Victims Services coordinates the Wood County Sexual Assault Response Collaborative (SARC), the Wood County Family Justice Committee (FJC), and the Wood County Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team (FRT). The Drug, Alcohol, and Sexual Offenses (DASO) Coalition is facilitated by the Wellness Center and the Dean of Student Life Office at Bowling Green State University. Victims Services sends a representative to attend the monthly (academic-year) meetings and provides insight into sexual assault issues relevant to BGSU students.
Sexual Assault Response Collaborative
The Sexual Assault Response Collaborative (SARC) was initiated by Victims Services and has been meeting on a quarterly basis since Aug. 1999. It was one of the first Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) in the state of Ohio. SARC brings together professionals from a variety of disciplines around Wood County to discuss and respond to adult sexual assault cases.
Members include representatives from: the Wood County Hospital Emergency Room Department, Wood County Prosecutor’s Office, Bowling Green Police Division, Bowling Green State University Police Department, Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, Bowling Green State University Student Health Service, Family Service Counseling Center, Childrens Resource Center, Job & Family Services Child Protective Services, and Bowling Green State University Counseling Center.
Members are responsible for reviewing and updating the Wood County Sexual Assault Protocol on an annual basis. They also offer training to law enforcement and other interested professionals on: Interviewing Sexual Assault Victims; Suspect Rape Kit Exams; and Non-Stranger Sexual Assault Case Profile. If interested in attending SARC meetings, please contact Julie Broadwell at (419) 352-5387.
Family Justice Committee
The Family Justice Committee (FJC) has been meeting since June 2007and is a committee of community agencies that meet to discuss domestic/dating violence issues. Since 2008, the FJC has been meeting quarterly. This committee was originally pulled together by a grassroots organization, Alicia’s Voice, Citizens Against Domestic Violence.
Victims Services now coordinates the FJC and other representatives include Alicia’s Voice, BG Prosecutor’s office, Wood County Sheriff’s Office, The Cocoon Shelter, Bowling Green State University Office of Dean of Students, Bowling Green Police Department, Family Service Counseling Center, Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Job & Family Service Child Protective Services, Wood County Hospital, and more. If interested in attending FJC meetings, please contact Julie Broadwell at (419) 352-5387.
Fatality Review Team
The Fatality Review Team (FRT) began meeting in January 2006 and has continued to meet monthly to review cases of Wood County domestic violence victims murdered by their intimate partners. The team recognizes that better agency coordination can save lives and that the offender is responsible for the death, not any one agency or provider. The team takes a solution-focused approach to looking at how systems can be improved to help prevent future domestic violence related deaths in our community.
In addition to Victims Services, the team is made up of representatives from Wood County Adult Probation, Family Service Counseling Center, Cocoon Shelter, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green Municipal Court Probation Department, Wood County Prosecutor’s Office, Wood County Job and Family Services, Common Pleas’ Clerk of Courts, Bowling Green Police Division, Person to Person Resources, and Legal Aid of Western Ohio. For more information, contact Kathy Mull at 419/352-5387.
