Category: Screening for domestic violence

Access to Justice

Domestic violence-informed processes for alternative dispute resolution (Hennepin)

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Hennepin was concerned that domestic violence survivors were pressured into participating in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes that may not be safe and without full information about their options. After much discussion, they reformed the processes to include screening for domestic violence by attorneys and all ADR professionals and complete information for litigants about the processes and available safety modifications. They were also advised that they could opt out of ADR if a different process was more suitable for their case. A guidance document for attorneys and ADR professionals incorporates a screening tool and has been distributed to all practitioners and is available from the court. Judges also now read a script before referring a case to ADR that outlines available options and emphasizes that participation is voluntary.

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Screening for Domestic Violence

Screening tools for attorneys and custody evaluators (Multnomah)

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The team realized that domestic violence was going undetected in many cases. A subcommittee was tasked with finding and developing screening tools for court-related professionals. Early feedback on the first tool, specifically for attorneys, has been favorable, with attorneys reporting an increased awareness and detection of domestic violence in their cases. Also, tools for other professionals, notably custody evaluators and mediators, will be forthcoming soon.

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Screening for Domestic Violence

Help desk screening/triage process

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To improve the availability of child-related relief in protection orders, identification of cases where the parties share children is necessary. By using its already existing help desk, the team developed a screening questionnaire that identified when concerns regarding children were present and referred the survivor to appropriate resources. Also, an alert card was created, to be provided to the survivor, when the parties had shared children; this alert card notifies any others helping the survivor with the protection order process to be aware of child-related issues and the possibility that a request for child-related relief may be needed and appropriate.

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