Listing in alphabetical order
Archuleta County, Colorado 2007 Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit Report
Archuleta County interagency team conducted a Safety and Accountability Audit to examine What can be done in the first 24-hours to enhance victims safety and offender accountability?
Bellingham-Whatcom County, Washington: Report from the 2006 Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit
Thirteen gaps in the fabric of safety and accountability in the City of Bellingham Prosecutor’s Office, the Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office, and Whatcom County District Court Probation are identified in this report. The gaps and accompanying recommendations were identified by trained 10 member local audit team as they conducted a Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit. The findings and gaps identify aspects of the prosecution and probation response that need attention in order to provide the most safety-driven and victim-oriented response possible.
Bellingham-Whatcom County, Washington: Report from the 2002 Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit
The Bellingham-Whatcom County, Washington Commission Against Domestic Violence completed a Safety and Accountability Audit of the criminal justice system response, from 911 through jail booking and release. The final report includes 30 key findings and 66 recommendations.
Bellingham-Whatcom County, Washington: Report from 2019 Sexual Assault National Demonstration Audit (SANDA)
Child Protective Services Response to Battering: A Practice Assessment National Test Site Findings and Recommendations for Practice
Wright County Child Protection & Rivers of Hope, Buffalo, MN
September 2015
In 2010 Praxis, in partnership with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and The Center for the Study of Social Policy, received funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), to create a tool for communities to assess their current child protective services (CPS) practices and linkages with community-based advocacy. Using the Praxis Institutional Analysis process, a draft of Planning and Conducting a Practice Assessment of Community Response to Domestic Violence: Child Protective Services was produced, creating tools for community teams of advocates, child protection representatives, and others to engage in an assessment of the child protective services response to domestic violence, and to incorporate new policies and practices for responding to cases with an overlap of child maltreatment and battering. The guide and assessment process was then tested in Wright County, Minnesota, by a team including representatives from Rivers of Hope, a local community-based advocacy program, Wright County Health and Human Services, Child Protection, and Praxis International. This report highlights the findings and recommendations from this 10-month assessment which was designed to answer important questions:
- Do we know when battering is a factor in child maltreatment cases and its impact on the child and mother?
- What do we know about her strategies to protect her children? Does our intervention enhance or diminish her capacity to protect her children?
- Does our intervention increase or decrease risk of harm from the batterer?
- Is there more we can do to stop the batterer?
Child Welfare Practice: Creating a Successful Climate for Change: Findings and considerations from an Institutional Analysis
After conducting an Institutional Analysis (IA) with the Fresno County Department of Social Services in 2009, the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) was enlisted by the state of California to conduct Institutional Analyses in the California Partners for Permanency (CAPP) planning phase. CAPP “focuses on African American and Native American children who are overrepresented in the state’s child welfare system and for whom it has been most challenging to find legally permanent and loving homes.” Los Angeles County agreed to be the next county to follow Fresno County in using the IA to inform their planning and implementation for CAPP.
Community-Based Analysis of the U.S. Legal System’s Intervention in Domestic Abuse Cases Involving Indigenous Women (Native Women’s Research Project)
This report contains the findings of a 2000 study conducted by Mending the Sacred Hoop, of Minnesota Program Development, Inc., funded by the National Institute of Justice. The investigation, based in the concrete realities of Native women, analyzed how the U.S. legal system processes domestic assault and protection order cases in order to explore which of its aspects Tribal Nations should use for the implementation of irresponsive to Indigenous women who are abused by their partners.
Executive Summary
Full Report (approximately 1MB)
Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit: Findings and Recommendations for the City of Blaine, Washington
In 2007, the Commission Against Domestic Violence conducted a Safety Audit on the police, prosecution, probation and court response to domestic violence cases in the City of Blaine. The report provides recommendations and ideas on ways to make improvements in the police, prosecution, probation and court response in order to provide the most safety-driven and victim-oriented response possible.
Henry County, Ohio, Child Custody and Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit
In 2010, local Henry County courts and community agencies involved in child custody decisions and the response to domestic violence completed a Safety and Accountability Audit. Joined by representatives of Praxis International and the National Custody Project the team conducted interviews, observed practices, and analyzed case records to examine how the response to the intersection of domestic violence and child custody was organized and coordinated, and with what implications for the safety and well-being of children and victim parents. The Safety Audit identified a range of gaps and related recommendations that Henry County began grappling with while this account of its work was being completed.
Executive Summary
Full Report (approximately 2 MB)
Jackson County, Oregon, Prosecution Response to Misdemeanor Domestic Violence Cases: Report from the 2003 Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit
The audit in Jackson County was conceived to examine the response to domestic violence by agencies involved in the processing of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes. An 11-member audit team, comprised of practitioners from those agencies as well as battered women’s advocates, met together for two years to plan and organize the audit. They not only conceived of and defined the audit’s scope, but also with cooperation from their respective agencies, shared and analyzed considerable amounts of institutional data, and dedicated hours of their time to the audit process itself. This same audit team will be central to the implementation of the audit’s findings and recommendations.
The audit work in Jackson County continued in 2005, next examining the dispatch and law enforcement response to the following aspects of domestic violence: dual arrests or arrests of women, sexual assault,stalking, strangulation, child witnesses, and when involved parties are from under served populations such as communities of color, individuals with immigration status, non-English speakers, individuals in gay or lesbian relationships, etc.
Kansas City, Missouri Domestic Violence Community Safety Assessment Report (2015)
After attending the Praxis Community Assessment Institute in 2010, Rose Brooks Domestic Violence Center enlisted the support of key leaders to conduct a community assessment, including the mayor, police chief, and county prosecutor. After securing funding from the Office on Violence Against Women, Improving Criminal Justice Responses Grant Program, Rose Brooks hired staff, stakeholders signed a memorandum of understanding, and team members were selected. In 2013, the Kansas City, Missouri Community Safety Assessment began. Over the next two years, team members explored how Kansas City’s criminal justice system accounts for victim safety and offender accountability in the investigation of criminal domestic violence cases.
Kansas City, MO Community Safety Assessment Report
La Crosse County, Wisconsin: Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit Findings and Recommendations
In 2005, the Domestic Violence Intervention Project (DVIP) and its partners initiated a Safety and Accountability Audit in La Crosse County, the first community in Wisconsin to initiate a Safety Audit.The Safety Audit explored the following question: How is safety for victims of domestic violence in La Crosse County built into law enforcement response and other community intervention initiated by a call to 911?
Executive Summary
2005 Full Report
In 2006, community partners in La Crosse County initiated a Phase 2 Safety Audit that asked: How do post-arrest and prosecution responses to domestic violence cases in La Crosse County enhance or diminish victim safety and batterer accountability? Their findings and recommendations are summarized in the final report.
Executive Summary
2006 Full Report
Missoula, MT Safety and Accountability Audit Report
In 2012, the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) made a request for information from the City of Missoula (via the Missoula Police Department) related to criminal case processing of sexual assault. After approximately one year of investigation, the USDOJ issued a findings letter to the City of Missoula. The City of Missoula then entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the USDOJ to improve response to sexual assault. One of the requirements was to complete a Safety and Accountability Audit. This report includes detailed findings and recommendations.
The Northwestern District, Massachusetts: Report from the 2004 Safety & Accountability Audit
The Northwestern District of Massachusetts is made up of forty-seven municipalities, many of them small, isolated rural towns. This 2004 Audit reviewed 911/dispatch through police response, investigation and report writing. Six police departments were identified as representative of the diversity of the district. To that, the Audit team added the two regional dispatch control centers and the civil an dispatchers working within some of the participating police departments. This report includes detailed findings and recommendations.
Positive Outcomes for All: Using An Institutional Analysis to Identify and Address African American Children’s Low Reunification Rates and Long-Term Stays in Fresno County’s Foster Care System
In 2009, Fresno County Department of Social Services (DSS) volunteered to partner with the Center for the Study of Social Policy to participate in a study known as the Institutional Analysis, which seeks to understand and address organizational and structural contributors to poor outcomes for children and families involved in the child welfare, juvenile justice and other systems. Fresno County DSS already has made efforts to remedy many of the findings identified in the Institutional Analysis and has outlined a clear action plan, which is included in the report below.
Full report(893 kb)
Executive summary(173 kb)
Race Equity Review: Findings from a Qualitative Analysis of Racial Disproportionality and Disparity for African American Children and Families in Michigan’s Child Welfare System
National data show that African American children and families are disproportionately represented in almost all child protective systems in the United States. Once involved with these systems, African American children are more likely to be removed from their homes, spend longer periods of time in out-of-home care, and oftentimes their families have less access to relevant and helpful social services. In 2007, the State of Michigan Department of Human Services, along with a working team led by the Center for the Study of Social Policy, undertook a close examination of two counties’ policies and protocols to determine the institutional factors contributing to this racial disproportionality and disparity.
Report from the San Mateo Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Assessment: How Does Documentation of the Initial Police Response to a Domestic Violence Call Aid Subsequent Interveners in Domestic Violence Cases?
Three law enforcement agencies stepped forward to participate in a Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Assessment: Daly City Police Department, Redwood City Police Department, and San Mateo Police Department. The focus for the assessment was as follows: How does documentation of the initial police response to domestic violence calls aid subsequent interveners (investigators, advocates, prosecutors, judges, probation officers, offender program facilitators) in domestic violence cases? Read the following report from their project.
Safe Havens Supervised Visitation & Safe Exchange Demonstration Initiative Safety and Accountability Audit Reports
As a participant in the Safe Havens: Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange Demonstration Initiative, each demonstration site was required to conduct community-based assessments, utilizing the methodologies of the Praxis Safety and Accountability Audit. Through their assessments, the demonstration sites explored four essential questions related to the design and delivery of visitation and exchange services.
State of Michigan: What is the role of a supervised visitation center?
Download full report
South Bay Area, CA: How can the work of a visitation center produce safety for everyone involved?
Download full report
City of Chicago, IL: How does a visitation center account for peoples’ unique cultures and identities?
Download full report
City of Kent, WA: How does a victim of battering who might benefit from supervised visitation services identify and access them?
Download full report
Safety and Accountability Audit of the response to Native women who report sexual assault in Duluth, MN 2006-2008
In the summer of 2006, Mending the Sacred Hoop (MSH) and the Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault (PAVSA) in Duluth, MN conducted a Safety and Accountability Audit to assess how the criminal justice system affects the lives of Native women who have been sexually violated. The audit team included Native women from the community, advocates, the head of the criminal division from the St. Louis County Attorney’s office, the Deputy Chief of Police from the City of Duluth, and the Supervising Deputy Sheriff from St. Louis County. The team rode along with police officers on their shifts, interviewed professionals from all over the system, and cried after conducting focus groups with Native women who had survived devastating circumstances. Difficult conversations were had and stereotypes and biases from all sides were uncovered and confronted. The team journeyed through the emotional, physical, mental and spiritual aspects of Native women’s experiences. That understanding, coupled with a stronger awareness of how different aspects of the system intersect, gave the team the information it needed to suggest positive changes within those systems.
St. Louis County, Minnesota
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office in northeastern Minnesota conducted a Safety and Accountability Audit in 1998. The end product in the patrol phase of their audit is the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office Domestic Violence Handbook and Training Guide for Patrol Deputies.
Tillamook County, OR 2004 Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit Report
Tillamook County Continuity of Intervention Project received funding from the Office on Violence Against Women in 2003 to conduct a Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit of their 911, law enforcement and jail responses to domestic violence cases. The audit looked specifically at the Tillamook County Emergency Communications District (911), the Sheriff’s Department Patrol Unit, and the Tillamook County Jail and the report details six key findings and related recommendations to improve their response.
Understanding the Needs of the Victims of Sexual Assault in the Deaf Community: A Needs Assessment and Safety & Accountability Audit (2005)
This study, conducted in Minneapolis, MN, examines the perceptions of Deaf and hearing service providers who assist Deaf individuals with the aftermath of sexual victimization and who individuals in the Deaf community tell about their experiences of sexual assault. It also deals with why, and what service gaps exist for the Deaf community and what can law enforcement do to be a more effective resource for members of the Deaf community. A secondary aim of this study was to implement a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach in researching a sensitive topic in the Deaf community to determine if the PAR approach is effective. This study’s results have pertinent applications in understanding the needs of Deaf persons who have been sexually assaulted. Information regarding Deaf individuals’ perceptions of the problem of sexual assault, response to sexual assault, and service gaps to the Deaf community is vital to creating and sustaining services and policies for the Deaf community.
Western Australian Safety and Accountability Audit of the Armadale Domestic Violence Intervention Project
The Armadale Domestic Violence Intervention Project (ADVIP), established in 1993, is the first interagency effort in Western Australia to bring the criminal justice system, child protection agencies and community-based advocacy organizations to a collaborative process of intervention into cases of domestic abuse. In 2005, ADVIP members conducted a Safety and Accountability Audit examining three core interventions: criminal justice, child protection and advocacy.
The Audit provided an opportunity for this community intervention project to engage its members in a comprehensive analysis of their interventions and responses to domestic violence. The Audit was designed to allow the interagency team an opportunity to select key points of institutional intervention in domestic violence–related cases to determine how the design of those processes maximized opportunities to protect adult and child victims of domestic violence while holding the offender accountable for the abuse.
For additional examples of audit and assessment report, see also the reports of community assessments conducted by the participants of the OVW-funded Safe Havens: Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange Demonstration Initiative and the Battered Women’s Justice Project.