Tell us how your organization is using the Danger Assessment.
Shelter
The House Of Ruth Maryland was founded in 1977 to provide a safe haven for victims of domestic violence and their children; the first shelter was a row house in Baltimore city. In 1998, a new 63-bed shelter and 6 apartment transitional housing, featuring expanded services and programs, opened. The new shelter has a holistic health and wellness program, including the Lambert Health Clinic, an on-site health clinic staffed by the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Today the House Of Ruth Maryland is recognized as one of the nation’s most comprehensive domestic violence centers and has a staff of more than ninety.
The House Of Ruth Maryland uses the Danger Assessment primarily as an eligibility tool. Hotline counselors complete the assessment with every intimate partner violence victim seeking shelter and other services in the agency. For victims seeking safe shelter, a score of 13 or above is considered “at imminent risk of danger”, or “Risk One”, and makes a victim eligible for placement in the shelter program. Other House Of Ruth Maryland services, including counseling, legal assistance, and community advocacy services do not require the “risk one” designation. The DA is used in these programs to discuss safety planning and to recommend services to victims. Using the DA is one way for House Of Ruth Maryland employees to ensure that the resources are going to those victims most at risk. Within the assessment, the hotline counselors pay very close attention to the use of lethal tactics (weapons, choking), threats to kill, and the trio of questions related to stalking. House Of Ruth Maryland has found those questions to be most indicative of potentially lethal behavior, and most helpful in discussing placement and available services with victims. For more detailed information about how the House Of Ruth Maryland is using the DA, please contact the Hotline Manager at 410-554-8442 or the Residential Clinical Director at 410-261-3015.
Tell us how your organization is using the Danger Assessment.
International
In 2004, a provincial framework for handling high risk domestic violence cases was developed by the Nova Scotia Department of Justice. Among the five Department of Justice branches, three use the Danger Assessment as a trigger for the implementation of the protocol. These three branches are shelters, victim services, and child protection services. Within each branch, employees have been trained to identify victims who may have a high risk for lethality from a domestic violence situation. The Danger Assessment is administered, and according to the score, appropriate victims are assigned a “high risk designation.” At this point, the trained employees would enter into the high risk protocol and administer the necessary resources and services to the victim. In addition, once an individual is flagged as high risk, any “critical developments” (such as a custody hearing decision or prison release) are addressed with a secondary protocol step.
All of the DART volunteers have been trained to use and score the Danger Assessment (DA), and the tool is used with approximately 90% of victims that they work with. Because the volunteers come from a wide variety of interest groups, the DA allows them to standardize the information that they gather from the victim. They often use it with victims who are “traumatized, rambling, or unable to focus”. It is also instrumental when a patient underestimates the level of danger they are in. Conversely, when a patient thinks she might be in a volatile situation, the DA validates her feelings. DART volunteers use the scores from the DA to guide them in the counseling and referrals they provide to the woman.For more information on using the DA in a medical setting, please contact a Medical Advocate at Laurel House: medadvocate@laurel-house.org
Tell us how your organization is using the Danger Assessment.
Family Justice
Family Justice Centers consist of a multi-disciplinary team of professionals (police officers, prosecutors and community-based advocates) who work together, under one roof, to provide coordinated services to victims of family violence. The core concept, according the National Family Justice Alliance (NFJA) website (www.familyjusticecenter.org) is to “provide one place where victims can go to talk to an advocate, plan for their safety, talk to a police officer, meet with a prosecutor, receive medical assistance, receive information on shelter, and get help with transportation”. There are currently 30 operational centers in the United States, with an additional three international centers.
The Family Justice Center model is based on the San Diego Family Justice Center model which opened in 2002. At this San Diego location, the Danger Assessment is completed for every new client at intake. Gael Strack, Chief Executive Officer of the NFJA, states that she likes the DA because it is “an easy tool to use”. The risk assessment is conducted by social workers, therapists, and advocates. If you would like further information about how Family Justice Centers are using the Danger Assessment, please contact Gael Strack at
gael@nfjca.org or call NFJA at 888-511-3522.
Tell us how your organization is using the Danger Assessment.
Law Enforcement
In 2003, the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence established a statewide Lethality Assessment Committee. This committee developed an assessment instrument called the Lethality Screen for First Responders (plus a protocol) using the Danger Assessment as a guide. The instrument is currently being used by law enforcement in all Maryland counties. When victims (in an intimate partner relationship) screen in on the Lethality Screen as being in High Danger, the officer on the scene calls a domestic violence hotline and encourages the victim to speak with the hotline counselor. If a victim seeks services from a domestic violence program, in addition to normal intake procedures, a program counselor will conduct Dr. Campbell's Danger Assessment, and the program will provide a range of enhanced services that consider the victim's assessed situation.
From January 2006 to July 2008, there have been 7,930 screens, 2,469 High Danger victims have spoken on the phone with the hotline, and 675 High Danger victims have gone in for services. The Lethality Assessment Program was selected as one of the Top 50 Programs of the 2008 Innovations in American Government Awards competition (conducted by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Institute).
For more information on this program, please go to the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence web site at
www.mnadv.org and click on the home page for the link to Lethality Assessment. You will also have access to the “Reading the Signs” newsletters.
Tell us how your organization is using the Danger Assessment.
Court Advocacy
In July 2005 Family and Child Abuse Prevention Center’s (FCAPC) Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Program began requiring court advocates to administer the Danger Assessment to all female victims of intimate partner violence. The advocates meet with victims who are involved in the criminal justice system (both criminal and civil) and discuss the court process, protection orders, community resources, and domestic violence education. Advocates utilize the Danger Assessment to determine the lethality of the victim’s situation. Once the DA is completed, the advocate scores it, discusses the results with the victim and uses it to develop an individualized safety plan with the victim.
During the fiscal year of 2007-2008, approximately 1750 victims in three counties were screened with the Danger Assessment. With the victim’s consent, advocates inform the Crimes of Violence Against Women Prosecutor of DA scores above 17 so that the woman can be triaged for more personal attention. In addition, the DA is sometimes used in the pre-sentencing phase of the case to aid in determining the perpetrator’s sentence. The DA scores are documented in the victim’s file along with the referral to the prosecutor.
For more information about using the DA for legal advocacy, please contact Cindy Pisano, Associate Director at 419-244-3053.
Tell us how your organization is using the Danger Assessment.
Medical Advocacy
The Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) Program was started in 2001 with the goals of 1)educating health care professionals to assess domestic violence and 2)providing trained on-call volunteers to participating hospitals when a patient is identified as a victim of domestic violence. At the request of the patient, DART volunteers provide in-person and/or phone crisis intervention, safety planning, support and referrals in a confidential setting. These referrals include: shelter, counseling, legal help, information and support services for children. The volunteers are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
All of the DART volunteers have been trained to use and score the Danger Assessment (DA), and the tool is used with approximately 90% of victims that they work with. Because the volunteers come from a wide variety of interest groups, the DA allows them to standardize the information that they gather from the victim. They often use it with victims who are “traumatized, rambling, or unable to focus”. It is also instrumental when a patient underestimates the level of danger they are in. Conversely, when a patient thinks she might be in a volatile situation, the DA validates her feelings. DART volunteers use the scores from the DA to guide them in the counseling and referrals they provide to the woman.
For more information on using the DA in a medical setting, please contact a Medical Advocate at Laurel House: medadvocate@laurel-house.org