Domestic Violence Acute Response Team (DV ART) - Boulder County, Colorado

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

The Boulder County Domestic Violence Acute Response Team (DV ART) was developed as a method to increase the effectiveness of intervention for domestic violence (DV) victims. DV ART achieves this by applying a core understanding of the unique dynamics involved in relationships where violence is used as a method of coercion and control. Violence perpetrated by an intimate partner as part of a pattern of coercion and control often results in violence victims being unable or unwilling to engage in community resources and the criminal justice system for a variety of reasons. Experience and research confirm that immediate intervention with DV victims after a violent incident by system professionals and resource providers increases victim engagement in protective community systems. DV ART is the first program of its kind developed in the State of Colorado. DV ART is a team of two prosecutors and one investigator employed with the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office with decades of combined experience responding to and prosecuting DV cases. DV ART’s immediate victim outreach and support demonstrably improves victim participation in the criminal justice process and increases victim engagement with community resources. In addition, DV ART increases the County’s ability to hold dangerous offenders accountable.