In a unified effort to combat domestic violence, the Chester County Sheriff’s Office, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office and the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County launched a collaborative training initiative known as Shear Hope. Lieutenant Janis Pickell from the Chester County Sheriff’s Office first thought of the idea for this educational program in 2016, after growing up working in her family’s salon. Nearly a decade later, Shear Hope now trains cosmetologists in the county to recognize signs of domestic violence, respond empathetically and provide accessible support to those experiencing abuse.
“It’s the two sides of my life coming together. I know that from doing the work that I’ve done: I’ve done nails, I’ve done makeup, I’m an assistant. As soon as there’s some of that physical contact that you have with someone who is in distress and they feel safe, they tend to tell you more information than what you’re used to hearing,” Pickell said. “I wanted to be able to empower cosmetologists, estheticians and those types of people that were getting this information to be able to do something about it and to make a difference.”
Representatives from Shear Hope’s participating agencies visit salons to present a Powerpoint to cosmetologists. The Sheriff’s Office’s command staff liaison Noah Stribrny, coordinator of the Domestic Violence Center’s Lethality Assessment Protocol Program Ashley Mikos, District Attorney’s Office’s attorney Monica Szyszkiewicz and Lieutenant Pickell held Shear Hope’s first benchmark training in March. After adjusting the program based on participant feedback, Stribrny wrote and shared the press release for Shear Hope with the public in April.
“At the end of the day, cosmetologists engage with these people every six weeks, every four weeks, depending on how often they’re coming in,” Mikos said. “Just giving them the tools to understand how to ask those questions, to be supportive and be that friend or that positive relationship that they already currently are, but connecting them with resources within the county, it’s just a great tool.”
Shear Hope gives resource packets to salons which they can provide their clients. There are physical copies of the packet and a QR code that clients may scan, and they include resources such as strategies to address red flags in relationships, the services of the three agencies, tip lines and a criminal justice system flowchart. The locations of participating salons are not publicly disclosed to protect the safety of survivors.
“I loved being part of it, and I love the idea. I’m very much a women’s advocate,” a stylist from a participating salon said, who was kept anonymous to prevent identification of the salon they currently work at. “I feel like they’ve opened a door for us to be able to help other women, because it even goes further than just domestic violence in some ways. You’re just there to help another woman survive whatever she’s going through.”
Shear Hope has a three-tiered system, where each agency plays a role. The Sheriff’s Office focuses on the safety and security of salons when implementing training, while the District Attorney’s Office provides assistance with legal representation. The Domestic Violence Center serves as the expert on domestic abuse and offers counseling, housing and legal services.
The Shear Hope team plans to train more salons this summer and hopes to reach barber shops as well. Pickell said that it will focus on building its foundation in Chester County, add to the program and polish it before reaching out to Montgomery and Delaware County to potentially add Shear Hope in their areas.
“It creates that bridge to get them the resources and the help that they need to get out of that abusive, unhealthy and not normal relationship,” Stribrny said. “We’re not going to have any quantitative and qualitative data that we can point to, but the fact that we’re actually out there and that this is an office that takes the program seriously, and we have other agencies in the county who also recognize the significance and are actively involved in it, it brings great pride.”
Ashley Du can be reached at [email protected].
