill levels for behavioral health service providers that increases the effective and early detection of potentially violent individuals.
Simoneaux and others pointed out that the approach would not cost anything and would not involve government. “We do not want government to try and solve this for us, we want to provide solutions before faulty solutions are imposed by others,” he noted.
“The concern we have had is if the legislature tries to fix things, then we’ll have to wade through all sorts of additional problems,” he said. “The legislature is removed from the problem, this distance results in inefficient solutions.”
John Strain, licensed professional counselor from Mandeville, said, “This approach doesn’t increase the resources for the problem, it makes the resources we have more effective.”
Psychological scientist Dr. Alex Cohen from Louisiana State University (LSU) pointed out that eliminating violence was an ambitious goal. Dr. Julie Buckner also from LSU described some limitations with training approaches where even those who are adequately trained do not always apply their training.
The Coalition steering members agreed to take the ideas from the participants and blend them into the next plans.
One of the steering group members, Dr. Yael Banai, past president of the Louisiana School Psychological Association, noted the positive interactions in the multi-disciplinary meeting. She said, “To me perhaps the most important feature is that this initial in-service represents the work of a broad based coalition of mental health professionals who have plied their efforts across the artificial professional-organizational lines that often divide us, in service of the greater good.”
Industrial-organizational psychologist, Dr. Mkay Bonner, (L) and husband Sgt. Mark Johnson, Public Information Officer and Crimestoppers with the Monroe Police Department, talk with Dr. John Simoneaux (R) at the recent meeting of the Louisiana Coalition for Violence Prevention. Ms. Michelle Faust, LCSW, and regional administrator for DCFS listens to the discussion. Bonner and Johnson are Co-Coordinators for the Northeast Delta Crisis Intervention Team.
About 40 attendees from around the state met, representing counseling, social work, psychology school psychology, research scientists and others. The participants listened to a presentation about violence, titled “Preventing Violence in Louisiana: Information, Ideas, and Inspiration,” and participated in a group discussion about the issues for the state. Above, Cindy Nardini, LPC, talks about the Coalition and a Senate Concurrent Resolution supporting the group.
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