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Domestic Violence Part OneDomestic Violence Intervention Task Force formsEditor's Note: This is a five-part series dealing with domestic violence issues and the agencies that address them. |
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By Carolyn Burton WNC Legal Services |
The Jackson County Domestic Violence Intervention Task Force was the brainchild of Jean Bachstaler, director of REACH of Jackson County, and Sheila Price, director of nursing Services at Harris Regional Hospital, in 1995.
Their two agencies were seeing victims of domestic violence on a regular basis - victims were being seen in the hospital emergency room and they sought assistance and shelter from REACH after fleeing an abusive partner. While national statistics indicated that domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 14 and 44, the general public awareness of the problem in Jackson County was limited. |
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"We thought that Jackson County could be doing a better job," said Price, noting that "there was also little information about how the problem was being addressed and virtually no coordination between agencies."
Understanding that a 911 call by a women who is being beaten by her partner starts in action a wide range of community responses, the two women sought to bring together all agencies that respond to domestic violence victims. These included the police and sheriff's department, probation department, mental health agency, ministers, legal services, Department of Social Services, the prosecutor's office, legal services and the court. A primary goal of the task force early on was to identify all of these institutions and to develop a systematic and coordinated response in order to protect the victim from further harm. This effort is ongoing with the task force, which recently sent out a surveys to approximately 75 organizations, including medical providers and schools, to find out respective procedures in response to reports of domestic violence. The availability of a Batterers' Treatment Program is another of the task force's early goals, which has been achieved. Persons who abuse and beat their spouse or girlfriend (or boyfriend) need treatment and counseling to eliminate abusive and violent behavior in the future. The Smoky Mountain Mental Health Center offers a batterers' treatment program to which batterers are required by the court to complete. Jackson County has also witnessed an improved legal response to domestic violence in the last year. The Jackson County Sheriff's Department recently assigned duties to two full-time domestic violence officers, Linda Sutton and Matt Helton, who handle domestic violence 911 calls, investigation and legal follow-up. Western North Carolina Legals Services has hired two domestic violence attorneys who represent victims in courts in the 13th Judicial District, including Jackson, to obtain protective orders that prohibit the batterer from further contact with the victim and other relief. "The task force has been energized by these new resources," said outgoing chairperson Sheryl Kuhn of REACH, who chaired the task force from 1995 through 1998. "We now also have the official support of the county." Last April the Jackson County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution to prevent domestic violence. The task force meets the first Friday of each month at Harris Regional Hospital, which has hosted luncheon meetings for the past four years and provides clerical support. The task force is chaired jointly by Carolyn Burton of Western North Carolina Legal Services, Linda Sutton and Matt Helton, Jackson County detectives. Jackson County Resolution to Prevent Domestic ViolenceWhereas, domestic violence is nationally recognized as the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44; and a woman is beaten every nine seconds in our country; and children are secondary victims of domestic violence and;Whereas, the state of North Carolina recognizes the severity of domestic violence by recently establishing a Governor's Commission on Domestic Violence; and in Jackson County domestic violence is a serious public safety and health problem, such that in 1998 REACH of Jackson County provided 5,000 services to families affected by domestic violence and law enforcement responded to 349 domestic violence related calls and; Whereas, agencies and concerned citizens have united to form a Domestic Violence Intervention Task Force to coordinate an effective community response to domestic violence in Jackson County, and; it is imperative that all agencies involved with victims of domestic violence and their families participate in this unified effort, and; Therefore, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners endorses the efforts of the Jackson County Domestic Violence Intervention Task Force to develop a coordinated, community-based system to prevent domestic violence in Jackson County and encourage the participation of all affected agencies and interested individuals. Signed April 15, 1999, by the Jackson County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jay Denton, Roberta Crawford, Franz Whitmire, Stacy Buchanan and Conrad Burrell. Domestic Violence Part2 |
Back to Archive: 10-28-99. |