The Hennepin County Domestic Fatality Review Team has released a new report "One Life Lost as a Result of Domestic Violence is One Too Many." The fatality review team is a collaboration of private, public and nonprofit organizations operating in Hennepin County, Minnesota. The fatality review team analyzes domestic fatality cases paying particular attention to the contacts the individuals had with government and social service systems in order to identify "missed opportunities" and "opportunities for intervention" in the response to domestic violence. The team strives to improve systems' response to domestic violence and in so doing eliminate opportunities for future homicides. The Report identifies twelve categories of case observations and related opportunities for intervention. The categories include:
- "Gone on arrival" cases,
- Dual arrests,
- Conditions for probation,
- Data practices,
- Responding to and documenting the severity of a domestic assault,
- Children in the child protection system,
- Children in schools,
- Orders for protection,
- Medical professionals,
- Treatment and mental health issues,
- Implications of domestic violence in the workplace, and
- Cultural issues
"The goal is to discover factors that will prompt improved identification, intervention and prevention efforts in similar cases. It's important to emphasize that the purpose is not to place blame for the death, but rather to actively improve all systems that serve persons involved with domestic abuse."
Compiled from: "One Life Lost as a Result of Domestic Violence is One Too Many."