Oversight_Panel
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 Justice & Courage Oversight Panel
Strategic Plan
2008-2011
(Based on July 15, 2008 retreat)
MISSIONof the Justice & Courage Project: To Prevent Domestic Violence by creating a seamless, system-wide response to domestic violence in San Francisco.
A. Goal: Batterer Accountability. Hold batterers accountable for their violence in order to prevent domestic violence.
Objectives:
1. Work with the Adult Probation Department (APD), the Judiciary, and Batterer Intervention Programs to develop improved accountability and oversight mechanisms for Batterer Intervention Programs (BIPs).
a. Participate in APD’s Batterer Intervention Program-Community Advisory Committee and APD’s Batterer Intervention Program Committee (all currently certified batterer intervention programs).
i. Review APD batterer evaluation forms that are submitted to the Court, and work with APD and the Court to improve evaluation forms/process.
b. Establish Justice & Courage’s Batterer Accountability Committee as a coordinating body for all efforts to improve batterer accountability in S.F.
i. Identify successful non-criminal justice approaches to batterer intervention.
ii. . Review Probation statistics and determine intervention program effectiveness—review completion rates, bench warrant rates, stay-away order rates, batterer program payment rates, and identify key areas for improvement.
c. Hold quarterly meetings between Justice & Courage and APD to identify and resolve gaps in safety.
d. Strengthen the collaboration between the Courts and Justice & Courage on issues of batterer accountability, including the issue of fathering and batterers, emphasizing the need for fathers to take responsibility for their violence, and ensuring that issues of fathering remain a component of batterer intervention efforts.
e. Explore possibility of County augmentation and amendments to state legislation regarding batterer intervention.
f. Ensure an effective certification process is in place for batterer intervention programs
2. Help to explore the possibility of establishing batterer intervention funding that is not client dependent, but does not interfere or compete with funding for survivor services.
3. Create opportunities for new research into program effectiveness.
a. Explore funding for research.
b. Explore best practices and implement oversight mechanisms to insure that batterers are held accountable.
c. Review the literature on BIP effectiveness and best practices in batterer intervention/treatment.
d. Work with APD to strengthen BIP certification process.
B. Goal: Safe Housing for Domestic Violence Survivors. To expand the safe housing options for domestic violence survivors, particularly in regards to public housing.
Objectives:
1. Work with San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) to prioritize the needs of domestic violence survivors and to develop improved policies and practices regarding the safety of domestic violence survivors and their children, including transfer and Section 8 policies.
a. Explore current Housing Workgroups which are relevant to domestic violence, including Family Supportive Housing Network, and Workgroup on Housing Authority Priorities.
b. Explore methods for increasing awareness by SF Housing Authority about the concerns and needs of domestic violence survivors
C. Goal: Training. To provide quality domestic violence training to members of the San Francisco criminal justice system that addresses emerging issues and creates opportunity for cross-system collaboration.
Objectives:
1. Establish stable, long-term funding for the Cross-Training Institute.
a. Identify and apply to at least two potential funders of current Institute model.
b. Explore models for sustaining the Institute without new funding.
2. Explore the Cross-Training Institute model for replication with non-criminal justice agencies.
D. Goal: Language Access. To ensure that all San Francisco domestic violence survivors have access to quality, face-to-face interpretation and that cultural as well as language barriers to domestic violence assistance and services be removed.
Objectives:
1. Work with SFPD to implement their Departmental General Order on language access.
a. Become an active participant in the Language Access Coalition, specifically in efforts to develop officer training and resource materials.
b. Improve criminal justice system awareness of the need for both language and cultural interpretation, in order to improve survivor understanding of the criminal justice process.
c. Improve SFPD awareness of currently available resources to assist domestic violence survivors who are limited-English proficient.
2. Work with the Office of Language Services
a. To assess usage of the Language Line and AT&T cell phone program.
b. Work with the Office of Language Services to implement domestic violence interpretation training for bilingual criminal justice employees.
E. Goal: Stalking Awareness and Response. To make San Franciscans aware of both the dynamics of stalking and the resources available to provide assistance; and improve the criminal justice response to victims seeking assistance.
Objectives:
1. Raise public awareness of stalking.
a. Participate in the District Attorney’sStalking Task Force
b. Collaborate with the Stalking Task Force to produce and distribute a brochure and possible media campaign that identifies the dynamics of stalking as well as resources for victims.
c. In collaboration with the D.A.’s Stalking Task Force, explore the benefits of holding a roundtable on the issue of stalking.
2. Improve the criminal justice response to stalking.
a. Work with SFPD to adopt a General Order on stalking
3. Encourage the SF criminal justice system to address the needs of children who are involved in stalking cases.
F. Goal: Judicial Participation. To increase the participation of the Judiciary in the efforts of the Justice & Courage Project in order to insure that the Courts provide a consistent, seamless response to domestic violence.
Objectives:
1. Work with the Court, Judicial Council, and other bodies as appropriate, to develop and implement written domestic violence protocols and policies that reflect best practices for the Courts and domestic violence, and encourage consistency in the Court’s dealings with domestic violence survivors.
a. Hold quarterly meetings with the Presiding Judge and other members of the Court.
b. Work with the Presiding Judge and Judge Mary Morgan of Department 15 to secure their support and participation in promoting accountability and collaboration between the Court and the Adult Probation Department.
c. Consider inclusion of the Court in the Domestic Violence Response Cross-Training Institute;
d. Support the Domestic Violence Consortium’s development of a Court Watch, and formalize a means of receiving regular updates on its’ activities.
e. Monitor the Judicial Council’s Domestic Violence Task Force.
f. Encourage the Court to provide periodic reports to J & C on its progress.
g. Support efforts to increase sources of income for domestic violence services, such as Marriage License Fees, Batterers Fines, and other sources.
h. Work with the Family Court to ensure that the Court’s need establish court neutrality considers the safety of the victim and her children as primary.
2. Encourage the Court’s consistent oversight and support of the Adult Probation Department.
3. Support efforts to improve computer and telephonic communications between the Court and APD in order to insure
the Court has the most updated information possible on probationers.
G. Goal: Safety Audit Implementation and Replication and System Wide Protocol Development and Implementation. To implement all recommendations and close all gaps identified in the Safety and Accountability Audit, and replicate the audit process regularly as a means of identifying gaps in the SF system-wide response to DV.
Objectives:
1. Implement current Safety and Accountability audit recommendations.
a. Convene monthly meetings of the Audit Implementation Committee to oversee regular evaluations of progress on implementation of Audit recommendations.
b. Create and submit a semi-annual report to the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, and Department Heads on Audit Implementation.
c. Explore methods to create departmental methods of accountability for implementation.
d. Begin planning for the next Safety and Accountability Audit in 2009/2010.
H. Goal: Outreach. Make the public aware of the problem of Domestic Violence, the resources available to respond, and the work and role of the Justice & Courage Oversight Panel.
Objectives:
1. Utilize the Media Committee as an ad-hoc to respond to specific “high-profile” domestic violence events.
I. Goal: JUSTIS Now! Immediate implementation of JUSTIS.
Objectives:
1. Participate in meetings of the JUSTIS Governance Council.
2. Use all available methods and resources to create pressure on City departments creating delays in implementation.
J. Goal: Ongoing Governance of Justice & Courage Oversight Panel. Justice & Courage maintains and expands its role as a leader on domestic violence system response.
Objectives:
1. To maintain a healthy, vibrant, and sustainable model for ongoing oversight of the criminal justice response to domestic violence.
a. Continue to convene the Oversight Panel’s Governance committee.
b. Recruit new members of the Justice & Courage panel.
c. Fill vacant seats on the Justice & Courage panel with individuals who have skills needed by the Panel, and who are members of the communities most affected by gaps in system response.
d. To ensure a diverse membership of the Oversight Panel.
K. Goal: Resources. Ensure that Justice and Courage Oversight Panel and the criminal justice agencies it works with have the resources they need to respond appropriately to domestic violence incidences when they occur.
Objectives:
1. To identify funding sources for the J & C panel and domestic violence service providers.
a. By 2010, establish a Resource Committee and identify funding for a new Safety and Accountability Audit by 2012.
b. Conduct an audit of the City and County of San Francisco’s investment in domestic violence services.
c. Research marriage license fee legislation and other possible sources of income, such as the Real Estate Fraud Fund.
d. Hold annual hearings at the Board of Supervisor’s Public Safety Committee to draw attention and raise awareness about the ways that funding creates gaps in the system response to domestic violence and develop “champions” amongst government/elected San Francisco leadership.
e. Identify resources to support criminal justice agency participation in Cross-Training.
L. Goal: Accountability. Conduct Safety and Accountability Audits on a regularly scheduled basis
Objectives:
1. To ensure an ongoing method of assessing the effectiveness of and improving San Francisco’s criminal justice
response to domestic violence.
a. Beginning in 2010, identify resources and begin planning for a new Safety and Accountability Audit.
M. Goal: Oversight. Maintain Justice and Courage as a forum to identify and respond to emerging domestic violence/victim response issues.
