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Grafton County is a rural county made up of 38 towns and one city with a total population of close to 82,000. Approximately half of its total area is covered by the White Mountain National Forest. The population is primarily Anglo with approximately one percent identified as minorities. A majority of the county's population (57 percent) has at least a two-year college degree.
The county has made great progress in addressing issues of domestic violence and child abuse and neglect due to its innovative, community-based initiatives in the past 15 years. These initiatives include a collaboration between the state Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), domestic and sexual violence crisis centers, and the NH Coalition against Domestic and Sexual Violence (NHCADSV) that places Domestic Violence Specialists (DVS) from the local crisis centers into DCYF District Offices. This program was in place when Greenbook began and still going when Greenbook ended. Greenbook capitalized on this program as it presented many opportunities to strengthen and improve practice and policies. This program was also an important tool in planning for sustainability after Greenbook ended. In Grafton County the primary partners to the project were the Grafton County Family Division of the Court, DCYF State Office and the Distict Offices located in Claremont, Laconia, and Littleton, and the domestic violence agencies that serve Grafton County residents (Women’s Supportive Services in Claremont, Women’s Information Services in Lebanon, Voices Against Violence in Plymouth, and The Support Center in Littleton) as well as the NHCADSV NH Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) joined the project about 18 months after it began. NH is a small state and because of that and the fact that state level leaders participated in the project, most of the project’s work was taken statewide building on other initiatives and meeting opportunities.
The Grafton County Project was staffed by a Project Director, Program Coordinator, Researcher, and Administrative Assistant who were employees of the Judicial Branch of the State of NH. Research efforts were assisted by a local research consultant. Project oversight was the responsibility of the Executive Committee, which started out very large and decreased in membership over time to only state level leadership from each discipline that participated in the project.
Like changes in the Executive Committee, the project’s committee structure changed over time. Initially there was a large Advisory Council with membership from many disciplines beyond the primary partners. This group helped to establish the overall vision of the Project, however was never a working group and disbanded after the first 2 years. The Court, DCYF and the Coalition/Crisis Centers had discipline specific working teams that set, prioritized and carried out the work specific to their discipline. There was a multi-disciplinary work group that primarily served as a forum for cross-system, structured discussions on particular issues such as mandating battered women to services, children who witness domestic violence, and batterer accountability.
The primary activities of the project included developing system specific practice guides and protocols; enhancing the Domestic Violence Specialist Project through training, policy development and standardization of practice; structured, multi-disciplinary practice/philosophical discussions; cross system training; training on working with men who batter and other topics designed to enhance understanding and practice across the disciplines; setting up a process for case reviews within DCYF and sustainability planning.
Grafton County Documents:
Court,
CASA and
Advocate Guide
Baseline Evaluation Report: Primary Partner & Cross System Goals December 2004 (PDF)
Information on a Domestic Violence Protective Order August 2004 (PDF)
Information on Domestic Violence Civil and Criminal Cases August 2004 (PDF)
Best Practice Series for CPSWs (PDF)
Domestic Violence Training Day One: Safety Engaging Adult Victims and Their Children 2007 (PDF)
Domestic Violence Training Day One: Safety Engaging Adult Victims and Their Children-Handouts 2007 (PDF)
Domestic Violence Training Day Two: Accountability and Connection with Abusive Men 2007 (PDF)
Domestic Violence Training Day Two: Accountability and Connection with Abusive Men-Handouts 2007 (PDF)
Grafton County Newsletters:
Summer 2005 (PDF)
Fall/Winter 2004 (PDF)
Summer 2004 (PDF)
Winter 2003 (PDF)
Summer 2003 (PDF)
Fall 2002 (PDF)
Spring 2002 (PDF)
Winter 2001 (PDF)
Grafton County PowerPoints:
Living Domestic Violence: Prisoners of a Very Private War (PDF)
Batterers as Partners, Batterers as Parents (PDF)
Children Living Domestic Violence (PDF)
Screening and Documenting Coercive Control (PDF)
Batterer Accountability (PDF)
Guide to the Perspective and Safety Needs of Battered Women (PDF)
Contact Information:
Ruth Houtte
Former Greenbook Project Coordinator
802-748-4922
ruth.houtte@ahs.state.vt.us
Grace Mattern
Executive Director
NHCADSV
P.O. Box 353
Concord, NH 03302
603-224-8893 ext. 304
mattern@nhcadsv.org
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