Fighting domestic violence: New problem-solving court will reach out to victims, families

The number of domestic violence victims who received assistance in Lawrence County by Hoosier Hills PACT — the primary provider of domestic violence services for the past 15 years — is more than double those served in Orange, Harrison and Crawford counties, where Hoosier Hills PACT staffs additional outreach offices.

During the most recent fiscal year, 2012-2013, Hoosier Hills PACT provided services to 482 adults and children in Lawrence County. In Orange County, that figure is 200. The others are even lower.

That’s what makes the new domestic violence specialty court — the first of its kind in Indiana — all that more important.

Lawrence County Superior Court I was recently the recipient of a $40,000 Court Reform grant from Indiana’s Supreme Court in order to start the first domestic violence problem-solving court in the state and one of the first in the United States.

The court, according to Lawrence Superior I Judge Michael Robbins, is still in the early stages.

“We’re obviously very excited,” he said.

Domestic violence has been an ongoing issue in Lawrence County. During 2011-2012, Indiana recorded 64 domestic violence-related deaths. Two of those were in Lawrence County.

Heather Woloshen, who works in the Lawrence County Hoosier Hills PACT office, saw almost 700 clients in the fiscal year from 2012-2013. The majority of the clients — 482 — were domestic violence victims, said Suetta Fischer, victim services supervisor of Hoosier Hills PACT.

Fischer said she thinks it’s too soon to tell if the specialty court will help lower the amount of domestic violence in Lawrence County, but noted, “We are very excited to see that the issues of domestic violence are being addressed in Lawrence County.”

When established, the plan for the court is to help families involved in domestic violence cases, instead of working with just the perpetrator.

“Domestic violence is a family problem,” Robbins said. “Children are involved, the victim plays a part. Our expectation is that all those people impacted will be involved in the court to receive the services they need to turn that around.”

Robbins explained the court will help keep families together if the family wants to stay together.

“We’ll be supportive of that,” he said.

Fischer believes Robbins’ plans are heading in the right direction.

“I like the idea of the focus of trying to gather resources, and hopefully it will make the response to domestic violence consistent across the board,” Fisher said. “(The caseload in Lawrence County) was double the amount of clients that all of our other offices (in other counties) had,” Fischer said. “It’s definitely a problem based on the number of clients (Woloshen) sees.”

Another goal of the court will be to stop the generational aspect of domestic violence. Robbins said domestic violence is something people are taught, like a father could pass violence onto a son, and the son will think it’s OK to be violent.

Perpetrators isolate victims, according to Robbins. The court will also help change that for a family.

“A lot of victims are stuck,” Robbins said. “We’ve got to help them emotionally, financially ... to be not stuck.”

But for right now, Robbins is focusing on forming a team for the court, and he said it could be as long as six months before the court is ready for action.

“We want to do it right,” Robbins said. “We’re taking our time because there’s a certification process. We’ve been applying for this grant for five or six years. ”

Robbins said the prosecutor’s office will be involved, along with the public defender’s office, the probation department, Indiana University and law enforcement.

In order to make this specialty court happen, Robbins went through a foundation process for the grant. That included assistance from places such as the Batterers Intervention Program, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Domestic Violence Coalition.

“That foundation process has put us in a position to be able to sell this to the Supreme Court,” Robbins said.

For now, Fischer is glad Lawrence Superiour Court I received the grant and is continuously working to address a serious problem.

“In keeping the batterers accountable, that specialty court will send the message out into the community that it’s not OK to hit your family,” Fischer said. “It’s a crime.”