For the past year, under the direction of Chief Murray, Lieutenant Chad Janis has organized a group of core partners, including Yakima YWCA, Comprehensive Healthcare, Yakima School District, Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and Yakima County Probation to work with city departments on a Coordinated Community Response Team for Domestic Violence (DVCCRT).  This team has worked to improve the response to incidents of domestic violence that occur within the City of Yakima. The DVCCRT has implemented the following new programs and procedures during the past year: 

• Daily team conversations to discuss fresh incidents of domestic violence
• Handle with Care to support school age youth
• Expedited intimate partner-DV warrants
• 24-Hour YWCA access line for emergent at-risk victims
• Three-day police follow up
• Perpetrator intervention
• Enhanced probation response

The DVCCRT now wishes to formalize their relationship, explain roles, list shared goals, and agree to confidentiality constraints.  The attached Agreement was drafted with input from all team members and has already been signed by the other participating agencies.  The Agreement will promote better understanding among the DVCCRT and create a protected environment for the comfortable and expanded sharing of information to the accomplish the goal of improving the response to domestic violence crime and increasing the health and safety of victims and their children.