We all need to get away every now and then. Instead of spending hours on a plane or a car, why not discover a nearby Bay Area gem?  The newly reopened Exploratorium in San Francisco is no doubt on the to-do list of most families. But that's just scratching the surface of a rich and vibrant region.

Whether you're new to the area or lived here your whole life, there is much to explore outside of your door. From restaurants, museums, hiking and biking, there's something for everyone.

The library has a rich selection of resources to help you plan a fun excursion. In addition, our Discover and Go service offers free or reduced ticket prices for Bay Area Museums. 

Here are some library materials to help you discover the Bay Area:

• Newcomers
• Foodies
• Dog Lovers
• Families
• Missions
• Hiking
• Biking
• Museums
• Fishing
• Weekend Getaways

What is it that makes a person strike out at a child repeatedly by word or hand? What does such consistent maltreatment do to the mind, body and soul of that child? How can such acts of power abuse be prevented? What can be done to intervene? What can be done to ease the effects as the child becomes an adult. Before we leave April completely behind us, April is recognized as National Child Abuse Prevention Month.  Listed below are resources to respond to those questions posed above.

Contact Information:

• Immediate Emergency Reporting  -  call 911
• How to Report Suspected Child Abuse - San José Police Department
• Non-Emergency Reporting – Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline

Definitions of Child Abuse:

• From Medline Plus  (Also available: articles, latest news, diagnosis, symptoms and prevention) 

• Child Abuse - Stanford University School of Medicine
• Child Abuse Council of Santa Clara County
• Recognizing Child Abuse -  from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Child Welfare Information Gateway  (Recognizing abuse in children, parent and parent – child relations)

Resources at SJ Library:

• Articles – Child Abuse in the United States
• Articles – Child Abusers
• Articles – Child Abuse Victims – Long Term Effects
• Children’s  Collection – Child Abuse
• Fiction titles – Child Abuse
• Nonfiction titles – Child Abuse Prevention
• King Library Display: Stories of a Girl, Empowering Youth to End Human Trafficking

Additional Resources:
 

• National Child Traumatic Stress Network 

Statistics:

During FFY 2011, throughout the United States there were 676,569 reported cases of child abuse and neglect. It was found that approximately nine out of every one thousand children in the U.S.  were victims of abuse. Babies, under the age of one, suffered the highest rate of victimization. From the data collected for 2011, it is estimated that 1,570 children died from abuse or neglect that year alone.

• National and State Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Child Welfare Information Gateway  (Included: Statistics on victims and perpetrators, deaths from abuse)
• National Children’s Alliance

Need to Talk to Someone?
Make an Appointment: 

• Lawyers in the Library – 1-408-808-2382
• Social Workers in the Library – 1-408-808-2350

Celebrate the Month of the Young Child at the

25th Annual San Jose Children's Faire! 

Saturday, April 13, 2013

10:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

The Faire is expected to draw over 5,000 attendees to the outdoor festival, held at Discovery Meadow (in front of the Children's Discovery Museum), in downtown San José.

The theme this year is "Explore the Possibilities" and features family-oriented stage entertainment, special attractions, and activity booths offering hands-on activities for children ages 2-12.  Families can obtain information about education, child care, recreational programs and health and safety resources. 

For more information call 1-408-808-2617 or visit www.sjpl.org/moyc

Are you looking for a fun way to get your family or a group of friends outside for fun and some exercise? Go geocaching! Geocaching has been around for a little over a decade. Using a GPS unit or smartphone, you are given the hidden container’s coordinates, or the "X" marks the spot, and you are off on a new adventure. The fun is in finding the "treasure" but for kids it might be all about trading the goodies in the box with a small trinket brought from home. The idea is if you take something from the cache you should replace it with something you brought of equal or greater value. The cache typically has a log for you to record the date and your name or alias and a collection of miscellaneous items. Geocaches are located all over the world but the San Francisco Bay Area, in particular, has loads of hidden caches just waiting to be discovered!

To get you started, you can find more information about geocaching before you head out in the San Jose Public Library collections.

Other Resources

Geocaching.com – comprehensive site with information about geocaching, GPS coordinates of cache locations as well as upcoming events.

Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) – offers beginning classes to introduce you to geocaching. They also have a passport program, the Preserve Circuit Geo-challenge, where you locate the MROSD’s  hidden caches in a number of their preserves, stamp your passport with the official stamp then turn the completed passport into the district office for a limited custom District cache tag (while supplies last).

What is domestic violence?

Domestic violence incidences at their core are about one individual’s desire to have absolute power and control over another person. When a perpetrator begins to feel that power eroding, they will do whatever they can to regain power, including killing the people they seek to control. In the end, the perpetrator ensures that the victim cannot leave and start a new life. Children, other family members, neighbors, co-workers, and innocent bystanders are all put at risk if they are near when the violence erupts. Domestic violence affects every aspect of our community. It is not just a problem for those in a particular economic class, age group, ethnicity, religious group, or of a particular sexual orientation.  (Santa Clara County Domestic Violence Council 2011)

Risk factors:

• Separation or talk of ending the relationship.
• Extreme jealousy and/or possessiveness.
• Controlling behaviors, including social isolation, financial dependency (limiting access to money and information about finances), threats involving taking away children, threats regarding deportation, and extensive monitoring of daily activities.
• Prior reported and unreported acts of domestic violence.
• Stalking behavior.
• Threats of suicide and/or homicide.
• Kidnapping or falsely imprisoning someone.
• The lack of any, or very few, friends outside the relationship.
• Untreated and inadequately treated mental health conditions, including issues stemming from early childhood trauma and depression.
• Previous use of weapons or threat of using weapons.
• Access to firearms- sometimes legally obtained especially once a person has been served a protective order and has not relinquished their firearms.
• Prior strangulation and choking.
• A need to “co-opt” a partner’s friends to monitor a person’s activities.
• Mental health issues. Aging may exasperate mental illnesses making a person more dangerous.
• An over important sense of self and a lack of empathy for anyone else, including children, possibly increasing the risk to family members and friends.

What can be done?

• Listen without judging. Don’t rush into providing solutions.
• Make surethe victim knows she/he is not alone.
• Let the victim know you support and care about her/him and that the violence is not the victim’s fault.
• Tell the victim help is available. It is free and confidential.
• Tell the victim you are worried about her/his safety and the safety of the victim’s children.
• Tell the victim that you are there for her/him and that she/he deserves better than this.
• Call 911.
• Contact a victim advocacy agency and inquire on ways to help a victim.
• Ask victims if they are fearful of the perpetrator and why. Let them know that you are there for them.
• Determine if there are deadly weapons in the home and contact local law enforcement or advocacy agencies about the threat of the use of these weapons.
• Assist victims in calling a domestic violence shelter to create a safety plan, obtain a restraining order, or seek domestic violence counseling. This is especially important if the victim wishes to end the relationship
• Protect children. Do not be afraid to tell victims and perpetrators that domestic violence is harming their children. When necessary, contact the Child Abuse Hotline at the Department of Children and Family Services.
• Take all threats seriously even if the victim says that the perpetrator is just “blowing off steam.”
• Learn about domestic violence and share the information with others.

Statistics:

• 2011: In Santa Clara County, domestic violence accounted for 11 murders and 5 suicides

Resources:

• Batterers Intervention Programs(County of Santa Clara Office of Women’s Policy)

• Domestic Violence Information Resources (County of Santa Clara Office of Women’s Policy)

• Domestic Violence Council(County of Santa Clara Office of Women’s Policy)

• Lawyers in the Library

• Links (County of Santa Clara Office of Women’s Policy)

• Making the Connection: A Community Guide to Domestic Violence Information and Resources(County of Santa Clara Office of Women’s Policy) DVDs

DVDs provide:

DV 101: Safety Planning

Child Custody

Impact of Domestic Violence on Children

Elder Abuse

Housing [English]  [Spanish]  [Vietnamese]

Domestic Violence in LGBTQ Communities

Medical Effects

Restraining Orders   

Batterer Intervention Program

• Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence

• Social Workers in the Library

• Is Someone Hurting You – What To Do If You Decide To Stay or If You Decide To Leave

• Support Groups

Library Materials:

• Family Violence - Fiction
• Family Violence - Juvenile
• Domestic Violence – General