Improving Responses to Domestic Violence Incidents - Interview at the 2010 NIJ Conference

• NCJ Number: 234771
• Author(s): Anne P. DePrince
• Date Published: June 2010
• Length: 1 page
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation; Program/Project Description; Presentation (Multimedia); Interview; Conference Material

Annotation

This video and its transcript cover an interview with Anne P. DePrince - associate professor at the University of Denver - at the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) 2010 Conference, in which she describes the features and reports the evaluation findings for an innovative approach to processing domestic violence cases.

Abstract

The program, which is called the Triage Project, involves the participation of representatives from the law enforcement agency, the prosecutor's office, and appropriate community-based service agencies. This team reviews new cases of domestic violence reported to law enforcement, and then works as a multidisciplinary team in identifying victim needs and reviewing case characteristics. A community-based agency is assigned to provide various practical services for the victim as needed and to be responsive to victim concerns about the processing of her case and the protection she may need. In evaluating the impact of this program, women victims of domestic violence were randomly selected to receive the services of the Triage Project. Another group of randomly selected women victims of domestic violence received the case management procedures customarily performed (the control group). The evaluation found that the Triage Project's early outreach to the women victims not only improved their well-being compared to the control group, but also produced a higher percentage of cases in which offenders were held accountable for their offenses. Ms. DePrince, who served as a researcher in the evaluation was particularly pleased with the cooperation and constructive interaction between researchers and practitioners during the evaluation.