Group gets $350,000 grant to address elder abuse in Merced’s Hmong community

Healthy House of Merced has secured a $350,000 federal grant that will allow staff members to lead training on how to better address domestic violence within the county’s Southeast Asian communities.

The three-year grant is funded by the Violence Against Women division of the U.S. Department of Justice. According to Healthy House director Candice Adam-Medefind, the training will also involve three other local agencies: the Merced Police Department, the District Attorney’s Office and the Valley Crisis Center.

Adam-Medefind said domestic violence and abuse of the elderly are not issues openly discussed in Southeast Asian communities. Through Healthy House’s work with Hmong women and families, Adam-Medefind has learned that abuse often goes unaddressed because of cultural sanctioning, she said.

“Many of these women are older, abandoned, neglected. They’re widows; they become victims of domestic violence or (replaced) with second and third wives,” Adam-Medefind said.

Recently, domestic abuse in the Hmong and other Southeast Asian groups has gained some attention due to publicized murder-suicides, she added.

Chee Yang, director of the Valley Crisis Center in Merced, said that although Merced is a diverse community, there is not a lot of representation of the Southeast Asian community in law enforcement. That makes it harder for law enforcement agencies to reach out, connect and understand cases of abuse involving members of traditional Asian groups, she said.

“There’s a traditional way of dealing with things,” Yang explained. “Any issues or conflicts are generally discussed among the clan system ... things that have to do with a family’s relationship go through clan leaders.”

“It can be very complex,” Yang said.

Education on the subject, she believes, will help agencies and the community as a whole become more culturally competent in dealing with abuse within the Hmong community. Together, the agencies can develop a community response and offer improved services, she said.

Capt. Bimley West of the Merced Police Department said law enforcement is on board in an effort to bridge the gap of communication between police and Hmong residents.

“We do find that there is a break in communication with the reporting of domestic violence from the Southeast Asian community,” West said.

“It’s a dynamic culture and it’s changing because of new generations,” he said.

This story was originally published February 2, 2016 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Group gets $350,000 grant to address elder abuse in Merced’s Hmong community."