U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Reducing Family Violence: Role of the Family Violence Council

NCJ Number
162278
Journal
Protecting Children Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: (1995) Pages: 17-21
Author(s)
L P Edwards
Date Published
1995
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article describes how a community can create and operate a Family Violence Council, which can coordinate a comprehensive response to domestic violence.
Abstract
One purpose of a Family Violence Council is to coordinate the policies and services of agencies, departments, and the courts in responding to victims of domestic violence. A second purpose of a council is to promote effective prevention, intervention, and treatment techniques based on research and data collection. A third purpose of the council is to improve the response to domestic violence and abuse so as to reduce the number of incidents. In discussing the formation and work of the Family Violence Council, this article is divided into five sections. After discussing the purposes of a Family Violence Council, the first section considers how the goals of the council can be identified. The article's second section focuses on the creation of a council. The discussion includes the framework for such a council, legislation that might facilitate its creation, selection of council members, political considerations, and a step-by-step methodology. How the council will operate is discussed in the third section; it describes meetings, committees, subcommittees, and work plans. The fourth section examines what can be accomplished by a council and includes references to model programs currently operating in the United States. The fifth section discusses the problems of maintaining a council over time. Interspersed throughout the article are references to exhibits that describe how a council in Santa Clara County, Calif., was created and is currently operating. 38 notes