Get Involved With Your Local CCR Team

Without a Coordinated Community Response, victims of domestic violence are often not connected with the services and assistance that they need. It is the work of CCR's that has the potential to ensure a focus on improving safety for battered women and their children, while holding abusers accountable for their actions, and work toward the social change that will end domestic violence. Check the CCR directory [1] to find the contact for the multidisciplinary team in your county.

Take the Initiative!

• Pursue the development of a CCR in your community
• Take leadership and set an example in your agency, church or civic groups to become educated about domestic violence and the needs of victims in your area
• Let your elected officials know that domestic violence is worth their time and attention and you expect them to work collaboratively to address it in your community
• Help to plan events that provide domestic violence education for community systems such as schools, health care and criminal justice

Keys to Maintaining Thriving Teams:

• Continually work on building effective working relationships among current and new team members
• Continue to track and monitor the systems and other changes that have been instituted
• Regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the team as it exists:
  Do members of the team have a shared understanding of the mission? To what degree have efforts increased communication among stakeholders? 
• Continually broaden the focus of the team:
  If a team has begun with the criminal justice system, broaden to the civil legal system, family courts, health care, victim services, outreach, community education, prevention, etc.

For ideas on how to take these initiatives, contact WCADV’s Community Response and Prevention Coordinator: Email [2]