Hamilton County task force outlines plan to institutionalize domestic violence services, commissioners proclaim October 2025

Hamilton County commissioners on Oct. 14 heard presentations from a multi-agency domestic violence task force that described recent changes to how protection orders and survivor services are delivered and outlined a proposed “blueprint” to institutionalize those practices.

The presentations, led by Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey, Judge Anne Flotman of the domestic relations court and Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Pavan Parikh, detailed expanded on-site advocacy, steps courts and law enforcement are taking to preserve evidence in strangulation cases and efforts to reduce the number of people who begin protection-order proceedings but later drop out. The board later read and presented a proclamation recognizing October 2025 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Hamilton County.

Why it matters: Task-force members told commissioners the changes aim to reduce barriers that cause survivors to abandon legal protection processes, preserve medical evidence in cases of nonfatal strangulation and create a single, replicable set of practices so future staff and officials can continue coordinated service delivery.

Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said the biweekly task-force meetings have expanded partnerships across criminal justice, health care and nonprofit advocacy and stressed the risk frontline personnel face when serving protection orders. “It’s a very dangerous realm that we step into,” she said, noting law enforcement’s role in serving orders and responding to volatile scenes. McGuffey also described work to train additional agencies to serve orders and to create a courthouse room where victims can meet privately with attorneys and advocates.

Judge Anne Flotman, who described creation last year of a dedicated domestic-violence team in domestic relations court, said partnerships have reduced the share of petitioners who drop out of the protection-order process. “It used to be running above 80 percent of the people would initiate the process and at some point for some reason would quit showing up,” Flotman said. “Now because of our strong partnerships … we have brought that number down into the low 60 percent. From September ’24 to September ’25, over 200 more people stuck with it, got an order, protected themselves, protected their children.”

Clerk of Courts Pavan Parikh described expansion of the court’s help center and a new collaboration with the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Since July 2025 an attorney placed in the help center has worked with judges and magistrates to identify needs and is leading the university’s domestic violence and civil protection order clinic; Parikh said the attorney has published a protection-order guide translated into Spanish and French and has already been tabling three times a week outside domestic relations court to reach litigants.

Christine Hassett, coordinator of TriHealth CARES, told commissioners the hospital system’s forensic nursing team has documented high rates of nonfatal strangulation in its domestic-violence exams. “Seventy to 75 percent of our domestic violence exams involved nonfatal strangulation,” Hassett said, adding that nonfatal strangulation raises a victim’s later risk of homicide. Hassett said TriHealth supplies evidence-collection kits and trains nurses to serve as factual witnesses in criminal cases.

Task-force results and next steps described to commissioners included: - On-site advocacy in domestic relations court through Women Helping Women and the help center, including a French-speaking advocate; - Expanded hours for filing orders and instructions for petitioners to request local law enforcement service when the sheriff cannot serve immediately; - Forensic protocols and evidence-collection practices for strangulation developed with TriHealth CARES and crime-lab partners; - A proposed “blueprint” to document procedures, create a permanent administrator role and host operations (YWCA of Greater Cincinnati has agreed to host an initial home base); and - A nascent animal foster program intended to help survivors who are reluctant to leave pets behind.

Commissioners praised the effort. Commissioner Stephanie Summer O’Dumas, who described herself as a survivor, and Commissioner Alicia Reese both thanked task-force members; Commissioner Denise Driehaus asked for clarification on how emergency response, law enforcement diversion and court processes connect for survivors and was given operational examples by presenters.

The board read a proclamation, introduced by Commissioner Summer O’Dumas, that recognizes October 2025 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Hamilton County and cites partnerships with Women Helping Women and the YWCA. Commissioners presented the proclamation to task-force representatives and took photographs.

No new ordinance or budget appropriation was adopted during the presentations; task-force leaders said they will return with a formal request for support to finalize and staff the blueprint. Judge Flotman told commissioners she will seek the board’s support for implementation but said she was not asking for funds at the moment.

The presentations covered service details and data but did not include a vote on new legislation or appropriation. Task-force members asked the county to help sustain the blueprint and to consider funding a full-time administrator in a future budget process.

Ending: Commissioners thanked the presenters and officials for the progress. Task-force representatives said they will return to the county with a formal plan and requests to implement and staff the proposed blueprint to preserve the group’s practices and partnerships.