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Family Violence Coordinating Council reports coordinated response gains, outlines training and data goals
Summary
The Family Violence Coordinating Council told commissioners Aug. 25 it has established a multidisciplinary coordinated‑response model, lethality assessment transfers, a fatality‑review process and a planned data system; members said funding uncertainty makes volunteer and community support increasingly important.
The Family Violence Coordinating Council told the Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 25 that it has built a multidisciplinary coordinated‑response system since the council's 2006 creation and is expanding training, case review and a comprehensive data system to better serve victims and children.
“By having all the representatives of the various parts of the system meeting on a regular basis…we have a system of care safety net in place,” said Dr. Kathleen O’Brien, who presented the annual report. She summarized council membership that includes law enforcement, the Southern Maryland Family Advocacy Center (Walden/Southern Maryland Center for Family Advocacy), the Department of Social Services, the state’s attorney’s office, hospital emergency departments, courts and nonprofit shelter providers.
The council described five core functions set by its founding resolution: develop a coordinated prevention/intervention system; identify and coordinate roles of local agencies; monitor and promote quality of services; provide public information on laws and resources; and serve as an information clearinghouse. The council said it has taken concrete steps toward those functions, including:
- Launching a lethality assessment protocol used by first responders. Sheriff’s deputies and crisis‑hotline staff can now make a “warm transfer” on scene so a caller reaches confidential advocacy help immediately, increasing early referrals.
- Establishing a regular multidisciplinary case‑review team and a separate fatality‑review team. The council said it adopted fatality‑review protocols quickly and now conducts quarterly in‑depth reviews of serious injury or death cases to identify system improvements rather than to assign blame.
- Creating memoranda of understanding for information sharing and establishing an interagency referral and case‑management process. The council also cited Recovery Act funding that expanded family‑advocacy hours and funded a client‑impact liaison position to help manage coordination.
- Developing a management‑information effort to collect cross‑agency data. The council reported progress on a county database that will track victims’ status, referrals, protective orders and service uptake; staff said confidentiality rules were being addressed and planned launch was imminent.
Dr. O’Brien said the council is expanding work on sexual‑assault response, coordinating with the sheriff’s department and hospital to follow updated best practices, and is planning a shelter‑subcommittee to study housing needs. The council also laid out community events for October family‑awareness month, including a Clothesline Project display and a lighting vigil.
Commissioners and council members warned that state budget reductions could reduce funding for contracted services and said volunteer recruitment and community engagement will be more important if paid resources shrink.
The council provided operational numbers to illustrate call volume: on a national snapshot day in September 2008 there were 15 hotline calls in Saint Mary’s County and five related 911 calls; locally, July 2008–2009 comparison data showed increases in hotline contacts and shelter usage. Dr. O’Brien said that in July 2009, 20 women victims were sheltered in county programs, and the county’s 24‑hour hotline number remains 301‑863‑6661.
Commissioners praised the council’s work and requested continued updates; the state’s commission on victim services invited Dr. O’Brien to present the county’s model as an example.
