November 2005

St. Paul Caucus Victory: City of St. Paul Domestic Violence Audit receives funding

Three years ago, ISAIAH’S Domestic Violence Task Force began to research St. Paul’s response to domestic violence.  We interviewed battered women’s advocates, survivors of domestic violence and practitioners in the justice system. We found that although many interventions were effective, significant gaps in the system often failed to keep victims safe or hold offenders accountable.

Our efforts were built on an alliance with the St. Paul Police Department, the St. Paul Intervention Project and the City of St. Paul.  Together we determined that through the use of a Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit, the system itself could examine its procedures, protocols and practices to uncover ways to close the gaps, ensure victim safety and increase offender accountability. After a lot of hard work, the partners submitted a grant application to the federal Violence Against Women office.  A few weeks ago we were notified that the grant was approved: $386,000 for two years!!!

We are especially delighted because our grant, unlike the Violence Against Women Act grants to the forty or fifty other communities which have done an audit, contains a small amount of money for a sustainability committee!  ISAIAH believes strongly that after the Audit is completed and the recommendations made, there must be an ongoing committee, including community members, whose job it is to ensure that the Audit recommendations continue to be implemented, adjusted, and changed as circumstances dictate.

Update:  December, 2006

During the last week of November 2006, the audit was carried out by an interagency team with representatives from all the criminal justice intervenors who respond and community members, including a member of the ISAIAH Domestic Violence task force.  The preliminary findings were presented mid-December and the recommendations are being shaped.  The response from all agencies was very positive; they are anxious and open to improving the system so that victims and children are kept safe and offenders are held accountable.

Domestic Violence “Awards”

ISAIAH leaders in St. Paul honored their partners in receiving federal funding for the City of St. Paul to conduct a Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit.  The St. Paul Police Department, the St. Paul Intervention Project and ISAIAH partnered to garner support from all the systems in St. Paul for conducting the audit.

Lisa Amman, co-chair of the ISAIAH Domestic Violence Task Force presented awards to Officer David Stokes from the Domestic Violence Unit at the St. Paul Police Department and Shelly Johnson Cline the director of St. Paul Intervention Project.  The awards were given to celebrate their work in addressing domestic violence and to celebrate the powerful partnership between advocates, responders and the faith community in moving to eradicate domestic violence from our city.