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Revolutionizing Domestic Violence Prevention: The Role of High-Risk Teams

• Genesis Women's Shelter & Support

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Detective Brandon Wootan joins us to uncover the transformative impact of Domestic Violence High-Risk Teams in preventing intimate partner homicides. Drawing from his extensive law enforcement background, Detective Wootan shares the approach that has dramatically reduced fatalities in his jurisdiction, where a staggering 40% of homicides are linked to domestic violence. Learn how these multidisciplinary teams bridge the gap between law enforcement, prosecutors, and service providers, creating a united front against domestic violence and prioritizing long-term support for survivors, especially within the Latinx community.

From this discussion listeners will grasp the core components of these high-risk teams—early identification, improved offender monitoring, and a collaborative response—that make them a powerful force in combating domestic violence. Drawing from the groundbreaking work of experts like Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell and the pioneering efforts of the Geiger Institute, we discover how evidence-based risk assessments play a pivotal role in identifying potentially lethal situations. You will also learn about the seamless collaboration that has not only revolutionized the judicial process but also provided a lifeline for at-risk individuals.

We also discuss Light the Way Consulting, a project inspired by Detective Wootan's personal experiences that is dedicated to helping agencies nationwide establish their own high-risk teams. We explore how this initiative aims to foster societal change by reshaping how domestic violence is perceived and handled and paves the way for safer communities and a more supportive environment for survivors.

Speaker 1:

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and today we are highlighting services for victims of domestic violence that can reduce and possibly prevent abuse and femicide. Domestic violence high-risk teams are a critical part of domestic violence fatality reduction and improved responses for survivors. Here to guide us through the domestic violence high-risk team development and implementation process is Detective Brandon Wooten. I'm Maria McMullin and this is Genesis, the podcast. According to the Geiger Institute, a national initiative to end domestic violence homicides, the domestic violence high-risk team model is a nationally recognized domestic violence homicide prevention framework identified by the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women as a leading promising practice in the field, with a goal of preventing intimate partner homicides and near lethal assaults. The model has been successfully replicated in a variety of jurisdictions across the country. Has been successfully replicated in a variety of jurisdictions across the country.

Speaker 1:

Our guest Detective Brandon Wooten, developed a domestic violence high-risk team and joins us to navigate its purpose, implementation and possible outcomes. Brandon C Wooten is a police detective in Northern Colorado who created and co-leads a domestic violence high-risk team. A sworn police officer since 2013 and working in the state of Montana until January 2022, detective Wooten has worked in patrol as a patrol supervisor and as a field training officer. He has served as a detective investigating crimes ranging from child sexual assault and abuse to homicide. Detective Wooten previously served as an adjunct instructor at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy in the areas of domestic violence, stalking, strangulation and sexual assault, and also owns and operates Light the Way Consulting, where he provides training and technical assistance to communities seeking to improve their response to intimate partner violence. Brandon, welcome to the show.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for having me, Marie. I'm very excited to talk to you.

Speaker 1:

So I'm really excited to talk to you because I don't really know much about domestic violence high-risk teams and I work for a domestic violence shelter and a non-residential support center and I've been doing so for years and talking to experts from around the world for years. So I'm glad you're here and I understand you are kind of an expert in this area and it's somewhat of a new initiative across the country. It's kind of recent, maybe within the last 10 or so years. Before we talk about what a domestic violence high-risk team is, specifically the one that you helped to develop, tell us about the rates of domestic violence in the area where you've served or you're currently serving and why you felt the formation of a high-risk team was necessary.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely so. I would like to say too that like, yeah, the concept of DVHRT domestic violence, high-risk team is, you know, within the last 10 years all credit to the Geiger Institute, of course but the concept of a multidisciplinary team is a story know, within the last 10 years all credit to the Geiger Institute, of course but the concept of a multidisciplinary team is a story as old as time. So, fortunately, you know, I've fallen into this space and thank you for letting me talk about it. So, specific to what we're seeing here where I work, we're on track, for example, in 2024, to have 800 domestic violence cases within our city. And so we know, based on the research and the well-established research, that about 30% of those will be of the high-risk nature. And so when we think about that as a community, right, that's I'm not a super big math guy, but that's more than 200 high-risk cases, so 200 folks in our community who are at risk of being seriously injured or killed by their intimate partner, and so, with those numbers, it's really a situation which or killed by their intimate partner. And so, with those numbers, it's really a situation which how do we not do more? Right, as a country, as a world really.

Speaker 2:

The other important thing to note is that in the last 10 years, in the jurisdiction that I work in, 40% of the homicides have been directly related to intimate partner violence. And so, again, as a community, we're looking to reduce homicide and homicide prevention efforts. We need not look any further than you know, 40% of them being domestic violence related. Another thing that kind of is striking about our community is that, although the Latinx community represents a small portion of our population, they are represented twice that in victimization of intimate partner violence. And so, again, just an effort to really collaborate and, as a group of professionals, sort of make an impact in that space.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and it's not surprising to hear those statistics that you mentioned, because those sound pretty consistent with what we see and talk about across the country. It still sounds like it's one in four. It still sounds like it's largely underreported, because you're on track for 800 cases for the year 2024, but it's one in four. It still sounds like it's largely underreported because you're on track for 800 cases for the year 2024, but it's probably three times that because people don't report. And I'm glad to hear that you have addressed this in such a robust manner in the location where you are now. So tell us about what a high-risk team is, helping us understand the purpose and the work that you do.

Speaker 2:

Sure. So there's really four main components of the domestic violence high-risk team model, and again, creation of which was the Geiger Institute and Dr Campbell. But the first prong is early identification through evidence-based risk assessment. So we can't really have a functioning team aimed at preventing domestic violence, homicide, if we don't have a way to measure lethal risk. The second piece is increased access to supportive services. So we know through the statistics that if we can connect a survivor to supportive services in the community, we drastically reduce the chances that their intimate partner will ultimately kill them.

Speaker 2:

The next piece of it is an increased offender monitoring and accountability, right. So again, if we aim to prevent something, we must also, you know, take a look at what are we doing to not only help the person who could be harmed but also hold the person accountable ahead of time that will do the harming. And then the fourth sort of prong is this coordinated multidisciplinary response. So it sort of builds upon itself, maria, insofar as, if you start with identification of risk, you connect those folks to the services they need in the community to keep them safe, you monitor and hold accountable the offender, and then we have a group of multidisciplinary members that sit at the same table and that sort of comprises the work that we're doing. So I assume your next question will probably be well, brandon, who sits at that table? So the core components of a of a, you know, dv multidisciplinary team are obviously law enforcement you need the prosecutors in your jurisdiction at the table. You need your pretrial services folks at the table. You need the DV service provider for the community at the table, and that's a critically important piece that I really don't want to gloss over. Arguably the most important piece is the DV service provider, the community-based advocacy. You know, having the parole probation folks at the table, really kind of the before, during and after piece, is kind of really the heart of the work we're doing.

Speaker 1:

So a high risk team is really devoted to the cases that where lethality is at the highest risk. Is that correct?

Speaker 2:

Yes, that's correct, Maria.

Speaker 1:

And so all the services that you're bringing to the table will not only address the domestic violence, but also the lethality and how to get the victim to safety and perhaps the offender off the street.

Speaker 2:

That is correct. So really, the thought process is we're going to connect the survivor to services that will right set them up for the best success, and we all know that leaving and the choice to end a relationship is never something that law enforcement should be telling a survivor to do right. Only they know when it's safe to do so. And so let's leave that to the community-based advocates to have that conversation. Now let's, on the back end, right, build the strongest case we can to hold the offender accountable so that hopefully we can help stop the cycle from the system standpoint.

Speaker 1:

So domestic violence, high risk teams they haven't always been around. As we said in the beginning of the show, and you were right, the basis for developing the team is the work of Dr Jacqueline Campbell. Her research really was the underpinning of the high-risk team. So how did this all come about then? How did you decide to develop a high-risk team for the area that you're working in, and how can other local law enforcement agencies get started in creating and implementing a similar team?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely so. The reason that I set about to start this domestic violence high-risk team was just really recognizing the need. I work in a fairly large city in Northern Colorado and we had individuals doing really great work. We had police officers responding to calls, doing a good job, connecting those survivors to our local DV service provider, and that was sort of the end of the connection.

Speaker 2:

We weren't maintaining long-term connection with those cases with the prosecutor's office, with pretrial services, and what we were seeing is a vast amount of our misdemeanor level domestic violence cases were just rinse and repeat, right, we were making an arrest, the offender is out the next day and in a week we're back and we're seeing patterns and patterns and patterns of individual players are doing the level best that they can, but we weren't really communicating at a higher level and so, fortunately, from my previous experience in my law enforcement career, I knew that there was a way that we could address this, and the way we can address it is through the multidisciplinary approach and so that we're not you know, I don't super big fan of the term working in silos, but that's exactly what it was, and really creating the high risk team was a means to break down those silos and really all work together with the spirit of keeping people alive, right?

Speaker 2:

I think one of the things I tell my team all the time is our job is to put the DB fatality review board out of work. Right, we are a proactive team. We are not a after the fact hey, what could we have done better? We are. Let's prevent the homicide so that that team never has to talk about it.

Speaker 1:

How many homicides do you see related to domestic violence in your jurisdiction?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so in the last 10 years, 40% of our homicides have been domestic violence related, and that would put it right around the 22 or 23 mark. The other thing to note is it really is dependent on the state and how they track their domestic violence fatality and really how they define domestic violence right. So collateral victimization is something that doesn't get talked about enough insofar as it's not just the intended target that is, victim of the homicide. Right Nationally, that number is about 20%, where there's an additional 20% of folks that are collateral victims. In the state of Colorado, that number is right about 40% and so not only are we aiming to prevent the homicide of the DV victim, but of their children, of the responding law enforcement officers, of a neighbor who called it in, really trying to address that whole totality.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean that's very smart. Now, had you worked with high-risk teams previously to your current role?

Speaker 2:

Yes, so where I came from, in my prior law enforcement experience in the state of Montana, I did run a domestic violence high-risk team in that location as well, where we were using evidence-based lethality assessment to sort of drive the work in a similar fashion to how we aim to do it here.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and so the high-risk team. It sounds familiar to me, right, it sounds a lot like the coordinated community response, but for a very specific purpose, and that being reducing fatalities. So what partnerships? I know you listed off the people at the table, but what other partnerships are most effective for high-risk teams for this purpose, and how have they helped?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I hear what you're saying regarding the CCR. The one thing I want to draw the distinction of between a high-risk team and a CCR is think of a coordinated community response as almost like an advisory board. Right, this is every professional who could touch a domestic violence case. And how can we process, improve, right, that's kind of think of the CCR in that way. Think of the high-risk team as we are the nuts and bolts of the system trying to prevent the homicide. Right, we're the ones making action plans, right, like tangible steps. What are we going to do next? Right, pre-trial services, what are you going to do regarding GPS monitoring for the offender DA's office? Right, are we going to ask for higher bond, cash bond, based on the history and the lethality risk posed, and so you know law enforcement? Are we going to do, you know, another interview if it's applicable? Are we going to do another interview? If it's applicable, are we going to? Hey, let's have the child witnesses forensically interviewed so we can really bolster this case. And so, when I think of the difference between CCR and the high-risk team, it really is the CCR gives us best practices and then the high-risk team does the work. And so the critical, as I mentioned earlier, the critical component of the community-based advocacy right, as I mentioned earlier, the critical component of the community-based advocacy right.

Speaker 2:

And I want to really highlight the fact that the DVHRT is not a prosecution-based team. That is not. We don't in our right MOUs and in our, you know, mission and vision, it's not let's prosecute as many DV cases as we can. We are a survivor-centered team and so, whatever that looks like, whatever safety looks like for them, and so it might be right, our DB service provider saying, hey, law enforcement like, sit down, now's not the time, it's not safe to report. And us trusting the DB service provider and saying, you know, because we all work together so well, we trust their judgment. So the DB service provider is arguably the most important piece.

Speaker 2:

And then, of course, having the buy-in of the prosecutors and the courts Because, as our friends at the Geiger Institute will say, you know, just measuring lethality doesn't do any good, right? Well, what do we actually do with that information on the back end? So we use it to inform bond decisions. We use it to make cogent arguments for why we need a higher bond and why strangulation right, for why we need a higher bond and why strangulation? Right, if a prosecutor so much as goes in and a bond argument and says hey, we know that this is now a 750% increased chance that they will kill their intimate partner and the judge hears that right, that's powerful. And so we're using lethality risk to inform not only law enforcement but the court process and the DA's office and really making a. That's where we make our impact.

Speaker 1:

It sounds like you're doing everything right. I mean, it's music to my ears some of the things that you were saying. So how effective has this been?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So the one thing I'll always say when people ask that's right. One of the number one questions is efficacy, right, how can you show what you're doing is effective? And one thing I always want to tell people at the beginning is this is a lot like DUI enforcement, right? We will never be able to say definitively that we saved X amount of lives based on the work that we're doing, similarly to saying you know, we can't say how many fatalities are prevented by DUI enforcement. What we can track, though, is trends, right? We can say year over year, have we had a reduction in homicides? And in my previous you know my previous role within law enforcement, we were seeing year over year decreases in intimate partner homicides. Other places around the country that use this model have seen year over year reductions, and you know that's the best way.

Speaker 2:

The other way that we can tell is are we seeing recidivism, right? Are we seeing the same folks over and over and over again? And largely we are not, you know. One case example I would give is you know, law enforcement patrol officers have responded well over a dozen times to the same violation of the order of protection right. Their abusive partner was violating the protection order time and time again and that person was actually charged over 12 times with individual violations of the order of protection. Well, when the high risk team was referred to that case, holistically, we looked at it and said, well A, if it's happened more than 12 times, it's stalking at this point. And so let's work with the DA's office to upcharge these misdemeanor protection order violations to felony stalking. And once we were able to do that and we were able to get higher offender accountability via GPS, via some other things that the court can now impose, because we went from a misdemeanor to a felony, we stopped having the protection order violations and that doesn't work every time right.

Speaker 2:

That's not to say that this is a foolproof system, but that's just one small example of when we all sit at the same table and work together and we have relationships. And I don't want to gloss over relationships. Relationships are the most important part. It is not the tool that gauges lethality, it is not how good I am individually or how good someone else is individually, it's relationships.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, totally. I mean, these are the things that solve cases right, these are the things that move cases forward. And if you can put aside personal agendas and political agendas and just work on the task at hand solving cases or helping domestic violence victims. I say solving cases because I listened to a lot of true crime podcasts not my own, others and there are so many cold cases. And when agendas get involved, that's when things go in a bad direction or cases do not get pursued or victims do not get protected. And I think I asked the question about the efficacy of a high risk team because I want people to hear not only that it's effective, but that it's a wise investment of time and resources.

Speaker 2:

Well, and I 100% agree with you on both of those points. The other thing I want to point out is it isn't cost prohibitive. Right, to start this team where I am now, it was sending an email to the individual stakeholders and requesting an initial meeting. In that initial meeting I say, hey, dv service provider, hey, you know, community justice alternatives. This is my vision. Right, this is what I believe we can all accomplish together.

Speaker 2:

Then it transitioned to okay, now all these people are in the same room and I'm giving the same presentation again about why this work should be done and everyone in the room it's like light bulbs are going on right, like, oh my goodness, we work half a mile down the road from this other agency and we really don't talk. And so the investment is energy, right, the investment is time. Our high risk team doesn't have an operating budget, right, we operate, you know, under the color of our own agency and we get together and every two weeks we staff high risk cases and you know we move the needle in that mark. So it's not a huge lift as big as I think people think sometimes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think when you say establish a high risk team, it sounds like this is going to be a major initiative and it's going to be a government line item, you know. But it doesn't have to be, because everyone that you're talking about, who is participating in these conversations, they already exist, they already have a job. You're just bringing them together for meeting about high-risk cases.

Speaker 2:

Exactly yes, these are all players that already exist and would already be doing the work. Now we're just coordinating that work and how we can most effectively do it together.

Speaker 1:

About how many, would you say, exist across the country right now?

Speaker 2:

Well. So it sort of depends on what box you want to put it in right. Specific to DVHRT and the Institute or the model from the Geiger Institute, I think they estimate there's you know upwards of I think they have. I don right, there's multiple in the state of Colorado, there's multiple in the state of Montana, where I came from. I would say that it's underutilized, but I would say that the movement is certainly picking up and I think, you know, a big reason that these things haven't happened yet is, I think people are sort of just, I don't know, concerned by the red tape and one of the things I would say is that it's not as bad as it sounds. Again, these people already exist in the jobs they do. Someone just needs to raise their hand and say, hey, I want to schedule a meeting, and that's how we get where we go.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think that's an important call to action for this conversation and for domestic violence high risk teams in general, that it maybe is just a matter of saying it out loud to the right group of people, or, to your point, sending an email, and maybe your community can have a domestic violence high-risk team, or just at least talk about it. And is it necessary and how would it be helpful? And so to those points how does the DVHRT reduce intimate partner fatalities?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely so, one of the again, I can't take credit for this, but the Geiger Institute right, they'll say time and time again if it's predictable, it's preventable. And so what the high risk team is doing is, like I mentioned, we're starting with evidence-based risk assessment and, based on the data we're getting from that firearm ownership, prior strangulation, stalking, recent separation we're getting from that right firearm ownership, prior strangulation, stalking, you know, recent separation we're using those real, you know, research-based things that predict lethality to then help prevent it. And so, if it's predictable, it is preventable In 2022, in Colorado, the DV Fatality Review Board put out a you know their annual report and in that annual report it said 50% of the IPV homicide victims in that year had caught, 50% of them had contact with law enforcement. And so what that tells us is that the system is engaging with the folks who are ultimately killed. But what is the system doing for them?

Speaker 2:

Right, and as a individual law enforcement officer responding to a domestic violence call, I can do my part for sure, but I can't do a right the system doing for them?

Speaker 2:

Right, and as an individual law enforcement officer responding to a domestic violence call, I can do my part for sure, but I can't do right. I'm not the whole system, I'm not the DA's office, I'm not the DV service provider, I'm not pretrial services, and so what that tells us is that that's how we predict and prevent the homicide, is we all sit at the same table and action plan together, and so you know. Your question is how do we do it? Well, the how is again starts with relationships and then the what is the tangible action planning that the high-risk team does to achieve two things right Connect the survivor to services and hold the offender accountable. How do we hold the offender accountable? We do that through bolstering investigations, through making cogent bond arguments, through having these high risk lethality factors actually go as far as impacting what the DA will plea a case to. I mean, it touches so many layers of the system that that's how we use the predictability of the risk factors and then prevent the homicide.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So I want to back up for one second and just make sure all of our listeners understand what we're talking about when we say lethality and lethality assessment, because not everybody listening may be familiar with that term. So if you could explain what the lethality assessment is and its specific role in the high risk team, yeah, absolutely is.

Speaker 2:

And its specific role in the high risk team? Yeah, absolutely so, again, all credit due to Dr Jacqueline Campbell and Dr Jill Messing. And there are others, right, dr Neil Websdale, sort of the really the researchers and the brains behind lethality assessment. So they've spent decades validating and researching the predictive factors of future homicide, and so when we're talking about lethality assessment, there's specific questions and depending on the assessment tool you use, right, some are longer, some are shorter, but at the root of them they're all sort of getting at the same thing, right? So a lethality assessment is actually something delivered or administered on scene to a victim of intimate partner violence, and we're asking them questions to gauge lethality. So, right, a question on most lethality assessments is right does your partner own a gun? Another one would be, you know, has he or she ever strangled you? Is he or she, you know, constantly or violently jealous? And so these questions that are all based on research. So the good news is right for all of us in the field doing the work now, right, dr Campbell, dr Messing, dr Websdale, they've done all the work for us. Now all we have to do is be trauma informed when we ask these questions and we unlock the key to keeping this person alive. So lethality assessment right, there's all sorts.

Speaker 2:

There's various assessments out there. There's the LAP, which was created by the Maryland Network. There's the DALE, so the Danger Assessment for Law Enforcement, from the Geiger Institute. There's APRAISE, which is Arizona, and Dr WebbsDAIL's tool. There's ODERA, the Ontario Danger Assessment. I mean, there's so many out there and they do varying. They all go toward the same thing but there's slight nuances.

Speaker 2:

Really, what I would say to that, maria, is I don't care what tool a community uses, as long as they use one, and you know there are. I want to put a plug in here for DVRisk, which is under the Office of Alliance Against Women. They're sort of a clearinghouse for sites and agencies that want to get on board with using lethality assessment. There's so much out there that we can do specific to that, and so that's what lethality assessment is. What's? A site has chosen a lethality assessment and those lethality assessments then are a direct referral to the high risk team. And so you know, we'll use the example of an officer at two in the morning is going on a DV call. They do a lethality assessment and they scan it into this predetermined rate distribution group. When I get in at 7am the next day, I have the danger assessment, or whatever tool is being used, in front of me, and now the high risk team can get off and running if we need to. So really, the lethality assessment is the primary referral pathway to the high risk team.

Speaker 1:

Makes sense. When we first started talking, you mentioned Latinx and minorities, who experience domestic violence at a higher rate. Have you found that culturally sensitive services can be integrated with this high risk team and possibly improve outcomes for those victims?

Speaker 2:

100%. So every community is different. Right, everybody has a different cultural makeup and has different you know resources in their community. But I can say for our high risk team, we have a community resource center for the Latinx community and they are a part of our team. There's really no other way to do it. You know, if we understand that the Latinx community has a higher rate of domestic violence, victimization, then we ought to have someone on the team who can help us be culturally responsive and sort of break down that distrust.

Speaker 2:

That's honestly a lot of the time well-earned, unfortunately and so if we can break down those barriers right. And again it goes back to relationships, maria. So we have a great working relationship with that local service provider and because of that they trust us. We trust them. Now, when a survivor goes to them and says, hey, I feel stuck but I don't think I can go to the police or I don't think I can report this, now that relationship that already exists between us and that service provider is what actually helps that survivor feel comfortable reporting what's happening to them, and so I think we've got to do that. I don't think you can have an effective high-risk team if you don't have representation of those minority communities at the table.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's an excellent point. So how long has this particular high risk team been in play?

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So I came down to the state of Colorado about two and a half years ago from Montana and I started this effort about a year and a half ago, so about a year into being here, the agency that I work for.

Speaker 2:

I've had excellent support from the executive staff, the chief of police, to really create something new here, and so we've got about a year and a half of formation. Now I will say no high risk team comes together in a week, right. This was months of relationship building and MOU development and things of that nature. But in the year and a half we've been together, we've seen incredible outcomes, situations where, you know, previously a person would go to bond for strangulation and get a $400 personal recognizance bond. Now, when those cases come in, right, we're communicating with the DA's office, the DB service provider, and we're saying we're going to bonds now and making excellent arguments and when I say we, I mean the DA's office. They're making excellent bond arguments and we've seen those cases go from 400 PR personal cognizance to 10,000 cash only because we're speaking the same language as it relates to lethality and preventing future homicides.

Speaker 1:

That sounds like a lot of education was invested in all of the players for the high-risk team, including the prosecutors, maybe even judges.

Speaker 2:

Yes, so in my jurisdiction, the judges actually opened the door and let me come talk to them. I was able to present to their monthly meeting and talk about the high-risk team and how we can predict and prevent lethal and near lethal violence and what role the court plays in that. And, and you know, when you're using evidence-based lethality assessment, the court has an easier time getting on board with what we're doing. Right, because the court is an impartial entity. They have to weigh both sides and when they hear information, they prefer it to be evidence-based and, and you know, have have a long trail of research behind it. And so when I was able to bring that to the bench and say, hey, this isn't something that I, you know, wrote on a piece of paper with crayon, right, I didn't create this in the backyard, this is something that is well-researched, the courts are on board, the prosecutors are on board. It is a truly a community-wide effort.

Speaker 1:

So when you say the courts, which courts are you talking about?

Speaker 2:

So I'm talking about the criminal courts, so the courts in which folks would go to bond after getting criminally charged or ultimately where their trial will be held. Because I work for law enforcement, obviously you know I'm not involved in the civil court process, although I will say the high risk team does and can have a have a impact in the family court setting does and can have a impact in the family court setting you knew where I was going with this.

Speaker 2:

I did so ultimately right. The criminal case is a very small part of a survivor story, and we know that a lot of the barriers to reporting are what's going to happen next in family court, and so we're very well aware of and that's why I say, maria, that we're a survivor-centered team right.

Speaker 1:

If the facts don't support us moving forward with a criminal case, then we don't right, because our goal is just to keep people alive. Our goal is not to get as many prosecutions right. We're not looking for notches in family court. I would hope that the people who are at the table for the high-risk team in some of these cases that they can be helpful to the victim with what she's going to encounter in family court, which is a very different scenario.

Speaker 2:

It is very different and, admittedly, the domestic violence high-risk team is geared toward the criminal court. That being said, a lot of the disciplines at the table also are involved with family court, and so we do touch both systems.

Speaker 1:

Maybe an investment in education and family court wouldn't be a bad idea. I'm just saying.

Speaker 2:

You are very correct.

Speaker 1:

You're also the founder of Light the Way Consulting. What is the work you perform and who does it help?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I created that. I created Light the Way Consulting because I wanted to help at a higher level, and so when I say that, I mean right, there's agencies all over the country and jurisdictions who want to do the kind of work that we're doing, and they just don't know where to start. And so my mission is to help folks who, like me, right 10 years ago me who had these wild dreams of doing something like this and helping them right get their feet off the ground. When I was at the Conference on Crimes Against Women this summer in Dallas, I met so many people who were like hey, I love the concept, but how do I start?

Speaker 1:

And so I Were you a presenter at the conference.

Speaker 2:

I wasn't last year. I was there, I spoke a little bit with DV Risk, I was in the Geiger Institute's presentation and they sort of dimed me out, so to speak, as I was in the crowd because we'd worked together and I just I love to help and make an impact and so my hope with Light the Way Consulting is that anything as it relates to domestic violence right. If it's domestic violence 101, right. Do we need to get our cops more trauma informed? Do we need to, you know, help educate our prosecutors?

Speaker 1:

Do we need to do all those things?

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes, keep going and all those things, maria, are my goal. So there really isn't a one thing that I do. I will do anything. Agency, big or small, I'm here for it.

Speaker 1:

So you said this was one of your wildest dreams. So how did that become a dream for you?

Speaker 2:

So I as a young person really didn't know that I wanted to be in law enforcement, but I grew up. My first eight years of life were fairly tumultuous, you know. I saw my own mother experience domestic violence and I think that was the underpinning for what I would ultimately do. And I was in the academy as a 21 year old, you know, freshly graduated from college, and I sat through my first domestic violence presentation and the light bulb went on and I knew that for the rest of my career, my life really this is what I was going to dedicate myself to and I haven't stopped.

Speaker 1:

I've been teaching at police academies and around the country on the topics of domestic violence and really I can't imagine doing anything else. Able to take those childhood experiences and just put all of that energy into something positive that potentially saves lives and helps a lot of people. I'm really proud of you for that. Do you have a website where people can learn more about the Light, the Way Consulting and possibly get in touch with you?

Speaker 2:

So I don't currently have a website, but Light the Way Consulting does have its own LinkedIn page. I myself have a LinkedIn page and that's honestly where I get the bulk of the requests to come to these various places and teach. So send me a message on LinkedIn. It's just Light the Way Consulting, just as it's written, and I'd love to help and collaborate.

Speaker 1:

Perfect. Thank you so much for talking with me today and I hope I see you at the 2025 Conference on Crimes Against Women.

Speaker 2:

I will see you there, Maria. Thank you Thanks.

Speaker 1:

To learn more about domestic violence, high risk teams and the Geiger Institute, visit geigerinstituteorg. Genesis Women's Shelter and Support exists to give women in abusive situations a way out. We are committed to our mission of providing safety, shelter and support for women and children who have experienced domestic violence, and to raise awareness regarding its cause, prevalence and impact. Join us in creating a societal shift on how people think about domestic violence. You can learn more at genesisshelterorg and when you follow us on social media on Facebook and Instagram at GenesisShelterorg, and when you follow us on social media on Facebook and Instagram at Genesis Women's Shelter, and on X at Genesis Shelter. The Genesis Helpline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by call or text at 214-946-HELP 214-946-4357.