Specialized Felony Domestic Violence Courts: Lessons on Implementation and Impacts from the Kings County Experience
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The author(s) shown below used Federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Justice and prepared the following final report: Document Title: Specialized Felony Domestic Violence Courts: Lessons on Implementation and Impacts From the Kings County Experience Author(s): Lisa Newmark ; Mike Rempel ; Kelly Diffily ; Kamala M. Kane Document No.: 191861 Date Received: January 2002 Award Number: 97-WT-VX-0005 This report has not been published by the U.S. Department of Justice. To provide better customer service, NCJRS has made this Federally- funded grant final report available electronically in addition to traditional paper copies. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. PROPERTY OF National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Box 6000 _- Rockville. MD 20849-6000 Specialized Felony Domestic Violence Courts: Lessons on Implementation and Impacts from the Kings County Experience Report Submitted to the Center for Court Innovation and the National Institute of Justice ? Lisa Newmark Mike Rernpel Kelly Diffily Kamala Mallik Kane The Urban Institute 2100 M Street, NW Washington DC 20037 October 2001 This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................... IV ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. VI EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................. vi1 Key Elements of the Court Model ................................................................................................................... vii ... Development, Operation, and Evolution of the Court Model .......................................................................... VIII Policy and Operational Challenges ................................................................................................................. ix The Impact of the FOVC Model on Early Cases .. ........................................................................ THE KINGS COUNTY FELONY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COURT MODEL ......................................... 1 A Network of Criminal Justice and Social Service Partner Agencies ................................................................ 1 Partner Agency Profile: Kings County Felony Domestic Violence Court ................................................................... 2 Partner Agency Profile: The Center for Court Innovation ......................................................................................... 3 Partner Agency Profile: Kings County District Attorney's Office Domestic Violence Bureau and Counseling Services Unit ................................................... 4 Partner Agency Profile: Safe Horizon's Brooklyn Felony Domestic Violence Unit ..................................................... 6 Partner Agency Profile: Department of Probation .................................................................................................... 7 Partner Agency Profile: New York Center for Neuropsychology and Forensic Behavioral Science (New York Forensics) ............................................................ 8 Partner Agency Profile: Safe Horizon's Alternatives to Violence ............................................................................... 9 Partner Agency Profile: Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime ........................................................................... 10 The Specialized Caseload ............................................................................................................................ 11 Trained and Dedicated Personnel ................................................................................................................. 12 The Judges' Role .......................................................................................................................................................... 12 Vertical Processing and Standard Practices .................................................................................................. 14 Enhanced Case information Flow .................................................................................................................. 14 Figure 1. Information Flow among Court and Partner Agencies ............................................................................ 15 The Technology Application ........................................................................................................................................... 15 Defendant Monitoring and Accountability ..................................................................................................... 18 Victim Advocacy and Services .................. ................................. ............................................................ 19 Recognition for the Court ......................................................................................................... GERMINATION. IMPLEMENTATION. AND EVOLUTION OF THE COURT MODEL ........................ 22 Roots of the Felony Domestic Violence Court Model ..................................................................................... 22 Local Influences in the Development of the Model ......................................................................................................... 23 Context in Which the Model Began Implementation...................................................................................... 25 How Implementation of the Model Changed Case Processing ....................................................................... 25 Figure 2 . Timeline of Key Events Prior to the Court's Opening .......................................................................... 26 Contextual Changes Since the Model Was Implemented ............................................................................... 27 Figure 3 . Processing of Felony Domestic Violence Cases in Brooklyn Before the Court's Opening ...................... 28 Figure 4 . Processing of Felony Domestic Violence Cases in Brooklyn Since the Court's Opening ........................ 29 Caseload Changes and Case Processing Trends ............ .................................................. 30 Figure 5 . Timeline of Key Events Since the Court's Opening.......................................................................... 31 Caseload and Case Processing Statistics ............................................................................................................... 33 Figure 8 . Changes in FDVC's Caseload ...................................................................................................... 34 Figure 9 Percent of Open Domestic Violence Cases which Had Felony Order of Protection Violation as Top Indictment Charge ................................................... 34 Figure 10 Trends in Felony Arrests in Kings County ............................................................................... 35 I This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Figure 11. Percent of Open Domestic Violence Cases Older than 180 Days .................................................. 36 Figure 12. Trends in Types of Disposition ................................................................................................. 37 Figure 13. Trends in Sentencing on Guilty Pleas and Convictions .................................................................... 38 The Court's Response to Caseload Changes ................................................... .................................... 38 Expansions of the Court Model and Plans for the Future ............................................................................... 39 POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES ........................................................................ 41 Demands on the Court's Resources .............................................................................................................. 41 The Need to Sustain the Director Role .................................................................................. Policy and Resource Issues Facing the District Attorney's Office and Safe Horizon ....................................... 42 Gaps in Defendant Services ......................................................................................................................... 43 Concerns From the Defense Bar ................................................................................................................... 43 THE IMPACT OF THE FDVC MODEL ON CASE PROCESSING AND OUTCOMES IN EARLY CASES (1997) ........................................................................................ 45 The Samples .......... .................................................................................................................................