What is a Coordinated Community Response?
At Genesis, we are grateful to be part of a community that offers many different avenues of support for those experiencing domestic violence. Police officers, prosecutors, advocates, healthcare professionals and other invested community members strive to provide the best services possible for victims while holding offenders accountable. In order to accomplish that goal, we work within several Coordinated Community Responses (CCRs)*, or interagency teams, to identify and address any gaps in our system of support.
Timeline of CCRs in Dallas County & the City of Dallas
1987 The City of Dallas forms its first Domestic Violence Taskforce to monitor the City’s response to IPV. The Taskforce, chaired by a City Councilmember, holds general meetings, open to the public, on a quarterly basis. An executive committee also meets monthly.
~1998 The Family Violence Prevention Council (FVPC) is formed to focus on issues of abuse across the lifespan in Dallas County. The FVP is chaired by Anne Crews, Vice President of Public Affairs at Mary Kay, Inc. and meets quarterly. Regular initiatives of the FVPC include hosting family violence-focused candidate forums and working with city and state officials to advocate as needed.
~1999 The Domestic Violence Awareness Coalition (DVAC) was formed to share resources and information with community members who are passionate about ending domestic violence. DVAC, chaired by Megan Valdez of Dallas Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), meets monthly to hear from representatives from shelters, community agencies, law enforcement, attorneys and judges.
2010 The Dallas County Intimate Partner Violence Fatality Review Team (FRT) is formed to conduct system-wide reviews of all fatalities resulting from IPV, with the purpose of improving prevention and intervention services that will lead to a decrease in the incidence of IPV deaths in Dallas County. The FRT, chaired by Jan Langbein, CEO of Genesis, includes multiple police jurisdictions, the District Attorney’s office, Community Supervision & Parole Division, and multiple service providers. The team meets quarterly.
2013 Dallas is one of the first cities in Texas, along with San Antonio, to pilot and implement the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP). The LAP is an 11-question form that officers complete when on-scene with an IPV victim. If the victim is determined to be at high risk of being killed by their offender, the officer is able to connect them with an advocate via phone, and if the victim chooses to go to a shelter, the advocacy agency will prioritize their entry and make arrangements to bring the high-risk victim in as soon as possible. The LAP is now by multiple police jurisdictions in Dallas county.
2014 The Felony Domestic Violence Court Program (FDVC) is established to increase the safety of the most vulnerable adult victims of IPV through close monitoring and accountability of their offenders, who have been placed in the community for supervision. The FDVC is overseen by the judge of the 292nd Judicial District Court and meets weekly.
2017 The Domestic Violence High Risk Team (HRT) is formed to identify and address the most high-risk cases of IPV in Dallas County. The HRT is chaired by The Family Place and meets every other month. Once a high-risk case is identified, the team develops an individualized intervention plan to interrupt the cycle of escalating violence and close the systemic gaps that may exist between collaborative agencies.
2017 The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office opens Satellite Offices throughout the county to make services more accessible to victims. Each office, housed within City of Dallas Community Courts, Dallas Police Department stations, or advocacy agencies, provides screening for Protective Orders, intimate partner crime resources, and case information.
For more information on any of the above CCRs, please reach out to the Chair or visit the links provided.
Written by Brooke Meyer, director of programs for the Conference on Crimes Against Women.
* The CCR concept and its first iteration, the “Duluth Model”, was created by Ellen Pence in 1980. This multidisciplinary model for enacting systemic change is endorsed by both the Office on Violence Against Women and the Centers for Disease and Control.