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NEW!!!
View Maryland's first statewide report on domestic violence
fatality review!
Taking a Closer Look: 2009
Domestic Violence Fatality Statewide Report
a publication of the Maryland Network Against
Domestic Violence
ABOUT FATALITY REVIEW
Purpose
The primary purpose of domestic violence fatality review is
to review deaths and near-fatalities in which intimate
partner domestic violence has played a role, in a manner
that makes real the victim's lived experience, with the
ultimate intent of preventing such deaths and
near-fatalities. The review process is aimed at creating a
climate in which institutions and individuals will commit
themselves to an enhanced response to domestic violence as a
social problem and a crime, informed by the experiences of
victims and survivors. Fatality reviews should (1) promote
a coordinated community response among agencies that provide
services related to domestic violence, (2) identify gaps in
service and develop an understanding of the causes that
result in deaths related to domestic violence, and (3)
recommend changes, plans, and actions to improve
coordination related to domestic violence among member
agencies, the response to domestic violence by individual
member agencies, and state and local laws, policies, and
practices.
ORGANIZING A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FATALITY REVIEW TEAM IN
MARYLAND
How does a county organize a
domestic violence fatality review team?
The law provides that the
state’s attorney, head of the primary law enforcement
agency, or the head of the local domestic violence program
has the authority to organize a fatality review team. The
approach of the MNADV has been that all three should be in
agreement and should proceed together.
How does a fatality review team operate?
Once organized, the team develops an
operational protocol. The team uses a model protocol as a
guide. This model protocol is based on (1) HB 741 (the
enabling legislation), (2) best practices of the experiences
of other states in establishing review teams and protocols;
(3) the experiences of the protocol development processes in
Anne Arundel and Calvert Counties, under the coordination of
the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, between
January 2004 and March 2005; (4) decisions reached by the
Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team Ad Hoc Committee
formed by the MNADV to offer implementation assistance to
jurisdictions; (5) the incorporation of administrative
processes as developed by the MNADV, adopted by one or both
of the two existing review teams, and/or approved by the Ad
Hoc Committee; and (6) the Maryland Child Fatality Review
Guidelines for Local Teams.
While the
model protocol addresses administrative processes, teams
should remember that the point of a review is to “humanize”
the victim’s life and death so that the best possible
findings and recommendations will result. The protocol, and
all the administrative and other processes, should work
toward that end.
Who makes
up a domestic violence fatality review team?
A team is made up of representatives from various agencies
in a county, including domestic violence agencies, the
state's attorney's office, law enforcement, hospitals, the
health department, department of social services, parole and
probation, as well as other knowledgeable individuals,
including survivors of domestic violence.
How does the
team identify deaths to review?
Teams may review any fatality, whether a homicide or
suicide, in which a domestic violence victim, perpetrator,
or third parties are killed, or any near-fatality, that has
intimate partner domestic violence as an involved factor.
Teams identify cases usually through information from law
enforcement agencies, the state's attorney's office, or
other available resources.
What happens to
information shared with the team?
The
legislation enables members of local teams to share
confidential information with their teams without liability
or fear that it will end up in court or in the newspaper.
All members of a team must keep confidential the information
shared with the team about particular cases, unless the
information is already public, or team members are legally
or ethically required to report it (such as child abuse.)
Who can attend meetings?
Because
of the confidential nature of the information being
discussed, only team members and individuals invited to
present information about a particular case, who have signed
confidentiality agreements, may participate. Meetings in
which no cases are discussed may be open to the public.
How does the team publicize its
findings and make changes happen?
Representatives take recommendations concerning their
agencies back to their agency heads. The team publishes an
annual report which does not reveal confidential case
information, but lists the recommendations the team has
agreed upon, concerning agency responsiveness, agency policy
and procedures, services, intervention strategies,
legislation and regulations, community education and
training. The report should also include the status of
prior recommendations.
SUMMARY OF LAW: "LOCAL DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE FATALITY REVIEW TEAMS"
HB 741,
“Local Domestic Violence
Fatality Review Teams,” was signed into law on
April 26, 2005, effective July 1, 2005. The legislation
enables counties to establish domestic violence fatality
review teams under Title 4, Subtitle 7, entitled “Local
Domestic Violence Fatality Review Teams,” of the Family Law
Article.
The MNADV put legislation forward
primarily to respond to the experiences of the Anne Arundel
and Calvert County teams. They found it difficult to
operate as well as they would like without protections in
the areas of confidentiality and liability. Accordingly, a
bill was fashioned, modeled after the existing child
fatality review statute, to provide for protections that
would allow members of a team to share otherwise
confidential information within the setting of a team
review, require team members to honor the confidential
nature of team reviews, and protect members from liability
and from being subpoenaed to testify in civil and criminal
cases about information provided during the course of team
reviews.
Title 4,
Subtitle 7, of the Family Law Article, section by
section, contains the following provisions, with comments.
FL § 4-701: Definitions.
The definition of “domestic violence,” for purposes of
fatality review, identifies cases where the involved parties
were or had been “intimate” partners. Therefore, the
definition does not include such family relationships as
father-son, brother-brother, etc.
FL § 4-702:
Authorization.
This section authorizes the establishment of a
team and designates which agency heads have the authority to
organize a team.
FL § 4-703:
Membership.
This section sets out the “persons,
organizations, agencies, and areas of expertise” from which
membership of the team shall be drawn, and provides for the
designation of representatives by member agencies and
organizations and the election of a chairperson.
The section states that members “shall
be drawn” from a specifically named list, but provides that
the members shall be drawn “as available.” We consider this
latter phrase to be subject to broad interpretation for
agencies or organizations which do not believe they can
participate.
The section also provides for the
appointment of “any other person necessary to the work of
the team, recommended by the local team.”
FL § 4-704:
Purpose (A), Method of Operation (B), and Scope of Review
(C).
The purpose portion of this section sets forth
how the team intends to prevent domestic violence deaths.
The method of operation portion of the
section provides for the establishment of a protocol, the
review of “fatalities and cases of serious physical injury
related to domestic violence that have occurred in the
county,” meeting as a team to review cases, and preparing
reports “that include recommendations.” This section
authorizes the review not only of deaths related to domestic
violence but also to what might be termed “near fatalities,”
as specified by the term “cases of serious physical
injury.” This latter term is taken specifically from CR §
3-201 related to first degree assault which provides that it
is a physical injury that “creates a substantial risk of
death; or causes permanent or serious disfigurement; loss of
the function of any bodily member or organ; or impairment of
the function of any bodily member or organ.” The term
“serious physical injury” is the legal term that most
closely identifies the term that Anne Arundel and Calvert
used in their protocols–“near fatality.”
Additionally, the section provides for
the review of any fatality “related to domestic violence.”
This language includes the deaths of third parties. For
example, during a fight between a husband and wife, their
child is killed. That would be considered a fatality
“related to domestic violence.”
The scope of review portion designates
which fatalities a team may review and that the team “shall
determine the number and types of cases the team will
review.” This latter provision allows for a team not to
have to review every domestic violence fatality that may
have occurred, particularly if there is good cause not to do
so, such as the filing of a civil suit arising from the
criminal case.
FL § 4-705:
Access to Information and Records.
This section provides for mandatory access to
information and records, on request of the chair and as
necessary to carry out the local team’s purpose and duties,”
by a provider of medical care, by state or local government
agencies, and by a social services agency “that provided
services to the person or the person’s family.” The law
does not give subpoena powers to the chair and does not
provide a specific compliance mechanism.
FL § 4-706:
Meetings.
This section provides that meetings “shall be
closed to the public...when the local team is discussing
individual cases;” and that information that identifies a
deceased person, a family member, or perpetrator, or
regarding the involvement of an agency, organization or
person with a deceased person “may not be disclosed during a
public meeting.” Violation of the section is a misdemeanor
punishable by fine or imprisonment.
FL § 4-707: Confidentiality.
This section provides that all information and
records acquired by the team is confidential and free from
disclosure, and provides that members “may not be questioned
in any civil or criminal proceeding regarding information
presented in or opinions formed as a result of a meeting.”
CJ §
5-637.1: Liability.
This section in the Courts and Judicial
Proceedings Article provides that any member who acts in
good faith within the scope of the team’s jurisdiction “is
not civilly liable for any action as a member of the (team)
or for giving information to, participating in, or
contributing to the function of the (team).”
STATUS OF FATALITY REVIEW IN MARYLAND
As of April 2010, 21 counties
(including Baltimore City) have organized domestic violence
fatality review teams in Maryland. Of those teams:
Reviewing
cases
Finalizing
protocols
Preparing for first team
meeting Not
participating
RESOURCES
2009
ANNUAL REPORTS
Allegany County
Anne Arundel County
Baltimore City
Calvert County
Cecil County
Frederick County
PUBLICATIONS
Books:
Adams, D. Why do they kill?
Men who murder their intimate partners. Nashville, TN.
Vanderbilt University Press. 2007.
Websdale, N. Understanding Domestic Homicide.
Northeastern University Press. Boston, MA. 1999.
Websdale, N. Familicidal Hearts. Oxford University
Press. New York, NY. 2010.
Articles:
Editorial, “Promoting Patient
Safety by Preventing Medical Error,” Journal of the American
Medical Association, October 28, 1998, Vol 280, Number 16:
1444-1447.
Gawande, Atul. 1999. “When Doctors Make Mistakes,” The New
Yorker, Feb 1, 1999.
Leape, L.L. “Error in Medicine.” Journal of the American
Medical Association, 1994, 272: 1851-1857.
Websdale, N. “Reviewing Domestic Violence Deaths.” NIJ
Special Research Bulletin on Intimate Partner Homicide,
2003.
Websdale, N., Town, M., and Johnson, B. "Domestic Violence
Fatality Reviews: From a culture of blame to a culture of
safety." Juvenile and Family Court Journal, May 1999: 61-74.
NEWSLETTERS
New!
Summer 2011
Maryland Fatality Review Newsletter
Spring 2010
Maryland Fatality Review Newsletter
Summer/Fall 2008 Maryland Fatality Review Newsletter
Winter/Spring 2008 Maryland Fatality Review Newsletter
June 2007 Maryland Fatality Review Newsletter
November 2006 Maryland Fatality Review Newsletter
July 2006 Maryland Fatality Review Newsletter
March 2006 Maryland Fatality Review Newsletter
MODEL FORMS
Baltimore City
Checklist
Baltimore
City Family Interview
Baltimore City Health Commissioners Letter
Baltimore City Letter to Interviewees Template
Baltimore City Records Request Letter
Baltimore
City Timeline Model
Baltimore County Case Screening Summary
Baltimore County Interview Questionnaire
Baltimore County
Timeline
Charles County Minutes-Blank Format
Charles County Procedure for DVFRT Guest
Frederick
County Case Review Form
Harford County
Checklist
OTHER
Spring 2010 National Domestic Violence Fatality Review
Initiative (NDVFRI) Fatality Review Bulletin
For more information please see the website of the National Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative, www.ndvfri.org.
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