Ending Abuse—Improving Lives - Florida Department of Children ...

Florida Prosecuting Attorney’s Association (FPAA)The FPAA provided five training seminars to 209 prosecutors,law enforcement officers, victim advocates,and, health and mental health professionals on thefollowing subjects:• Civil Commitment of the Sexually Violent Predator;• Stalking;• DNA;• Domestic Violence Basic Prosecution; and• Domestic Violence Basic and Advanced Prosecution.The Office of State Courts Administrator (OSCA)The OSCA’s Office of Court Improvement is committedto enhancing the quality and effectiveness of domesticviolence injunction case processes in the court system.To facilitate this endeavor, the following training eventswere held:• Approximately 500 judges, court staff, and communitycourt stakeholders attended the Family Court Conference“Understanding Family Conflict” in October2005. Four workshops offered presentations specificallygeared to domestic violence: "Domestic RelationsMediation in the Shadow of Domestic Violence,”“Helping Pro Se Parties While Avoiding the UnlicensedPractice of Law,” “Improving the Injunction Process,”and “Overview of Full Faith and Credit and the FederalFirearms Prohibitions.” Two hundred twelve individualsattended these workshops;• Staff from the Office of the State Courts Administratorand the Tenth Judicial Circuit presented a workshop“Coordination between the Courts and DomesticViolence Advocates” at the Florida Coalition AgainstDomestic Violence’s annual rural conference in LakeCity, March 2006. The presentation compared andcontrasted the roles and responsibilities of court domesticviolence case managers and domestic violenceadvocates. Sixty-two individuals attended this workshop;and• Two statewide meetings of domestic violencecoordinators were held to provide training andgather input on a proposed manual for Best PracticeGuidelines for Domestic Violence Case Management.Training was also provided on judicial checklists forChapter 784, F.S., injunctions for protection from repeat,dating, or sexual violence. The coordinators discussedproposed updates to the Domestic ViolenceFamily Law forms for Chapter 39, F.S., injunctions toprotect a child witness of domestic violence fromabuse in cases where a shelter or dependency petitionhas been filed. Other topics addressed includedstatutory changes, best practices, court effectiveness,domestic violence case management, and localdomestic violence initiatives. Attendees at thesemeetings were domestic violence case coordinatorsand court administration staff.Domestic Violence Annual Report 2005-200645