Oneida County Sheriff, YWCA launch multi-partner domestic violence team

Multiple agencies are teaming up in Oneida County to address domestic violence cases in a new way.

Members of the YWCA Mohawk Valley, Oneida County Sheriff's Office and other partners introduced the Oneida County Domestic Violence High Risk Assessment Team at a news conference Tuesday outside the Oneida County jail.

"This a huge step for our county," Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol said.

The group, which started in June, meets twice a month to discuss and monitor domestic violence cases deemed high risk. It was based on a model from the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, which focuses on four elements: risk assessment, a multi-disciplinary team, ongoing monitoring, and victims' services. It was an effort six years in the making, local YWCA CEO Dianne Stancato said.

"There is real theory and real data behind this work," she said.

Current members include:

Efforts start with law enforcement. Around 20 sheriff's deputies and Utica and Rome police officers were trained this spring to ask victims of domestic violence a series of 11 questions, such as about previous abuse. If they say yes to at least seven of these questions, the case is deemed high risk and will be monitored by the DVHRT; an officer can determine if a case is high risk even if it doesn't meet the criteria.

Of the over 500 cases assessed so far, 72 have been deemed high risk, and four arrests have been made in following up on these cases, Stancato said.

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Part of the benefit is the increased communications between the joint agencies, Alyssa Bellardini, DVHRT coordinator and Assistant Director of Crisis Services for the YWCA, said. Warrants units at law enforcement agencies might be able to follow up on arrests faster, or victims may be more readily able to access advocates at the YWCA.

"I think as a team we're able to move more quickly," Bellardini said.

Officers also were trained on interacting with victims and recognizing signs of abuse such as strangulation, which Bellardini said signs of can sometimes not show up for months.

The training was funded by a donation from Kristin's Fund, an organization founded in honor of Kristin Longo, a Utica woman and mother of four who was killed by her police officer husband in 2009. Longo's sister and organization co-founder Gina Pearce noted it was especially significant Tuesday, the 12-year anniversary of her sister's death.

"I'm so honored and grateful that we get to honor Kristin's legacy," she said.

H. Rose Schneider is the public safety reporter for the Observer-Dispatch. Email Rose at hschneider@gannett.com.

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