Roundtable on Domestic Violence, Military Service and the Courts

More than 30 leaders from the military / veteran, judiciary and domestic violence communities convened to share their experiences, concerns and visions for the future.

Recent Missions

Early in July, Debby presented a workshop on "Veterans and Problem-Solving Courts," with a particular emphasis on domestic violence at the SOROS Fellows Conference with West Huddleston, National Association of Drug Court Professionals and Guy Gambill, Justice Policy Institute and SOROS Fellow 2010. In June, she trained Coast Guard commanders from the Houston and New Orleans region on the "Dynamics of Domestic Violence".

Helen Kinton, Executive Director, Sanctuary, Inc., Hopkinsville, KY, and Co-Local Coordinator of the Fort Campbell, KY, Military / Civilian Coordinated Community Response Demonstration Project, and Debby presented a two-day workshop on domestic violence in the military for the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence in May. (This was the second of two workshops they co-presented for Florida advocates; the first was in December 2009.) In late April, Debby trained nearly 100 attorneys, law enforcement officers and advocates on military issues at the National Family Justice Center Alliance's 10th Annual International Conference. That same month, she teamed again with Gambill and Helga Luest, Witness Justice, at the 2010 CMHS National GAINS Center Conference, focusing on veterans' issues.

Recently, Debby, along with Gambill and Sue Else, National Network to End Domestic Violence were asked to advise the Battered Women's Justice Project on a project to build effective responses to military-related intimate partner violence.

Materials Arsenal

"In our experience," says Christina Walsh, NCDSV Communications Director, "there are five resources that are popular downloads on the NCDSV website and considered most useful when training those working with military communities":

Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence Strategic Plan

Continuum of Caring: Community Resource Clusters (Fort Campbell's adaptation)

Suggestions for Improving Military-Civilian Domestic Violence Collaborations

Domestic Violence in the Military: Implementing Collaborative MOUs

Hurts One. Affects All. SAPR 2010 Campaign

"These resources," Christina says, "provide a road map for military-civilian collaboration and the day-to-day issues of life in the trenches."

Additional resources from Anne Sadler, and numerous others

All Hands On Deck

In preparation for Congressional consideration of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (commonly referred to as VAWA IV) in 2011, plenty of work has already occurred and is ongoing.  Under the leadership of Monika Johnson Hostler, President, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence and Debby, the Military Committee was convened to provide the content needed for the bill to address military and veteran domestic and sexual violence issues.  The Committee of more than 40 worked for over a year drafting concepts and recommendations and submitted them to Rob Valente, National Network to End Domestic Violence, Lisalyn Jacobs, Legal Momentum and Terri Poore, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence. who are working with all the VAWA IV committees to bring the bill together.  Rob is crafting the Committee's concepts and suggestions into legislative language to submit to the bills' sponsors for inclusion in VAWA IV.  Throughout 2011, efforts will focus on Congress to make sure VAWA IV is reauthorized and sent to the President to maintain and enhance the prevention and intervention efforts throughout the nation and territories.