Mayor Rawlings-Blake Announces Expansion of Domestic Violence Reduction Initiative
Today, Mayor Rawlings-Blake announced Board of Estimates approval of a contract with House of Ruth Maryland to expand Baltimore’s Lethality Assessment pilot project citywide. The project, which is a component of the City’s Domestic Violence Reduction Initiative, is a collaboration between the Mayor’s Office on Criminal Justice, the House of Ruth Maryland, and the Baltimore Police Department. It is funded through a $750,000 grant awarded from the Office on Violence Against Women under the Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protective Orders (GTEAP) program.
“With a comprehensive partnership between the Baltimore Police Department, the House of Ruth Maryland, and State and community partners, we are expanding our efforts to put an end to domestic violence in Baltimore,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake. “The funding allows the Department’s Family Crimes Unit to protect families by getting victims the shelter, safety, and resources they need sooner.”
The Lethality Assessment project, which is currently implemented in three of nine police districts, represents a critical strategy for connecting domestic violence victims to services. The project has proven extremely successful to date. As of January 1, police in the Northeast, Northern, and Southern Districts have completed over 4,700 lethality assessments. The House of Ruth has successfully made contact with more than 50% of the individuals represented by each lethality assessment and connected 703 (30.6%) to services.
“The House of Ruth Maryland is excited by this opportunity to work with the Baltimore Police Department and the City of Baltimore to expand the Lethality Assessment program citywide,” said Dorothy Lennig, Esq., Director of the Legal Clinic at House of Ruth Maryland. “Through this program, the House of Ruth has been able to assist individual domestic violence victims, while also identifying and addressing the systemic issues that allow domestic violence to continue.”
Project partners will expand the Lethality Assessment project citywide by rolling out to three additional police districts each year, aiming to assess all of Baltimore’s domestic violence victims for risk of lethality and offer services through House of Ruth Maryland. A Spanish language version of the Lethality Assessment will also be created and implemented.
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