MNADV Lethality Assessment Project:
Learning to Read the Danger Signs
Newspaper Articles about
Lethality Assessment
BALTIMORE SUN, Wednesday, November 14, 2007, "Police Apply Test
of Deadly Risk: Program Assesses Danger in Cases of Domestic
Violence"
WASHINGTON POST, Tuesday, October 2, 2007, "Police Tool Assesses
Domestic Abuse Lethality"
"Reading the Signs"
Newsletters
Most recent:
Maryland Lethality Assessment Newsletter #5,
Fall 2007/Winter 2008
Maryland Lethality Assessment Newsletter #4, Spring 2007
Maryland Lethality Assessment Newsletter #3, Fall 2006
Maryland Lethality Assessment Newsletter #2, Summer 2006
Maryland Lethality Assessment Newsletter #1, Winter 2006
 Background
The Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence
has developed the Maryland Domestic Violence
Lethality Screen and Protocol for First Responders, which offers practical methods of working with victims to assess and act upon the danger they may face. The MNADV established a statewide Lethality Assessment Committee in Fall 2003, composed of law enforcement officers, a prosecutor, an investigator, a parole and probation agent, domestic violence advocates, and researchers who have done significant work in the area of domestic violence. The committee developed a short screen which is an application of the research of Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell of The Johns Hopkins University, who created the nationally respected domestic violence Danger Assessment, and is a member of the MNADV team. The accompanying protocol developed by the committee is the first of its kind, providing guidance on what to do when someone is assessed to be in high danger.
The Lethality Screen: Determining who is likely to be in high danger
Balancing the needs of victims in dangerous situations with demands on law enforcement, the committee developed an eleven-question "Lethality Screen for First Responders." The Screen is a user-friendly, straightforward instrument that predicts danger and lethality to a high degree.
The Protocol: What to do when someone is likely to be in serious danger
The 4% factor. Only 4% of intimate partner murder victims ever used domestic violence services. The Lethality Assessment Committee developed a protocol featuring a proactive approach that encourages victims in high danger to seek domestic violence program services-called a Protocol Referral.
The phone call. In the key step of the Protocol Referral, a law enforcement officer who identifies a victim likely to be in "high danger" makes a phone call from the scene to a domestic violence hotline counselor. Currently, officers generally refer victims to a hotline. In this more proactive approach, when the protocol is triggered, the officer tells the victim that she/he is in danger and that in situations similar to the victim's, people have been killed. The officer says he/she is going to call the domestic violence hotline counselor, and would like the victim to talk to her/him. If the victim declines, the officer makes the phone call to seek advice, and encourages the victim again to speak with the counselor.
The officer's response. Depending on whether the victim chooses to speak with the hotline counselor, the officer proceeds with one of two responses to address the immediate safety of the victim.
Response #1: When the victim chooses not to speak with the hotline counselor. The officer reviews the factors that tend to predict homicide so the victim can be on the lookout for them, encourages the victim to contact the domestic violence program, provides the victim with police contact information, and may follow other protocol measures designed to address the victim's safety.
Response #2: When the victim chooses to speak with the hotline counselor. The officer responds to the outcome of the telephone conversation between the victim and the counselor, and the officer or law enforcement agency may become involved in coordinated safety planning with the victim and the counselor.
Domestic violence program protocols: Danger Assessment and enhanced services. Each domestic violence program will develop its own internal protocol to address the issues of all victims considered to be in high danger. If such a victim seeks services from a domestic violence program, in addition to normal intake procedures, a program counselor will conduct Dr. Campbell's Danger Assessment, and the program will provide a range of enhanced services that consider the victim's assessed situation.
Implementing Lethality Assessment
The screen and protocol were field tested in 2004 in Anne Arundel County, Harford County and Frederick. During 2005-2006 they be adopted in additional jurisdictions: Washington County, Garrett County, Calvert County, Kent County, Cecil County, Queen Anne's County, Cambridge and Easton. The MNADV offers training and technical assistance for domestic violence programs and law enforcement agencies who are working together on the project. The nature of the protocol requires close collaboration between law enforcement and domestic violence programs, and localities which have decided to adopt lethality assessment are to be highly commended.
For more information about the project email info@mnadv.org.
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