The Carroll Community College Office of Public Safety and Security and Family and Children’s Services of Central Maryland (FCS) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to proactively address domestic violence.

As societal awareness of the issue of domestic violence increases, the college approach is to take a proactive stance to ensure that members of the public safety and security team are up to date on how to respond to such incidents.

FCS is a non-profit organization which provides services to victims of domestic violence within the county. The college and FCS will work together to provide services to victims of dating, domestic and stalking violence. The MOU serves as an operational framework for their ongoing and cooperative public safety efforts.

As part of the MOU, the college will provide specialized training to its security staff to help assess the level of potential danger to a victim. College security staff and officials involved in student conduct proceedings regarding violence and stalking will participate in the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP). The Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence provided training at Carroll—the first time at a Maryland college—on Jan. 14, 2016.

The LAP is a nationally-recognized practice for first responders that identifies victims of domestic violence who are at the highest risk of being seriously injured or killed by their partners, and immediately connects them to the local domestic violence service program, such as Family and Children Services of Central Maryland. It has been identified as a “supported intervention” according to the Center for Disease Control’s Continuum of Evidence Effectiveness, and as a “leading promising practice” by the Office of Violence Against Women.

There are many types of intimate partner violence and abuse, including psychological or emotional abuse, economic abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse and medical abuse such as refusal to provide care or medication. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, young women ages 20 to 24 are at the highest risk for dating violence. LAP is a research-based tool that helps with the process of assessing a victim’s risk level, to potentially deter further violence.

“The work being done in our community to address the issue of domestic violence is very important and much-needed. This MOU will help improve our capabilities when assisting victims during their greatest time of need,” said Dr. James D. Ball, Carroll’s president.

“The Family and Children’s Services partnership with the college will only strengthen the supports in our community to help address the issue of domestic violence and raise community awareness,” said Kelley Rainey, director of Family and Children’s Services.

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