Victim Confidentiality within a Collaborative Response to Domestic Violence: Lessons Learned

The foundation for this session will be an overview of one group’s experiences creating a collaborative response to high-risk domestic violence cases. The facilitators will identify the challenges to implementing such collaborative responses, including the inherent conflicts involved in developing procedures that preserve victim confidentiality, assure the victim easy access to the collaborative response, and provide an appropriate level of information to project partners. With this foundation, participants will be asked to discuss the issue of victim confidentiality within collaborative projects that include law enforcement and victim advocacy. This session is geared toward advocates and criminal justice professionals with basic knowledge of crime victims’ rights.

Joslyn Baker was born in the sunny Bay Area of Northern California and has lived in the northwest for the past 16 years. After receiving her B.A. in Psychology from Sacramento State University she went on to receive a M.A. in Special Education from the University of the Pacific at Stockton. Joslyn is the proud parent of a 13 year-old son and 21 year-old daughter. She lives with her son and his wife in Vancouver, WA. For the past 15 years she has worked for Multnomah County in a variety of jobs. The common thread weaving her work together through the years is a compassion for healthy families and communities where people are safe and treated with dignity and respect. Currently, Joslyn is the Multnomah County DVERT Project Coordinator. Although domestic violence can be a stressful field, she enjoys the challenges and rewards that come with leading this coordinated community response.

Sgt. Margaret Bahnson has worked in law enforcement for 15 years with the Portland Police Bureau. She spent six years working in uniform patrol with several different districts in the East Precinct. As a patrol officer, Sgt. Bahnson developed crisis management skills in her work with numerous types of people and situations. She has also had the opportunity to work with community members on long term community problems. Sgt. Bahnson worked as a Domestic Violence Reduction Unit (DVRU) plain clothes investigator for four years. The emphasis in this specialty unit was follow-up investigations on domestic violence incidents to enhance prosecution of offenders. There was also a significant collaboration with advocates to assist the victims in these cases. Margaret was promoted to Sergeant and worked patrol supervising uniform officers at the Southeast Precinct for another four years. Most recently, Sgt. Bahnson has been supervising the DVERT officers, the Vulnerable Adults/Elder Crimes Unit and WomenStrength and GirlStrength self defense programs provided by the Portland Police Bureau.

Patrick W. Henry is a Senior Assistant County Attorney with the Multnomah County Attorney’s Office. He serves as an advisory attorney to the County Human Services Department and represents the department in litigation in administrative proceedings and in state and federal courts. Prior to joining the County Attorney’s Office, Mr. Henry served as an associate attorney with Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt from 1993 to 1999. After obtaining his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia in 1984, Mr. Henry attended the University of Notre Dame School of Law from 1990 to 1993 where he was a Thomas J. White Scholar and served as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy.

Robin Selig graduated from Tufts University with a B.A. in 1976 and earned her J.D. at the University of Oregon Law School in 1981. Since May 2004, she has been the family law Support Unit Attorney at the Oregon Law Center in Portland, Oregon. From 1984 until 2004, Ms. Selig was a staff attorney and then a supervising attorney at Legal Aid Services of Oregon’s Multnomah County office for more than twenty years. Ms. Selig is a member of the State Family Law Advisory Committee, the Advisory Board of the Oregon Domestic and Sexual Violence Services Fund and the Victim Rights Awareness Subcommittee of the Oregon Department of Justice’s Victim Rights Compliance Project. Ms. Selig chaired the Multnomah County Family Violence Coordinating Council in 2003. Ms. Selig also helped found Multnomah CourtCare, a drop in childcare center at the Multnomah County Courthouse in 2001.

Lauren Robertson is the Volunteer and Response Advocacy Program Coordinator at Raphael House of Portland. Prior to this position she worked as the Advocacy Program Manager for the Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team (DVERT) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Lauren has also had experience serving as a systems based advocate for victims of domestic violence within the Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Colorado. She has presented on local and national levels on various domestic violence related topics. Lauren received her Bachelor’s Degree from Lake Forest College in American Studies and a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Colorado.

This conference is supported by Grant No. 2008-DD-BX-K001 awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.