Pearl Crisis Center CI Report – Final

What has been most instrumenta to your progress?

During this year we were fortunate to receive two new judges, both sharing the role as DV Court Judge who presides over cases from post-arraignment through sentencing and compliance. (One judge is fairly new and the other helped create the Stearns County DV Court – who is our mentor for our DV Court). Having consistent judges improves decision-making and ensures consistent and efficient case handling. They both are committed to making the DV Court successful by educating themselves through training opportunities. One of the judges and the director of victim services co-chair the Family Violence Coordinating Council. This ensures the judge understands victim centered approaches when new strategies are introduced. Advocates also meet regularly with the judges to educate them on best practices and safety concerns when ruling from the bench.

Another instrumental component of our project is our DV Court Surveillance Officer who provides surveillance to the offenders enrolled in the court as well as assuring the safety of victims. Intensive judicial supervision of these cases enables the court to hold offenders accountable by promoting compliance with orders of protection and other court mandates, such as program attendance, and to swiftly respond to violations. Through his skilled knowledge of domestic violence, he mentors other officers who may not fully understand the dynamics of domestic violence.

Lastly, our coordinated community response, known as the Mille Lacs County Family Violence Coordinating Council (MLCFVCC) has grown in attendance to 70 members. Our coordinated community response, the MLCFVCC involves increased information sharing, communication and coordination among criminal justice agencies and community-based social services; a consistent and collaborative response to domestic violence; and more opportunities for continued education and training on domestic violence and the courts. Historically relationships between some members of this council has been adversarial but through this project trust has begun to grow as well as a unified understanding of the complexities of domestic violence.

Key lessons learned

One key lesson learned is the system does not move forward as fast as our goals and objectives want them to. We knew going into this it was going to be difficult and that change is often hard for people, not to mention a huge government entity as the court system. Advocates who have worked in the field of domestic violence clearly understand the needs of victims and historically, in our county have not been listened to nor asked for input on victim centered approaches in the court system. Through this project it has become clearer to advocates that they are not even considered “experts” in this issue by various systems-how disheartening. Advocates can see the overall effects of what victims go through as they spend countless hours with victims and get to know details of their case that is seldom, or never shared with the system often due to surmounting shame that society puts upon them. As mentioned above advocates are making progress in this area but clearly this will take a lot longer than we anticipated. When advocates brought this issue up in a meeting with judges one replied “advocates are not of the system therefore the system doesn’t really know what to do with you.”

Another lesson learned was how little we know about our legal system itself and their decisions to charge domestic violence cases. It really goes to show that whoever resides in the power position of decision making and their knowledge (or compassion) of domestic violence will decide the fate of a victim’s future. If domestic violence is not a priority for leaders in the court system victims will remain vulnerable to violence. Too many plea bargains give offenders a “get out of jail free card” to reinforce violence against women isn’t that serious thus allowing gaps in keeping victims safe. A strong message of domestic violence will not be tolerated in our community is vital and the system must reinforce the message. Too often this issue becomes political as those who are leading decision makers are politicians and their actions are often tied to ensuring a majority vote amongst their constituents. In other words, they often play all sides to keep everyone happy to ensure victory during the next election. Domestic violence should not play a part in politics but rather seen as a public health issue.

Reflections on the community innovation process

Collaborative continues to be the most important in making progress with our project. There are so many players involved in a domestic violence case. From the 911 operator to final disposition not to mention pre-911 calling and post effects once the case is complete. Rarely do victims call at the first sign of abuse but rather years later. Once a call is made it can take several months or years before the criminal justice system is no longer a part of their lives. Not to mention the long-term effects victim suffer for years after the violence has stopped. Therefore, between the pre-and post-there are so many people who are involved or effected by the case. To make any kind of change in making the process easier for victims all those players “must” be on board and open to changing how the system understands and responds to domestic violence. We have been fortunate to have over 70 community and system members at the table trying to make necessary changes for victims to feel heard, validated and safe. We continually focus on victim centered approaches when discussing solutions and members are dedicated to this project. High attendance still occurs at monthly meetings as well

Other key elements of Community Innovation

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Progress toward an innovation

Through the Domestic Violence Court in Mille Lacs County we are closer than ever in achieving how we address domestic violence in the system as well as in the community. What we have been able to do with this project will provide sustainability through the courts, the community and victim services. We have proven results that for most offenders enrolled in DV Court it is working as recurring offenses have decreased and we currently have two offenders enroll in Phase 3 of the program which is the last phase for offenders. This means two offenders have went through Phase 1 and Phase 2 and abided by all court conditions. Once Phase 3 is completed these offenders will be the first to graduate from the program. Victims as well have reported they feeler safer with their offender in DV Court knowing that the DV Court Surveillance Officer is always checking on them and on their offender. One victim reported they could finally sleep with their windows open in the summer. Other victims report they had dislike for police but through this project have come to trust police and believe in the system that something will be done.

What it will take to reach an innovation?

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What’s next?

The DV Court has been inexistence for two years now. We will once again present successes and challenges of this project to our county commissioners in hopes they will continue to fund this project once all grants have been exhausted. It is our hope that one of the offenders enrolled in Phase 3 will share his story of success with the commissioners to bring a human connection to the project. We believe the DV Court itself will remain intact, it is the DV Court Surveillance Officer that could be in jeopardy if funds are received or if the commissions do not approve funding for this position. We have also re-applied for continuation funding through the Office on Violence Against Women at the federal level. If approved the project would receive three more years of funding to develop a Coordinated Community Response with the help of Scott Miller from the Domestic Abuse Intervention Program in Duluth and all partners will receive extensive training on sex trafficking.

If you could do it all over again…

If we could go back to the start of our grant period there are a few things I would have liked to be done differently. I would have liked to take a bit more time before implementing the DV Court. The group took the model from Stearns County and copied it without giving more attention to our uniqueness. I wish we would have done systems mapping before implementing the DV Court and spent more time on developing a screening tool to use when deciding which offenders should be enrolled in DV Court rather than copying Stearns. I wish we would have spent more time building collaborations with the Mille Lacs Band to encourage proper representation of their population at our meetings. This part especially would have been so important as the Mille Lacs Band is a large part of our community and is in our service area. If trust would have been built prior to the non-renewal of the cooperative agreement maybe there could have been some salvageable relationships amongst system members and band members.

One last thought

Again we cannot thank you enough for giving us this opportunity to grow in our understanding of domestic violence and how our community and systems can be a solution to the problem. Having this opportunity through the Bush Foundation has been one of the most rewarding experiences during my time at Pearl. Too often grants are micromanaged and uncooperative to changes in the budget and/or objectives. The Bush Foundation clearly understands the unique needs of each community and is willing to trust communities to make decisions that are best for them. Without this opportunity, we would not have been able to accomplish all I mentioned. Thank you for trusting our group that we are making sound decisions that will be for the betterment of all those effected by domestic violence and our community will be safer because of it.