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Family
Violence Forum
Fall/Winter 2004 - Vol. 3,
No. 3
Table
of Contents
About
the Family Violence Forum
A
Personal Note from the Editor
The Need for
Multicultural Services
Interview with Purvi
Shah, Executive Director of Sakhi
Domestic Violence in
Indian Country in California
The Courts' Capacity
to Provide Protection Orders: The Case of Limited
English Proficiency (LEP)
Providing
Qualified Interpreters: An Interview with Wanda
Romberger
Extending Project
Passport Holds First Regional Meeting in San Francisco
Resource Corner
We Want Your
Feedback!
About
the Family Violence Forum
This
newsletter is the product of the Family Violence
Community of Practice-a collaborative team of
researchers, educators, and information specialists with
the mission of improving the justice system's response
to violence within the family. We are pleased to
introduce the latest issue of the Family Violence
Forum. This issue discusses multicultural and
language issues in domestic violence, and provides
practical information on the provision of qualified
interpreters. We hope the information will be used
to improve public access to the courts and our justice
system.
Back to Contents
A
Personal Note from the Editor
Brenda K. Uekert
This is
the third year of the Family Violence Forum. Our goal in
writing this newsletter is to increase awareness and to
encourage proactive solutions to the problems of
domestic violence and child abuse and neglect. One of
our earlier projects included the creation of a domestic
violence policy for the workplace-our strategy later
appeared as an article in Court Manager (vol.
19, issue 1). For the last eleven months, I have been
working behind the scenes at the National Center for
State Courts to update our human resources policies. At
issue: inequitable benefits to biological and adoptive
parents. While biological mothers benefit from health
care coverage and partially paid leave, adoptive parents
must incur all costs and use personal leave to complete
the adoption and care for their child. Adoptive parents
are entitled only to FMLA, which is unpaid leave and out
of the reach of most pocketbooks. While I have hopes
that the National Center will eventually rectify the
inequity and the underlying assumptions that devalue
adoptive families, I encourage our readers to examine
your own policies. Do you espouse family-friendly
policies, but exclude adoptive parents from benefits? If
you would like to enact change in your organization,
check out the Web site www.adoptionfriendlyworkplace.org,
sponsored by the Dave Thomas Foundation and the National
Adoption Center. I will also be happy to share my
proposal with you-contact me at buekert@ncsc.dni.us.
Finally, I would like to add that this tale has a happy
ending. On July 19, I became the proud mother of a
beautiful little girl from Ukraine.
Back to Contents
Visit
NCSC's Online Bookstore!
Titles
include:
... and more.
Future
Trends in State
Courts, 2004 with
Environmental Scan
is now available online!
www.ncsconline.org/
WC/Publications/
KIS_CtFutu_Trends04.pdf.
We
Want Your Feedback!
The Family Violence Community of Practice would like to
hear from you. Do you have any suggestions on
topics we should address in the newsletter? Just
drop us a note so that we can better address the needs
of the court community and those who serve the families
affected by domestic and family violence. Contact
Madelynn Herman at mherman@ncsc.dni.us.
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Subscribe
to NCSC
e-Newsletters!
Go to www.ncsconline.org/
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The
Need for Multicultural Services
By Madelynn Herman
Cultural diversity is the rule, not the exception in the
United States. The Census Bureau provides some
indications of cultural diversity:
- About 10 percent of
Americans are foreign born. Between 1970 and 2000,
the share of foreign-born residents from Asia grew
from 9 percent to 25 percent, and the share from
Latin America increased from 19 percent to 51
percent.
- In the United States,
18 percent of the adult population speak a language
other than English at home-nearly 5 percent speak
English "not well" or "not at
all."
- About 13 percent of
the total U.S. population indicated that they were
Hispanic or Latino.
Courts
and justice agencies increasingly serve a diverse
population. Yet all too often, services are not modified
or adapted to meet the needs of various cultural groups.
Culturally appropriate services can include bilingual
and multicultural staff, the availability of court forms
in various languages, court interpreter programs, Web
information in various languages, and multilingual
signage, as well as services and programs that are
geared toward meeting the needs of a specific
population.
Culturally appropriate services can be incorporated into
batterer intervention programs, victim services,
self-help centers, mediation services, drug treatment
programs, probation services, and parenting and
counseling programs-to name a few. Culturally
appropriate services include incorporating the unique
dynamics of specific cultural groups into a service or
treatment approach. The different values and
expectations of a particular cultural group are taken
into consideration in multicultural services. Success
and outcome measures might also be defined differently
for different cultural groups.
How
can courts and justice agencies make sure that their
services are meeting the needs of the diverse
populations that they serve?
- Begin with an internal
assessment. The result should be an outline of what
is currently being done and what needs to be done.
- Involve the community
and the specific populations that you serve. Ask
them about their needs and how you can help meet
these needs.
- Build institutional
capacity by hiring staff with bilingual and
multicultural skills.
- Match strategy to
institutional capacity. Put together a strategy that
will match the community's needs, but also fit
within budgets and resources.
- Provide training to
judges and staff on cultural competency and
diversity issues.
- Encourage treatment
providers to incorporate culturally appropriate
approaches and interventions into their services.
Hiring
bilingual staff, and having qualified court
interpreters, is a start. Staff training on diversity,
multicultural issues, and cultural competency will help
in the understanding of cultural issues that can get in
the way of addressing the needs of diverse customers
that are served in courts and justice agencies.
Culturally competent services will ensure equal access
to the courts, as well as increase the effectiveness of
services.
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An
Interview with Purvi Shah, Executive Director
of Sakhi
By
Brenda K. Uekert
Sakhi
for South Asian Women is a community-based organization
in the New York metropolitan area committed to ending
violence against women of South Asian origin. Recognizing
oppression based on class, immigration status, religion,
and sexual orientation, Sakhi works to empower women,
particularly survivors of domestic violence. Sakhi
strives to create a voice and safe environment for all
South Asian women through outreach, advocacy, leadership
development, and organizing. Sakhi, meaning "women
friend," fills a critical need for women and our
communities to address the silenced subjects of domestic
violence. South Asian refers to those tracing their
origins to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and includes immigrants from
the larger South Asian Diaspora, such as Guyana,
Trinidad, Africa, and England. Sakhi was founded in 1989
by a group of five South Asian women.
BU:
Can you give us a general background on the dynamics of
domestic violence in the South Asian community?
PS:
It is first important to recognize that domestic
violence occurs across all communities, cultures, and
backgrounds. As different studies have suggested, one
out of three women is abused in her lifetime. In our
community, one recent study demonstrated that 40 percent
of a group of 160 South Asian women in the Greater
Boston area had experienced intimate partner violence.
What
may distinguish South Asian women who experience
violence, however, is not the incidence or prevalence of
violence, but rather the form this violence takes. For
example, in South Asian communities, especially those
living in extended family structures, the husband may be
abusive but this violence may also be perpetrated by the
mother-in-law or the brother-in-law or another family
member. In our communities, we know that in-laws may
verbally abuse or demean women as a show of power or
control or sometimes perpetuate the view that the wife
is now their property. Thus, domestic violence may be
supported or reinforced by extended family members.
Additionally, the manifestations of violence in our
communities are different: we may witness acid burnings
or dowry deaths while in the United States more women
are shot. It is important to recognize that violence is
violence - it is simply that the manifestations of abuse
may be different across cultures and communities.
On the
contrary, one positive fact that arises from the deep
importance of family in the South Asian community is
that our families and communities do have the power to
offer tremendous support for survivors. At Sakhi we have
witnessed how a caring and proactive community can make
all the difference in women's lives - if we are ready to
stand up against abuse.
BU:
What types of challenges are faced by South Asian women
who seek to escape the violence in their lives?
PS:
Some of the challenges South Asian women face are
similar to other domestic violence survivors and can
include lack of acknowledgment that violence is a crime
or family and community pressures to stay in an abusive
marriage. In our communities, survivors often confront
challenges from family and religious leaders as they
attempt to ensure their safety. When we have worked with
women who have family and community support, we see that
their journey to self-empowerment and a life without
fear is more feasible and assured.
Outside these social barriers, it is critical to realize
that immigrant survivors of abuse may face language and
resource barriers. In addition, they face a number of
legal challenges. For example, women may not be aware of
their legal rights or their legal immigration status and
its implications. There is often a lack of legal
remedies for some survivors of abuse. In addition, there
is a paucity of culturally competent and sensitive
resources to serve immigrant survivors of violence -
especially for women who deal every day with language
and economic barriers. Finally, the climate of
constriction of immigrant rights prevents immigrant
women from seeking services as well as successful
service delivery.
The
challenges South Asian survivors face are numerous and
complex: when we detail them all, we understand how
brave a step it is for women to speak out for their own
safety.
BU:
How does immigration status affect South Asian battered
women?
PS:
Immigration status is a significant concern for South
Asian survivors of abuse. So often we hear women tell us
that their abusers threaten them with deportation if
they disclose violence to anyone. While this threat is
often not legally valid, it naturally makes women
fearful for their future. In addition, immigration laws
do not currently provide a safety net for all South
Asian women who are abused. For example, while some
battered women may qualify to self-petition for their
green cards, a larger subset of women - including women
on an H-4 status or undocumented women married to
undocumented men - simply have no access to immigration
remedies. If we are to ensure women's safety, we need to
insist on immigration reform that addresses the
unnecessary vulnerability of women in such immigration
statuses. Finally, immigrant women who are abused often
face further isolation because they are disconnected
from their support networks: in their home countries,
they may have been able to access friends and family for
support. Here, in the United States, we often see that
immigrant abused women are surrounded by their abuser's
family and unable to draw upon their own social
networks. This combination of factors makes addressing
abuse a significant challenge for immigrant women.
BU:
What languages are commonly spoken among South Asian
women? How is language assistance provided as
women encounter the justice system?
PS:
The diversity of languages spoken within our community
is remarkable. The languages are too many to mention but
some core languages spoken in our community - and also
spoken by Sakhi staff - include Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi,
Punjabi, Telugu, and Urdu. Because Sakhi staff can
communicate with South Asian women in their native
languages, we are able to assess situations and
effectively refer to and liaison with service providers
(including shelters, lawyers, welfare agencies, medical
providers, etc.). When Sakhi staff and volunteers
accompany women to court, doctor visits, or the public
benefits office, we are instrumental in overcoming
language barriers to help ensure women's safety.
Furthermore, one of Sakhi's main goals over the past
years has been to enable and ensure adequate
interpretation in the court system. In our experience
accompanying women to court for vital matters such as
orders of protection, child custody, and divorce, Sakhi
has found that interpretation is often insufficient and
sometimes negligent. For example, we have witnessed
interpreters who could not translate in the necessary
language and others who displayed a bias (even
advocating that women drop cases since children belong
with the father!). Through Sakhi's advocacy in this
arena, three full-time South Asian interpreters have
been hired by the Office of Court Administration. We
look forward to continuing to work with OCA to ensure
immigrant women can access justice.
BU:
What types of actions can the courts take to provide
better access to South Asian women in the areas of
protection orders and domestic violence filings?
PS:
The process to obtain such filings has to be less
threatening and better explained - especially for
immigrant women and those who appear pro se. Stepping
into a courtroom is intimidating for any of us - and is
especially difficult for an immigrant woman unsure of
her precarious position in her family, community, and
the social service system. For an immigrant battered
woman, the process to get an order of protection can
seem cumbersome, unclear, and uncertain. For orders of
protection and other filings to have significant impact,
women need to understand their purpose and how to obtain
them. Furthermore, resources need to be in place that
will ensure action will be taken when orders are
violated. For this to be true, materials in the courts
must be translated and explained in lay terms so that
women can obtain such orders and know what to do in the
event of a violation. In addition, police, legal
agencies, and community organizations need to work
together to create supportive networks that respond to
women. This may mean ensuring that court personnel can
guide women in getting protection orders or help serve
as a bridge to law enforcement and community-based
organizations. If the courts could help to enable such a
nexus of cooperation, we could help to assure women's
safety more effectively.
BU:
Is there anything else you would like to add?
PS:
At Sakhi we believe that domestic violence is a
community issue and that it is up to the community to
end violence against women. Yet, we know that what
happens in the courtroom affects women's lives - and
their children's lives - forever. For this reason, it is
imperative that the legal system and courts strive to
promote best practices to respond to immigrant survivors
of abuse. Working together we can ensure immigrant
survivors of abuse access justice.
For
more information on Sakhi for South Asian Women or to
donate or volunteer, go to www.sakhi.org
or call 212-714-9153.
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Domestic
Violence in Indian Country in California
By Jolanda E.
Ingram-Marshall, B.A., J.D. California Licensed Attorney
& Member of the Smith River Rancheria (Tolowa Tribe)
The
dynamics of domestic violence in the Native American
community are very similar to the predominant
population. The two main differences are that Native
women are twice as likely to be victimized by their
partners than other women, and the tribe's capacity to
respond to these crimes in an effective manner is
limited due to the lack of resources and the support of
the governmental entities. There are 107 federally
recognized tribes in the state of California and only a
few of them have the necessary infrastructure, such as
police and tribal courts, to deal with the problem
internally. Public Law 280, passed in 1953 by Congress,
gave the state courts the authority to prosecute crimes
on Indian reservations, but did not pass along any
federal funding to reinforce this legislation. Many
times, the county law enforcement entities do not have
the resources to effectively investigate domestic
violence crimes occurring on the Indian reservations.
Research has shown that low-income Native American women
are at least twice as likely to suffer physical or
sexual assault at the hands of their partners than the
average American woman. This risk is greatly increased
if the women live in very poor socioeconomic conditions. Having
worked on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation for the
past three years, and in the northern California Native
American community for the past fourteen years, I can
definitely vouch that the above statement is true. Approximately 10
percent of the women using the shelter in Eureka (1-1/2
hours from Hoopa) self-identified as Native American.
Native Americans comprise about 5 percent of the
total population. This figure shows that the needs of
Native women are disproportionate to the size of the
population.
The
fact that most Native American communities have
traditional beliefs, values, and laws that govern their
societies is a strength that can be drawn upon to
address the problem of domestic violence in Indian
country. Most Native communities did not believe
in using violence against their women and children. The
Hupa have precontact stories that were told to young
children to prevent them from using violence against
women and children. We utilize these stories to
reeducate our youth about violence. The entire
community worked together to prevent violence and to
enforce the society's rules against violence. Often
times the offender was banished from the tribe or had to
make monetary payments to the victim's family.
Today,
the tribes have to rely on the state courts and county
law enforcement and district attorneys to investigate
and prosecute these crimes against their women and
children. In many cases, the crimes go unreported
because the victim fears "the system." When
the victim is courageous enough to report, the law
enforcement response is often not what it should be. Many
times the perpetrators are not arrested, or victims
and perpetrators are both arrested for engaging in
"mutual combat." In many of these cases the
victim is just defending herself. Once a domestic
violence case makes it to the district attorney's
office, often times the cases are plea-bargained or
dismissed. This makes it very frustrating for everyone
involved. You can hear the officers make statements to
the effect of "What's the use? She will just go
back to him," or "She will not show up in
court to testify against him," or "The DA will
just dismiss it or plea bargain it down."
Internally, the Hoopa Valley Tribe deals with the
domestic violence cases through the Tribal Court's civil
process for temporary and permanent injunctions. Domestic
violence victims may petition the court for a temporary
and/or permanent injunction restraining the perpetrator
from further contact and violence. The Hoopa Tribe has
not yet enacted a domestic violence code or a family law
code. There is a draft circulating at this time,
and the code will be enacted in the near future.
An
additional challenge facing the Native American
communities is access to the California Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System (CLETS), which notifies all
other officers that a restraining order is in effect. This
places the safety of native women and children residing
in Indian Country in jeopardy. This problem may be
due in part to a systems bias against Native people and
trust in their ability to keep this information safe and
confidential.
The
Hoopa Valley Tribe recently received a Grant to
Encourage Arrest and Enforcement of Protection Orders
for the first time. We are hoping to gain access
to CLETS in the near future. We will train at least one
Hoopa tribal law enforcement officer to be a "full
access" operator, so that Hoopa Tribal Department
of Public Safety will be able to enter protection orders
into the system and have access to the system to be able
to be fully informed of domestic violence restraining
orders that have been entered into the system.
The
Niwhongwh xw E:na:wh (Hupa words for Families in a Good
Way) Stop the Violence Coalition, in partnership with
the Hoopa Tribe, just received the Rural Domestic
Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement grant for
the first time. We will be using this grant to open
the first shelter for Native women victims and their
children in Indian country in northern California. Many
Native American women had to drive for hours to reach
the nearest shelter and often times would not stay
because of the cultural differences.
There
are now two federally funded Native Women's Domestic
Violence Coalitions in the state of California. There
is one in Sacramento, For Our Future, Inc., and
Niwhongwh xw E:na:wh Stop the Violence Coalition, Inc.,
in Hoopa, California. These Native Women's Domestic
Violence Coalitions are the first of their kind and were
established to exist parallel and in cooperation with
the State Women's Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
Coalitions. The Coalitions provide education, training,
advocacy and limited services to victims of domestic
violence sexual assault and stalking.
The
chief judge of the Hoopa Valley Tribal Court recently
attended a conference in San Francisco entitled
"Extending Project Passport." The judge was
very impressed with the project, which encourages all
states, tribes, and territories to adopt a common cover
sheet on restraining orders. The Hoopa Valley
Tribal Court will soon be using the common cover sheet. Developing
uniform first pages of protective orders will be a step
in the right direction for the uniform enforcement of
those orders across jurisdictions and ultimately the
enhancement of safety of women and children.
For
more information, Jolanda E. Ingram-Marshall can be
contacted at nestvc@aol.com
or 530-625-1662.
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The
Courts' Capacity to Provide Protection Orders: The Case
of Limited English Proficiency (LEP)
By Brenda K. Uekert
Last
year NCSC began conducting a research project on the
courts' capacity to provide protection orders to
petitioners with limited English proficiency (LEP) (see www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/descriptions.html#LEP
for a project description). Limited English
proficiency is a term generally used to encompass
persons who are "non-English speaking" as well
as persons who do not speak English with sufficient
fluency to function effectively in a particular setting
without oral interpretation or written translation
assistance. The project, funded by the National
Institute of Justice, includes a national survey of
courts, a selective survey of courts and community-based
organizations, and case studies.
We
recently completed the national survey, and while
results are preliminary, there are some interesting
findings. As anticipated, courts serving metropolitan
areas tend to serve a more diverse population in terms
of language, and have more resources than their rural
counterparts. Some of the preliminary findings
include:
- Nearly 70 percent of
the courts serving population centers reported high
levels of diversity in protection order applicants
(Spanish and four or more other languages are
commonly or less commonly spoken). In contrast,
about 10 percent of the rural courts reported the
same level of language diversity.
- The five most common
languages spoken by protection order petitioners are
Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, Korean, and French.
- Fewer than 20 percent
of courts use language identification cards or
posted signs informing the public of the
availability of free interpreter services.
- The most common means
of providing formal interpreters are through
contracts.
- A small percentage of
courts reported that the petitioner must make
arrangements for an interpreter in protection order
court hearings. A number of courts also
reported that adult family and friends, and minors
were sometimes asked to interpret at court hearings.
- Over 40 percent of the
courts serving population centers do not have a
comprehensive plan for language assistance to LEP
persons. The comparable figure is over 60
percent for courts serving rural jurisdictions.
- Courts that serve
metropolitan areas are more likely to work with
community-based organizations to inform LEP
individuals of the court's services than courts
serving less populated jurisdictions.
Thus
far, results indicate vast differences in resources,
diversity, and attention to the problem based on
population. Practices are inconsistent from one
court to the next and there are few guiding principles
in how the courts should address the issue of limited
English proficiency. The research team is eager to
move to the second phase of the research project, which
will detail how language assistance is provided by
courts and community-based organizations.
Ultimately, the project envisions the development of
model polices that will guide courts in the provision of
services.
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Providing
Qualified Interpreters: An Interview with
Wanda Romberger
By Brenda K. Uekert
Wanda Romberger is the
manager of Court Interpreting Services at the National
Center for State Courts. In this interview, Brenda
Uekert spoke to Wanda about the Consortium for State
Court Interpreter Certification program and how to
identify qualified interpreters.
BU:
What is the Consortium for State Court
Interpreter Certification program?
WR:
The Consortium is a group of state courts and other
state agencies that have come together under a single
administrative umbrella to achieve economies of scale
across jurisdictional and organizational boundaries. In
1995, four states founded the Consortium, two donating
financial resources and two donating test resources -
together they came to agreement on test structure,
testing objectives, and standards for test
administration. Today 32 states are members of the
Consortium.
BU:
Which states currently belong to the Consortium?
WR:
Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut,
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois/Cook
County, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New
Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia,
Washington, and Wisconsin.
BU:
In what languages does the Consortium provide testing
and certification?
WR:
Materials are available to these 32 states to test
interpreters in Spanish, Haitian Creole, Russian,
Korean, Vietnamese, Somali, Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin,
Hmong, and Laotian - we are currently in the process of
finishing examinations in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian and
in Portuguese. Not all states use all of the test
materials that are available to them for a number of
reasons, including financial ones. Also, not all states
offer "certification." Different states have
structured their interpreter programs in different ways.
What they all have in common is the test instruments,
test rating standards, and test administration
standards.
BU:
Can you tell us how many interpreters are
currently certified through your program?
WR:
About 950 interpreters have passed a Consortium
examination.
BU:
How can I find a qualified interpreter?
WR:
In each of the 32 member states, there is an individual
who oversees and administers the interpreters program.
Find out who the coordinator is in your state and give
him or her a call or drop an e-mail. A list of contact
people is located on the Web site, http://www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/CourtInterp.html.
Also available on the Web
site are links to most of the state programs - almost
all of the member states post a registry of interpreters
on their state's Web site. You can browse your state's
list. One caution: some states list every interpreter
without having screened for qualifications, others list
only those interpreters who have passed a Consortium
exam.
BU:
Are the interpreters restricted to court interpretation?
WR:
Only if they are staff interpreters, actually hired as
employees of the court. Otherwise, the interpreters are
freelance interpreters and are often seeking additional
work.
BU:
What advice can you offer on identifying qualified
interpreters for obscure languages? Or for regions where
there are very few certified interpreters?
WR:
When no examination is available, there are some
alternative assessments of language proficiency. For
example, TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)
is a respected test for measuring English proficiency,
and OPI (Oral Proficiency Interviews) are available for
assessing foreign language skills. There are more
alternatives available, but these are the two I am most
familiar with. These alternatives are not as
comprehensive as a complete oral performance
examination, but they are valuable, nonetheless.
Wanda
Romberger can be contacted at wromberger@ncsc.dni.us
or 757-259-1576.
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Extending
Project Passport Holds First Regional Meeting in San
Francisco
By Denise Dancy
Extending Project
Passport aims to improve recognition and enforcement of
orders of protection within and between states/tribes by
encouraging states to adopt a recognizable cover sheet
for orders of protection. The model cover sheet/template
was originally developed through a regional effort led
by Kentucky with its seven surrounding states. The
Southeast, led by Alabama with seven of its neighboring
states and tribes, recently led a similar initiative.
The critical aspects of the model template for the first
page are common data elements jointly identified by
state multi-disciplinary. Without this essential data
readily available and easily recognizable on an order of
protection - especially on "foreign protection
orders" (i.e., a protection order issued in another
jurisdiction outside of the enforcing jurisdiction) -
verifying a protection order's authenticity, the proper
identification of presenting parties at the point of
enforcement, and securing the safety of a domestic
violence survivor (and potential others) are in
jeopardy.
Representatives from six
Western states (Alaska, California, Oregon, Hawaii,
Nevada and Washington), three U.S. territories in the
Pacific (Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas,
and American Samoa) and various tribal leaders in
contiguous tribal regions gathered in San Francisco last
month at the Western-Pacific Regional Meeting of
Extending Project Passport. State and tribal teams
represented in San Francisco met jointly several times
during the course of the 2-day meeting to discuss
adopting and implementing the first page for their
protection orders. Plenary sessions offered expert-led
sessions on Full Faith and Credit provisions, their
significance specific to protection orders and victim
safety, ongoing challenges to law enforcement despite
those provisions, and states participation in the
National Crime Information Center Protection Order File
(NCIC POF). The introduction of a new XML-based first
page for protection orders based on the model template
and its potential to enhance data sharing on protection
orders illustrated further potential for the use of a
recognizable first page. Ideally, XML creates an
environment in which data can be easily exchanged
between court case management systems, state protection
order registries, and the NCIC POF.
State and tribal teams
left the meeting with written action plans and timelines
derived through joint consensus and greater awareness of
the benefits and challenges of adopting the model
template. Some teams acknowledged legislative and
required statutory changes as potential challenges.
Others noted very recent changes to their protection
orders and potential impediments to yet again change
their protection order forms. All, however, reported a
willingness to work towards the adoption of the first
page nonetheless - recognizing its significance for
increasing safety for domestic violence survivors,
facilitating issuance and enforcement of protection
orders, and strengthening interstate, intrastate, and
tribal coordination and collaboration to enhance those
efforts. Ongoing technical assistance from Extending
Project Passport faculty and staff will also be
available in the upcoming months as these teams move
forward on their action plans.
Fifteen states, through
similar regional efforts, in the U.S. now have or are in
the process of adopting the model template first page
for their orders of protection. A handful of other
states have adopted the model template independently.
With the convening of this first regional meeting of
Extending Project Passport, over half of the country has
been introduced to the model template of the first page
and is at some stage of its adoption and use. The second
Regional Meeting of the Extending Project Passport for
the Central-Southwestern portion - comprised of ten
invited states and a large tribal concentration - is
scheduled for 2005. With the convening of that second
regional meeting, nearly two-thirds of the country will
have been introduced to the use of the model template
and its potential to strengthen and enlarge the safety
net for domestic violence survivors - regardless of
where they live or where the protection order was
issued.
For a summary of
Extending Project Passport, go to http://www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/descriptions.html#ProjPassport.
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Resource
Corner
Multicultural Issues and Domestic Violence Resource
Guide Now Available
By Madelynn Herman
As our population becomes
more diverse, the courts and justice agencies are faced
with language and cultural issues that affect the
populations they serve. They can address the need for
multilingual services, culturally competent staff, and
culturally appropriate interventions in a variety of
ways.
The NCSC has recently put
together a new online guide, "Multicultural
Issues and Domestic Violence Resource Guide,"
which provides helpful information and resources courts
and justice agencies that will assist them in addressing
some of the multicultural issues that they face in the
context of domestic violence victims. This guide
includes practical information and resources on the
following topics:
- Benchbooks and
Resources for Judges
- Domestic Violence in
Specific Minority Populations
- Curriculum, Tools, and
Strategies
Highlighted judicial
resources include:
- Steven Weller and
John Martin. A Judge's Guide to Culturally
Competent Responses to Latino Family Violence.
Denver, CO: Center for Public Policy Studies, 1998.
Provides an agenda for a two-day training course.
- Michael W.Runner and
Sujata Warrier. Cultural Considerations in
Domestic Violence Cases: A National Judicial
Education Curriculum. San Francisco, CA: Family
Violence Prevention Fund, 2001.
- Maria D. Ramos. Cultural
Considerations in Domestic Violence Cases: A
National Judges Benchbook. San Francisco, CA:
Family Violence Prevention Fund, 1999.
Other helpful resources
include:
For additional
resources on family-violence-related topics see the
NCSC CourTopics database. To request information from
the NCSC call 800-616-6164. To inquire about technical
assistance, please contact Dr.
Brenda K. Uekert at 757-259-1861.
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National
Center for State Courts
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Williamsburg, VA 23185
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