Governor Granholm has declared October Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Governor Granholm has declared October Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Michigan. Throughout the United States, October is set aside to recognize those who are surviving or have survived violence in their intimate relationships and to remember those who were murdered by their batterers. The 45 MDVPTB-funded domestic violence agencies in Michigan will be hosting events during the month. To locate the agency in your area, click here.

The Office on Violence Against Women has conducted a national sexual assault meeting.

In June, the Office on Violence Against Women sponsored a "National Sexual Violence Collaboration Meeting" in Chicago. The by-invitation-only meeting convened a carefully selected group of sexual assault experts from across the country, including MDVPTB's Executive Director, Debi Cain, who also served on the planning group for this national meeting. The forum presented an opportunity to expand the thinking and knowledge about the issue of sexual assault and its complexities. Specifically, the group explored the lack of awareness and resources in the area of sexual assault, as well as the needs and gaps in prevention, risk-reduction and intervention. Participants were encouraged to network with each other, gather information and begin conversations within their own organizations about how to move forward in the area of sexual assault.

MDVPTB's Grants to Encourage Arrest project is conducting six additional trainings on Full Faith and Credit.

Last year's Full Faith and Credit trainings under the Grants to Encourage Arrest project were so successful that five communities requested additional trainings. The one-day trainings focus on Michigan law implementing the Full Faith and Credit provisions of the federal Violence Against Women Act. The training for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, court personnel and domestic violence service providers covers a broad range of laws and procedures for handling issues of personal protection orders that cross state boundaries, federal and tribal jurisdictions or pose other unique problems.

The first two sessions, in Wayne County and Benton Harbor have already taken place.

The remaining dates and locations are as follows:

Tuesday, Oct. 5 - Macomb County

Thursday, Oct. 7 - Grayling

Thursday, Oct. 21 - Flint

Representatives from Indian tribes residing within Michigan's boundaries also requested an additional training. A one-day session will take place on October 29th in Grand Traverse and will be tailored to issues unique to tribal communities. Featuring national presenters, the day will be devoted to exchanging tribal codes, issues confronted by each tribe, solution-finding and networking opportunities. Tribal prosecutors, council members, law enforcement officers, victim-advocates and service providers are expected to attend.

The trainings are funded by $750,000 in federal Grants to Encourage Arrests (GTEA) awarded to the MDVPTB by the U.S. Department of Justice. They are presented by MDVPTB in partnership with the United States Attorneys Offices for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan, the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, Michigan State Police, the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) , the Michigan Attorney General's Office, the Michigan Indian Judges Association, and the Michigan Judicial Institute. MCOLES credit is available to law enforcement officers.

For more information about these trainings, contact MDVPTB at (517) 373-8144.

The Grants to Encourage Arrest project has set up a new domestic violence unit in the Attorney General's Office

Two Special Assistant Attorneys General have been hired, trained and are handling domestic violence prosecutions in several counties offering to participate under Michigan's ongoing Grants to Encourage Arrest project. Erin House manages cases in Grand Traverse, Antrim and Leelanau Counties and Mike Findley covers Charlevoix, Emmit, Otsego and Cheboygan.

The new Special Assistant Attorneys General will provide assistance to local prosecutors in domestic violence cases. This federal grant was awarded to Michigan from the Office of Justice Programs and is designed to encourage the treatment of domestic violence as a serious violation of criminal law.

The supervised visitation project, Safe Havens, has issued a safety audit report and has been funded for another year.

MDVPTB's Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange Demonstration project, Safe Havens, has been awarded a fourth year for grant implementation, bringing with it an additional $600,000. The project, now in its second year, will focus its fourth year on implementing the promising practices and collect evaluation data.

Safe Havens has also released the results of its safety and accountability audit. The report is available on the MDVPTB Web site.

During the last year, members of the national technical assistance team as well as local and state partners conducted a formal study of the role of a supervised visitation center in domestic violence cases. The audit report contains several findings and recommendations and the four local pilot sites are currently discussing how they will address them.

In February 2005, Michigan judges will have the opportunity to attend a specially tailored training regarding supervised visitation, "Creating Safe Havens for Parenting Time After Divorce: A Seminar for Family Division Judges." As enrollment is limited to 50 people, priority will be given to judges in jurisdictions participating in the Safe Havens grant program. Other applications will be accepted in the order they are received. The training in Mt. Pleasant will be sponsored by MDVPTB, the Michigan Judicial Institute, and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. The training session will be an adaptation of a national Judicial Institute on Supervised Visitation being conducted this December.

For more information about the training, contact Shelia Hankins at hankinss@michigan.gov.

PAAM hosted a successful sexual assault conference.

More than 25 prosecutors attended "Understanding Sexual Violence: Prosecuting Adult Rape and Sexual Assault Cases" on August 23-26, 2004, at the Lansing Sheraton. Using STOP funding through MDVPTB, this highly acclaimed conference was presented by the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan (PAAM) and the American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI), the research, training, and technical assistance affiliate of the National District Attorneys Association. Prosecutors will take what they learned from this conference and apply it as they prosecute sexual assault cases in their individual jurisdictions.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has joined MDVPTB in a campaign promoting the national DV hotline.

In June 2004, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources posted domestic violence mirror decals in restrooms within the Michigan State Park system. The mirror decals state, "If you need help, you've found it. Domestic Violence is a Crime." They also feature the national domestic violence hotline number, 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) as well as the TDD number, 1-800-787-3224. This public awareness effort has the potential to reach over 25 million state and national visitors to Michigan parks and harbors throughout the year. Its strong message and offer of a critical resource could have a great impact on domestic violence survivors and their friends and family.

MDVPTB, the Michigan Department of Community Health and the Michigan Women's Commission collaboratively developed the mirror decal. It and many other excellent educational materials about domestic and sexual violence are available FREE at the Michigan Department of Community Health, Health Promotions Clearinghouse. Call (800) 353-8227 or browse online at the

Michigan State Police has updated its domestic violence form.

In response to numerous requests from law enforcement around the state, the Michigan State Police has modified the Standard Domestic Relationship Incident Report form by adding three additional pages to the narrative portion of the form. Click here for the updated version of the form or visit MSP's Web site and find form DV- 001 - Standard Domestic Relationship Incident Report under Publications, Forms and Statistics/Forms/Miscellaneous Forms.

According to MCL 764.15c, Michigan law enforcement agencies must use this form or one "substantially similar" in their written reports of domestic violence incidents.

Board Member Profile - The Honorable Edward Sosnick

The Honorable Edward Sosnick has been extensively involved in the movement to end violence against women and children for more than 25 years. He has served on the MDVPTB for thirteen years, including more than five years as its chair.

Honorable Amy Krause, a judge in 54-A District Court and current chair of MDVPTB said, "Judge Sosnick has contributed a great deal of energy and time in the effort to end violence against women and children in Michigan. His experience as an MDVPTB member and former chair has significantly aided in the seamless transition of five new Board members during the last year, including my own transition to become the current chair. We greatly appreciate all that he brings to our work."

Judge Sosnick was elected to the bench of the Oakland County Circuit Court in January 1989. In 1996, he was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court as chief judge of the Sixth Circuit Court and re-appointed in 1998. Currently, Sosnick is presiding judge over the Oakland County Family-Focused Juvenile Drug Court, Options. Prior to these positions, he held various posts, including: presiding judge over the Oakland County Circuit Court, Family Division; judge in 48th District Court; senior trial attorney of the Office of Oakland County Prosecutor; and a township, city and village attorney.

"For more than two decades Judge Sosnick has worked to reform laws and policies in support of survivors and their children," said Kathy Hagenian, public policy and program director at the Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. "He is truly extraordinary and a real treasure in the effort to eliminate domestic and sexual violence in Michigan."

Mr. Sosnick is the recipient of numerous awards, honors and service credentials. He received the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Award for Meritorious Service to the Children of America. Among many other awards and honors within Michigan, Judge Sosnick received the State Bar of Michigan's Champion of Justice award; was twice voted as one of Michigan's Most Respected Judges by the Michigan Lawyers Weekly Poll; and is a five-time recipient of the Award of Appreciation from the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan. He was also the recipient of the Women's Survival Center of Oakland County Award of Merit for Contribution Toward Improving the Lives of Women and Oakland County's domestic violence agency, HAVEN's award for Outstanding Victim Advocacy. Mr. Sosnick is also the co-founder of SMILE (Start Making It Livable for Everyone), a court-sponsored program for divorcing couples on the impact of divorce on children.

Maxine Berman, Director of Special Projects for Governor Jennifer Granholm said, "Ed Sosnick has always displayed a remarkable sensitivity to the plight of women faced with threats of domestic violence -- and what is even more important, he does something about it. This is a man whose words are followed by actions and those actions have made life better for untold numbers of Michigan women."

About the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board (MDVPTB)

The Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board (MDVPTB) was created by the legislature in 1978 and is administratively housed within the Michigan Family Independence Agency. The board consists of seven Governor-appointed members with an executive director overseeing daily operations. The MDVPTB has defined its mission as: To lead statewide efforts to eliminate domestic and sexual violence in Michigan.

MDVPTB administers state and federal funding for sexual assault programs and services and domestic violence shelters and advocacy services. MDVPTB also develops and recommends policy in collaboration with other agencies and develops and provides technical assistance and training.

Many resource materials are available through the Michigan Resource Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence. The Resource Center is a unique collection of over 3,500 books and 300 videos on domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, violence prevention, nonprofit management, medical and legal response to violence against women, public policy and much more. The MRCDSV is a collaboration of the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board and the Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. The MDVPTB is the primary funder and owner of the collection.

The MDVPTB e-Report is developed and written by the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board (MDVPTB) in association with Mort Crim Communications, Inc.

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© 2004. All Rights Reserved.

Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board
Family Independence Agency
P.O. Box 30037
Lansing, Michigan 48909