Because of the level of confidentiality required by domestic violence crisis intervention services and the safety risks that many survivors face, we only accept referrals using one of the methods described below. Usually, the person who’s experiencing domestic violence must initiate contact with an advocate so that they can explain how an advocate can safely communicate with them.

1. Offer our information to someone you think may benefit from our services.

The most common referral is simply providing our information, especially our 24-hour domestic violence hotline number, to people experiencing an unsafe relationship with family or partners.

  • 24-hour hotline: 1 (866) 2MY-ALLY / 1 (866) 269-2559

  • Main office: (831) 426-3062

Without a signed release of information, an advocate cannot be the person to initiate a conversation with a survivor, which means that the survivor must usually be the person to reach out to us.

2. Faxing a Referral + Release of Information

Service providers may connect their client, patient, or participant with one of our advocates by faxing a referral with the following information:

  • A cover sheet with no identifying information that’s addressed as C/O Advocacy & Prevention (to protect the client’s personal information)

  • A release of information signed by the survivor

  • We also require information about:

    • the survivor’s preferred method of contact by which an advocate may safely initiate a conversation (e.g. phone, email);

    • whether or not the advocate can identify as Walnut Avenue (and, if not, what brief ‘cover story’ is best, e.g. “my friend Stephanie from high school”);

    • and, if phone is preferred, whether or not the advocate can leave a voicemail.

These questions may seem odd, but because we never know if and when a survivor might be under surveillance by an unsafe person, this information helps us avoid putting a survivor at greater risk. If we do not have information about how to contact a survivor and how to identify ourselves, then we cannot be the entity who initiates contact.

Fax: (831) 426-3070

3. Live Consultation

A service provider who is in a meeting with a survivor may, with the survivor’s consent, call our 24-hour helpline and have a group conversation with an advocate.

  • 24-hour hotline: 1 (866) 2MY-ALLY / 1 (866) 269-2559