(BPI #010)

Practice Area: Linkages With Comprehensive Victim Advocacy Services

Date of Implementation: 1994

Overview:  The practice provides immediate professional intervention for victims who arrive at the courthouse for a protection order, assistance in understanding the court process, and information about resources within the community that may address specific needs. All crisis intervention case management services are provided while the petitioner waits for the judge’s action on the request for a protection order.

Key Elements:

• Upon completing  the written petition, the victim meets with a case manager who assists the victim in understanding the court process and who provides information about general resources available in the community.

• Petitioners who have further questions, safety concerns, or need specific referral information are offered additional case management services.  Those who accept are immediately assigned to an advanced case manager.  When the petitioner returns from filing in the Clerk’s Office, the advanced case manager provides a lethality assessment and a safety plan, an analysis of resource needs and options, alternative methods of serving the respondent in an emergency, and specific information based on the individual situation of the petitioner.

• The practice requires professional staff with training in domestic violence and proximity to an area where domestic violence petitions are being completed by victims.

• Court administrator, personnel department, case management director or supervisor from a related department, case manager or equivalent professional staff needed to develop and implement practice.

Evaluation:  Evaluation data currently not available; jurisdiction collects exit questionnaires from petitioners in an ongoing effort to meet the needs of victims in the community.

Contact & Related Links: 

W. E. Riland
Assistant Director
Court Administrator’s Office
Family Court Services
Seventeenth Judicial Circuit
Broward County Courthouse
201 S.E. 6^th Street, Room 248
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
(954) 831-7752
(954) 831-6061 Fax

National Center for State Courts
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Williamsburg, VA 23185
Phone (800)616-6109 Fax (757)564-2022
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