Funded as a Special Interest Resource Center: Civil & Criminal Justice Responses to Domestic Violence by the Family and Youth Services Bureau, Department of Health and Human Services, with additional funding provided by the Office on Violence Against Women, Department of Justice.
Promising Practices & Policies

Navigating Appeals in Family Law Cases

Published: October, 2018| Cassandra Allison, JD

The Family Violence Appellate Project (“FVAP”) is the first non-profit organization in California dedicated to providing legal representation and support to survivors of intimate partner violence at… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

Mobile Capabilities Streamline Cell Phone Evidence Collection

Published: July, 2018| BWJP

Dakota County, Minnesota, the third most populous county in the state with 412,000+ residents, has taken a proactive approach to addressing this problem with a project dedicated to electronic domestic… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

Implementing Probation Group Reporting

Published: May, 2018| James E. Henderson Jr., MSW and Stephanie Avalon

Traditional probation practice involves a great deal of tracking of offenders. On a typical day of back to back meetings with probationers, the probation officer will spend most of the time repeating… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

Monitoring to Achieve Accountability: Revisiting the St. Paul Blueprint for Safety Seven Years Later

Published: March, 2018| Stephanie Avalon

One such effort is the St. Paul Blueprint for Safety (http://www.bwjp.org/resource-center/resource-results/the-blueprint-for-safety.html) , built on 30 years of experience and research on coordinated… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

Addressing Language Access in Police Departments: Salem, MA, Police Department Models Compliance

Published: March, 2018| Michael LaRiviere

Salem, Massachusetts, with a population of approximately 43,132, has a police force of 90 officers and uses a community policing model. Like many jurisdictions across the country, the population of… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

Creating Relationships Between Domestic Violence Service Providers and Animal Control/Humane Law Enforcement

Published: January, 2017| Maya Gupta, Ph.D.

Animal control agencies are tasked with enforcing local animal ordinances and, in many areas, state animal protection laws. Animal control officers may encounter victims of domestic violence in many… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

Including Pets on Protection Orders

Published: January, 2017| Nancy Blaney

The idea that pets should be (or even need to be) included on domestic violence protection orders was not considered until relatively recently. However, it is a natural outgrowth of the greater… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

Animal Abuse and Domestic Violence

Published: January, 2017| Mary Lou Randour, Ph.D.

When abusers use violence in the home as a means of controlling and threatening the partners and children, it can be—and often is—directed at the pets as well. Pet abuse is one of the forms of… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

Safer Families, Safer Communities

Published: October, 2016| BWJP

Safer Families, Safer Communities, a project of the National Domestic Violence and Firearms Resource Center, supports comprehensive implementation and enforcement of domestic violence firearm… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

The ROSES Program: Applying Evidence-Based Models of Advocacy Intervention with Girls

Published: June, 2016| Shabnam Javdani, Edited by Stephanie Avalon

All youth who commit violent offenses are at increased risk to end up in the criminal justice system as adults but girls who commit acts of violence are three times more likely than boys.i  Long term… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

Calculating Safety: Reckoning with Domestic Violence in the Context of Child Support Parenting Time Initiatives

Published: April, 2015| Nancy Ver Steegh, Gabrielle Davis

This article explores domestic violence-related implications of federal and state initiatives seeking to establish parenting time in connection with entry of child support orders. The authors… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

A Community Process: Strategies to Improve the Response to Domestic Violence

Published: June, 2014| James E. Henderson Jr., MSW

James E. Henderson Jr., MSW, a trainer and lecturer on domestic violence, discusses probation group conferencing, motivational interview techniques, and the importance of community collaboration. View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

Domestic Violence and Child Custody: A 4-Part Model for Helping Judges Make More Informed Decisions

Published: June, 2013| Kristine Lizdas

Family court judges should consider the impact of violence on families when making decisions about child custody and visitation, according to Kristine Lizdas, a managing attorney at the Battered… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

Attorneys As First-Responders: Recognizing The Destructive Nature of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder On The Combat Veteran's Legal Decision-Making Process

Published: December, 2009| Evan Seamone

The author examines interviewing and counseling techniques that can be utilized by criminal defense attorneys when representing military-related clients who have post-traumatic stress disorder. View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

At A Crossroads: Developing Duluth's Prosecution Response to Battered Women Who Fight Back

Published: January, 2007| Mary Asmus

This monograph tells the story of how city prosecutors, battered women's advocates, and other practitioners in Duluth's criminal justice system came together to address the unique issues presented by… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

Vermont’s Model Protocol: Law Enforcement Response to Children at the Scene of a Domestic Violence Incident

Published: June, 2004| Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council, Vermont Department for Children and Families, Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence

The intent of this protocol is to assist law enforcement officers in their response to children at the scene of domestic violence incidents. The goals of an effective response include assessing… View this resource

Promising Practices & Policies

Center for Court Innovation Child Support Protocol

Published: January, 2004| Liberty Aldrich, Judge Judy Reichler

This is a best practice guide for integrated domestic violence courts on how to handle child support, including information regarding federal child support protocols. View this resource