The Essential Work of Sanctuary’s Social Workers

This March, as we celebrate National Social Work Month, we delve deeper into the heart of Sanctuary for Families’ mission, showcasing the specialized and compassionate work our social workers do every day.

This March, as we celebrate National Social Work Month, we delve deeper into the heart of Sanctuary for Families’ mission, showcasing the specialized and compassionate work our social workers do every day.

Our team of more than 80 social workers provides evidenced-based, trauma-focused therapies and support to survivors of gender violence across diverse communities, including LGBTQ+ individuals, unaccompanied minor immigrant children, and survivors of trafficking, female genital mutilation/cutting, and forced marriage. Their work is tailored, sensitive, and inclusive, focusing on the unique needs of survivors, including immigrant groups such as the West African and South Asian communities.

Here is an overview of the outstanding work led by Sanctuary’s social workers:

Individual Counseling

At the core of our services, individual counseling provides a safe space for survivors of all ages and backgrounds to share their stories and embark on a healing journey. Our social workers are trained to address the profound emotional and psychological barriers survivors face post-abuse.

Group Counseling

Surviving abuse is often a solitary journey filled with challenges. Through group counseling facilitated by our social workers and art and drama therapists, we offer a supportive environment where clients can find healing and strength in the stories of others, fostering a sense of community and shared resilience.

Case Management

Our comprehensive case management services ensure that survivors’ multifaceted needs are met. From securing housing and accessing food pantries to navigating public benefits and accompanying clients to important appointments, our social workers are there every step of the way, ensuring stability and support in all life areas.

Crisis Intervention

Our helpline and crisis intervention services are lifelines for those seeking immediate escape from violence. Safety planning and support are readily available to clients and families in their most critical times of need.

Survivor Leadership

Empowerment is key in breaking the cycle of abuse. Our Survivor Leadership program offers clients who have moved beyond their abusive relationships the chance to become peer educators and advocates, contributing their voices to raise awareness and foster community outreach.

Children & Family Services

Understanding that children and families bear the brunt of domestic violence, our Children and Family Services Program is designed to minimize the effects of violence on young lives, support family healing, and prevent the intergenerational cycle of abuse. Through a variety of trauma-informed therapeutic interventions, including TF-CBT, play therapy, and group counseling, we cater to the emotional and psychological well-being of children and teens.

Our educational advocacy, tutoring, childcare, and parenting support services ensure that families have the resources and support needed to navigate the challenges of school, life transitions, and parenting after violence.

As we honor National Social Work Month, we recognize the profound impact of our social workers at Sanctuary for Families. Their dedication, expertise, and compassion are pivotal in our mission to support survivors and advocate for a world free from gender violence. Their work embodies the essence of social work—empowering individuals and communities towards healing, justice, and change.

Protect Your Family & Support Sanctuary through Planned Giving

We’re excited to launch our newly redesigned website where you can explore the perfect planned giving option for you and your family.

Join us on April 4th for our Planned Giving Webinar “The Gift that Keeps Giving: How Estate Planning Benefits You, Your Loved Ones, and Future.” Learn more and RSVP.


We’re excited to launch our newly redesigned website where you can explore the perfect planned giving option for you and your family.

Making a planned gift—a contribution that is arranged in the present but allocated at a future date—is a great way to support Sanctuary’s life-saving services and programs for years to come, while receiving significant benefits in return.

By making a planned gift to Sanctuary for Families, you can:

  1. Receive tax benefits, such as income and estate tax deductions.
  2. Leave a lasting legacy, reflecting your values and priorities for future generations.
  3. Support thousands of survivors of gender violence, even after you’re gone.
  4. Maximize the impact of your philanthropy by making a larger gift to Sanctuary than possible during your lifetime.
  5. Honor a loved one in a meaningful way.

If you would like to learn more about planned giving, RSVP here for our webinar on Thursday, April 4th, or email Susan Puder at spuder@sffny.org.

How to Save on Your Taxes AND Make a Tax-Free Gift to Sanctuary

If you are looking for a way to save money on taxes and support Sanctuary’s mission to help survivors leave abuse behind, consider making a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from your IRA.

If you want to save money on taxes and support Sanctuary’s mission to help survivors leave abuse behind, consider making a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from your IRA.

What is a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)?

Giving a QCD is a tax-smart strategy for IRA owners to achieve maximum impact for their charitable donations. QCDs are direct transfers of up to $100,000 per person from their IRA to a qualifying charity, like Sanctuary. The donor doesn’t report QCDs as taxable income and gifting the income can lower one’s adjusted gross income (AGI,) which is used to determine the taxable portion of Social Security benefits and other deductions and credits.

What age can I start to make a QCD?

IRA owners and beneficiaries who are age 70 ½ or older qualify.

What is a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) and how does that relate to QCDs?

Beginning at age 73, you may be subject to taking annual withdrawals known as Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from your tax-deferred retirement accounts, such as a traditional IRA. If you do not make withdrawals, you’ll be subject to pay a potentially significant penalty.

Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) are gifts to charity that replace your receiving part or all of an RMD as taxable income.

How do QCDs help Sanctuary?

QCDs are an excellent way to fund lifetime giving in retirement years. In addition, they support our mission of providing comprehensive services to survivors of gender-based violence, including life-saving shelter, counseling support, legal assistance, and economic empowerment programs.

What do I need to do to make a QCD?

It’s simple – contact your IRA custodian and follow their procedures to request that part or all of your QCD be gifted directly to Sanctuary. It’s important to remember that the money must be paid directly from the financial institution to Sanctuary. If the funds were previously held as an asset such as stocks or bonds, the investment will be sold to transfer cash to the charitable organization.

To make use of this tax-smart giving strategy, please ensure that the check arrives with your name and address so we can thank you and send you a gift acknowledgement letter.

Questions? Contact Susan Puder at spuder@sffny.org for more information.

Expanded Tribal Court Jurisdiction Helps Address Violence Against Indigenous Women

Because tribal courts have been stripped of their sovereignty, violence against Indigenous women has long been a problem. But recent advances have restored partial criminal jurisdiction to tribes.

Molly Simons is an Institutional Giving Intern at Sanctuary for Families. A senior at Trinity College, she is writing a thesis about violence against Indigenous women. ________________________________________________________________________________

While only referencing the U.S., this blog post will use Indigenous to refer to American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities and members.

Through legislative and judicial decisions, the U.S. federal government has finally started to allow tribal courts to try non-Indigenous defendants when they commit certain crimes against Indigenous tribe members on tribal land. This fight for expanded jurisdiction has been going on since the inception of the U.S., largely through advocacy work against federal overreach into tribal sovereignty. The Violence Against Women Act’s (VAWA) reauthorizations in 2013 and 2022 have been the culmination of this advocacy, expanding tribal court jurisdiction in significant ways.

To understand these recent expansions, it helps to know a brief history of tribal court criminal jurisdiction

Government overreach into tribal court jurisdiction began in 1883, when Crow Dog, a member of the Brule Sioux Tribe, was tried for murdering fellow tribal member Spotted Tail on reservation land. The Sioux Tribal Court handled the case, Ex parte Crow Dog, internally, but the US Territory of Dakota however, declared the Sioux decision insufficient and demanded the hanging of Crow Dog. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the federal government did not have jurisdiction to try a crime committed by one Indigenous person against another Indigenous person if the crime occurred on reservation land or in Indigenous space.

Congress, which did not want to leave Indigenous power unchecked, reacted by passing the Major Crimes Act of 1885, which gave the federal courts exclusive jurisdiction over 15 major crimes—even if those crimes were committed on Indigenous lands by Indigenous defendants. The Major Crimes Act, still in effect today, not only stripped tribal courts of their sovereignty over those crimes, but also stripped them of decades of funding and money. Tribal courts were left without the resources to pursue domestic violence cases, leaving Indigenous space—particularly the space occupied by women—open for crime.

In 1978, tribal courts’ jurisdiction was narrowed even further. In Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, the Supreme Court ruled that tribal courts did not have the right to try non-Indigenous defendants—even for crimes committed on Indigenous lands against Indigenous people. The ruling reversed a 1976 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that upheld the power of the Suquamish Tribal Court to try two non-Indigenous defendants for reckless driving, resisting arrest, and assault. The tribe argued, and the lower court agreed, that since the tribe had never ceded the power to try non-Indigenous defendants and Congress had never “expressly terminated” said power, the tribal court should have full jurisdiction. The Supreme Court disagreed and claimed that “absent an express congressional delegation of power,” the Suquamish Tribal Court did not have the jurisdiction to try the non-Indigenous defendants.

With tribal courts unable to prosecute non-Indigenous offenders, reservations became open space for crime and violence, especially violence against Indigenous women and children.

But, recent VAWA Expansions have sought to restore some criminal jurisdiction to tribal courts

Because tribal courts have been stripped of their sovereignty, violence against Indigenous women has long been a problem. But recent advances have restored partial criminal jurisdiction to tribes.

The Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA 2013) and tribal court jurisdiction known as Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction (SDVCJ) have opened doorways for tribes, allowing tribes to expand their courts’ jurisdiction and convict more defendants. While this was available and welcomed by tribes of the Lower 48 states in the U.S., virtually no tribes in Alaska were able enact this jurisdiction because of differences in the designation of their land. Furthermore, the crimes were limited, restricting tribes ability to put away abusers and defendants who still commit violent crimes outside the approved jurisdiction.

Then, in 2022, Congress reauthorized VAWA again (VAWA 2022) and expanded jurisdiction in Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction (STCJ), that allowed Alaska tribes to participate in these cases. The pilot program in 2013 in the Lower 48 that helped tribes implement SDVCJ was incredibly successful, allowing tribes to prosecute and defend their citizens. Similarly, the federal government hopes to enact a pilot program to help Alaska native communities navigate this jurisdiction.

Next steps

These expansions have been a reaction to tireless advocacy from Indigenous people and while tribes work to implement STCJ, there is still much work to be done to educate attorneys and other organizations about this jurisdiction.

You are not alone

For Indigenous-centered resources:

If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, please do not hesitate to reach out to us for help. Sanctuary’s services are free and available to all survivors living in New York City, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital or immigration status.

Our services include: