Are 11 questions saving lives? NC, domestic violence officials say yes.
Has your partner threatened you with a weapon?
Did he or she threaten to kill you? Do you think they might try to kill you?
Those are among 11 questions some North Carolina law enforcement agencies are asking to save lives.
If someone answers yes to one of the questions above they are deemed at high risk and connected with a local domestic violence service provider.
The program, developed by Maryland researchers, brings together law enforcement and domestic violence service providers to educate victims on their risks, options and the help available to them.
More than 35% of North Carolina women and 30% of men experience intimate partner violence, sexual violence or stalking in their life time, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
More than 1,029 people have been killed in domestic-violence related homicides in North Carolina since 2011, according to an N.C. Department of Public Safety report.
In 2019, Attorney General Josh Stein announced a statewide initiative to to provide training on the assessment. At the time, agencies in Alamance, Buncombe, Davidson, Durham, Mecklenburg and Wake counties were implementing it.
Today the program has been implemented nationwide by 872 law enforcement programs in 39 states, according to the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence.
“Research shows that these serves are life-saving and effective,” the agency states in a 2018 homicide prevention report.
The assessment program is based on research from Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell at Johns Hopkins University who identified risk factors for women at high risk of being killed by their partner.
Those factors include an intimate partner:
▪ Increasing the severity and frequency of violence over the past six months.
▪ Threatening to kill or harm victim or their children.
▪ Possessing or having access to a gun.
▪ Strangling their partner.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
How the risk assessment works
When law enforcement officers respond to domestic violence incidents, they ask 11 questions.
If victims answer yes to certain questions, or an officer has concerns, they are considered high-risk and connected to to a domestic violence service provider.
Campbell’s studies found nearly half of female victims were not able to recognize their risk of being killed by their partner, according to the Maryland network. Research shows very few reach out for help.
The News & Observer asked the Department of Justice and others for a copy of the survey, but was told their agreement with the network, which provides training and technical support for the program, prevents them from distributing it.
Jasmine McGhee, special deputy attorney general and director of public protection at the N.C. Department of Justice, said the network was concerned about the assessment being used without the proper training and resources.
North Carolina programs
Agencies in eight North Carolina counties are now using the assessment.
Training for new jurisdictions slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic and is on hold as officials await an update to the assessment in 2022, McGhee said. The update is expected to upgrade strangulation as a high-risk factor, she said.
About a dozen jurisdictions have asked about the training, including Orange County which is ready to move forward as soon as it is available, McGhee said.
Meanwhile, the department has created a statewide working group to share challenges and successes.
Jurisdictions using the assessment have seen stronger relationships and information sharing between law enforcement and domestic violence service providers.
Research shows it takes an average of seven domestic violence incidents before a victim may leave, McGhee said.
“One of the things this assessment allows us to do is try to interrupt that cycle and try to get people to services and give them an opportunity to get a safety plan in place sooner,” McGhee said.
“The sooner that we can get that in place the more likely that there is a positive outcome in these circumstances,” she said.
Wake County services
Ryan Kelly, associate director of Victim Services at InterAct in Wake County, said the lethality assessment was implemented in 2013 after Wake had one of the highest rates of domestic violence homicides in the state.
Initial law enforcement participants included the Raleigh Police Department, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office and the town of Cary, but now the number is up to eight agencies in the county, along with the WakeMed emergency room departments.
“Every time we onboard a new law enforcement entity, we see an increase in the number of people accessing our services,” she said.
Last year, InterAct and its partners did 1,366 screenings, with 71% of those screened deemed to be at high risk of lethality or an average of three people per day, according to information provided by the agency.
Officials in Wake have said victims feel less isolated and become more aware of services, and that risk factors lessen the longer victims work with the agency, Kelly said.
And it’s saving lives, she said, with those deemed high risk immediately approved for shelter services.
“We are able to get them and their children a safe place to go,” she said. “That creation of immediate safety through the shelter program then kind of opens up doors for us being able to establish stability.”
To get more information about the lethality assessment program, organizations may contact the Department of Justice at publicprotection@ncdoj.gov.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, resources can be found through local North Carolina agencies or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 11:01 AM with the headline "Are 11 questions saving lives? NC, domestic violence officials say yes.."
