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Federal grant supports efforts of domestic violence high-risk team

NWDA has received grant for two decades, leading to decline in DV cases
Posted on: October 8, 2021 - 12:30pm
NWDA domestic violence grant leads to decline in cases

NORTHAMPTON  – The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, working with the City of Northampton, has  been awarded three-year, $500,000 federal grant from the Office on Violence Against Women, Improving Criminal Justice Response Grant Program.

The  funds support the District Attorney’s multi-sector high-risk team, which aims to identify and contain offenders deemed at risk of  killing intimate partners. The City of Northampton has been receiving these funds on behalf of the DA’s office for 20 years, allowing a coordinated, best-practices approach to combating domestic violence in the community.

"We are thrilled to receive these funds which will allow us to continue this important work. We have seen a significant decline in domestic violence homicides in the region since the start of the project in 2010," said Mary Kociela, NWDA director of Domestic and Sexual Violence Projects. "Our aim is to identify and contain the most serois domestic violence offenders as we do everything we can to keep their partners safe."

 The domestic violence high risk team draw from a variety of sectors including law enforcement, corrections, the court system, family protective services, domestic violence advocates, those who work with offenders, and, importantly, the dispatchers who take emergency calls.

“The coordination of our office, police, the courts, and community advocacy programs makes all the difference in our ability to hold offenders accountable and protect victims,” said Kociela. “It’s worth noting that this grant comes during a month devoted to domestic violence awareness.”

Going forward, the new grant award will be used to expand the project by offering trainings to police, prosecutors, and others in the field on:

  • trauma-responsive interviewing techniques;
  • special considerations when investigating cases of stalking and near fatal strangulation;
  • identifying high-risk signs, such as the connections between domestic violence and animal cruelty;
  • barriers for survivors in BIPOC and underserved communities;
  • examination of specific risk factors for underserved populations in our local community and identifying best responses.

“The best approach to the scourge of domestic violence is through an integrated response that lowers risk factors for survivors while responding with consistency and urgency when we identify offenders most likely to kill their intimate partner,” said Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan. “Our team members join forces to achieve those goals because we know we can’t solve this problem with law enforcement and the legal system alone. This project has created a proactive team approach that seeks to respond effectively to high risk cases and ultimately save lives.”