The Second Responders Program: A Coordinated Police and Social Service Response to Domestic Violence

In the past decade, multiagency approaches to problem solving in the criminal justice system have moved into the foreground. Nowhere has an integrative approach been more fully recognized and advanced than in issues relating to violence against women. Scholars and practitioners have stressed that successful approaches against domestic violence should be multidisciplinary and coordinated across agencies (e.g., see Crowell and Burgess, 1996; Hart 1995; Pence, 1983; Pence and Shepard, 1999; Witwer and Crawford, 1995). The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–322) required “the coming together of various professions and perspectives to forge partnerships in responding to violence against women in all its forms” (Travis, 1996). As interest in coordinated approaches to domestic violence continues to increase, new interagency programs are developing across the United States. It is important to learn how such programs operate and to evaluate their effectiveness to in order develop successful models that may be adapted in multiple jurisdictions.