Description

Upon completion of this conference, participants will be able to:

1. Participants will be able to apply trauma-informed principles and Critical Race Theory frameworks to develop survivor-centered strategies and practices that reduce harm, elevate survivor voice, and promote equity within legal, advocacy, and service-delivery contexts.
2. Participants will be able to explain the foundational dynamics of intimate partner violence and the pathways through which survivors become criminalized, including the roles of coercive control, self-defense, and systemic bias within the criminal justice system.
3. Participants will be able to analyze historical and contemporary criminal justice responses to intimate partner violence by identifying key trends, gaps, and disparities that contribute to the misidentification and prosecution of survivors, with particular attention to racialized and gendered impacts.

Presenter Bio

Christopher Imperatrice, LMSW, SIPI, DSW Candidate, is a Licensed Master Social Worker with over six years of experience providing clinical and administrative leadership across community health, hospital, and justice-adjacent systems. His work is grounded in trauma-informed, equity-centered practice, focusing on survivors of domestic violence and gender-based violence navigating complex trauma within systems that often criminalize survival.

Christopher currently serves as Director of Domestic Violence and Trauma Services at Community Health Action on Staten Island, providing executive-level leadership overseeing multidisciplinary staff and interns. He leads recruitment, onboarding, supervision, and professional development while ensuring delivery of trauma-informed services, including intake, risk assessment, safety planning, counseling, and treatment planning. He oversees quality assurance, data analysis, and cross-system collaboration with the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, the Staten Island Family Justice Center, and the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office.

His professional background includes hospital-based social work supporting patients and families across emergency, oncology, cardiology, and surgical settings through crisis intervention, discharge planning, and interdisciplinary care coordination. He also provided HIV prevention case management, delivering intensive support, sexual health education, and navigation of medical and social services for individuals facing heightened risk. These roles strengthened his expertise in public health-informed practice and addressing stigma and structural barriers.

Academically, Christopher is pursuing a Doctor of Social Work at the University of Kentucky. His capstone project advances a trauma-informed, Critical Race Theory-grounded workshop for criminalized survivors of intimate partner violence, centering survivor voice, legal system navigation, survivor-defined goals, and culturally responsive non-punitive practices.

Delivery Method: Live Interactive Training via Zoom Video Conferencing

Credit Hours: 1.0 (ACE)

Target Audience: This conference is intended for social workers and students.

Accreditation: University of Kentucky College of Social Work, Provider # 1377, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 9/29/25-9/29/28. Social workers participating in this conference will receive up to 15 general continuing education credits.

Claiming CE Credit: Instructions for claiming CE credit will be disseminated at the beginning of each session.

Questions: If you have any questions regarding CE credit or to report a grievance, please contact Christina Krantz at Christina.Krantz@uky.edu. For technical assistance, please contact lmshelp@uky.edu.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these presentations are those of the individual presenters and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of the University of Kentucky or the College of Social Work. The inclusion of any topics, perspectives, or discussions is intended for academic engagement and does not constitute endorsement by the institution.