Police officers see victims of domestic abuse first.
That simple notion led to the development of a program in Maryland to help bring those victims to social services sooner — before the abuse escalates.
Now, thanks to a grant from the Katharine Matthies Foundation, the Ansonia Police Department and The Umbrella Domestic Violence program will join together this year to implement the program in Ansonia.
It’s called the Lethality Assessment Program, and it has been used in Maryland for seven years to try to prevent deaths from domestic violence.
Ansonia Police Chief Kevin Hale says the department wants to use the program to help victims get services as soon as possible.
“We find that often victims don’t get involved in protective services groups that are there for them, that can care for them,” Hale said.
How It Works
The program pairs police officers with domestic violence agencies.
The police officers are trained to make assessments on the severity of a domestic abuse situation with a series of questions to the victims. The training involves learning communication skills that will help encourage the victim to be forthcoming, Hale said.
Then the officers refer the victim to the local service agency — in this case the Umbrella Domestic Violence program run by Birmingham Group.
If the victim’s situation is serious enough, the police officer makes an immediate referral to the Umbrella’s 24-hour hotline.
Members of the Umbrella will also be trained.
The program includes a lot of follow-up with the victims to make sure they have tried to seek help.
The Model
The program is based on the Lethality Assessment Program developed by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence.
The Maryland trainers will come to Ansonia to teach police officers and employees at Birmingham.
The program was implemented across the state of Maryland in 2003. According to the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence website, the state has seen incidence of domestic violence homicides decline by 13 percent.
More Grant Money
The Katharine Matthies Foundation, which funds projects in the Valley through and is managed by the Bank of America, also awarded the Birmingham Group’s Umbrella domestic violence program another $8,100.
Some of the money will be used to install a security system at Antoinette’s House, the Umbrella’s domestic violence shelter.
The shelter will also be able to purchase a computer for residents to use without worrying about being monitored.
Part of the grant will also purchase a laptop computer for the Family Violence Victim Advocate at Superior Court in Derby to use to quickly look up victim information during court hearings.
