Domestic violence case handling changes in imperfect system

More often than not, when it comes to domestic violence cases in court, victims find it hard to navigate the system or to get themselves heard.

Attorney Sally Jaroszynski has been practicing law for over 30 years, and in that time she said things have changed when it comes to domestic violence cases, and while things remain difficult to navigate there is also help for victims out there.

The way cases were handled in 1993, Jaroszynski said, when she first began versus how domestic violence cases are handled now is very different.

"I think the courts have made some strides in how they handle domestic violence cases, but it's tricky and difficult to navigate sometimes," Jaroszynski said. "When I started practicing in '93 we didn't have an Integrated Domestic Violence Court."

Something else that is different these days, Jaroszynski said, is that there is the ability with the IDV Court for one judge to hear multiple different aspects or proceedings in connection to the case, as that judge presides over all of them, even with them being separate proceedings. Chautauqua County has that in IDV court with Judge Stephen Cass, who Jaroszynski said does a wonderful job as he is very well trained in domestic violence. But, she added, if a case does not get pulled into IDV court, that is when people can get lost and struggles can begin.

"It's hard when you're not trained in domestic violence as extensively as maybe our IDV judges are, because I think the difficulty is that people believe just a couple of incidents of physical violence is what is considered domestic violence," Jaroszynski said. "Domestic violence is so much more difficult to prove than sometimes physical violence."

Other areas of domestic violence that Jaroszynski said are more difficult to prove include coercive control, or restricting a partner's freedom or activities. Other forms of abuse take the forms of psychological abuse, economic abuse, stalking or harassment, and one that Jaroszynski said they see even more often today, and never saw when she first started, is through technology and social media.

"All of those issues together are things that pop up in domestic violence that I've had several clients who I sit with and counsel for the first time, and they have no idea that the technology abuse and the stalking and harassment and the economic and psychological abuse and coercive control, they don't even recognize that that's domestic violence," Jaroszynski said. "If they don't recognize it, you better hope that the judge does. And sometimes, it's really hard to prove."

When a victim comes to court without obvious signs of physical harm such as bruises or strangulation marks, or they have a child that does not show signs of abuse because they were witnesses to it, it is extremely hard to prove to the court, Jaroszynski said.

'Address It Sooner'

As the advocate for domestic violence victims that she has been her whole career, Jaroszynski said she always likes and hopes to see things change. She added that a big concern for her is that often courts seem to try to protect the rights of the accused more than the victims, but a lot of that is because other forms of abuse that are not physical violence are so hard to prove.

"How do you prove a restriction of freedoms or activities or finances without getting to a trial?" Jaroszynski said. "And when you get to a trial it's several months later from the original petition, so you have several months before you can even prove these things with a fact finding hearing. There's got to be a way to address it sooner and more consistently."

Jaroszynski is also concerned with the fact that harm to a child has to be proven before one party's access can be restricted, such as with supervised visitations. Victims are required to prove what is happening in their home is affecting the child as a witness, -- again with the child not necessarily having marks of physical abuse -- right then and there to the court, before any specific precautions to help keep the child safe are taken.

"That's where I think courts sometimes miss the purpose of having protections for domestic violence victims in the court system," Jaroszynski said. "Now, when it comes to IDV Court, Integrated Domestic Violence Court, I think that that is definitely the court that recognizes exactly what I'm describing."

That judge may see all of the aspects of the case, including financial control and criminal activity, Jaroszynski said, and with one judge overseeing everything that judge has better knowledge of the situation. But, if someone cannot get their case into IDV Court and they are strictly in either a criminal or family court, not all aspects are seen until reaching the fact finding hearing, Jaroszynski said. Until that hearing, she said, she cannot help a victim get these protections and help put up some guard rails against the abuser to make sure that her client is safe while the proceeding goes forward.

NOT JUST PHYSICAL

Most importantly, Jaroszynski said, people need to be aware of their surroundings and to understand what domestic violence really is.

"I think that there's a true misunderstanding of the definition of domestic violence," Jaroszynski said. "I think that it makes our jobs very difficult when a person believes that domestic violence is simply physical. It's not. As a matter of fact, the more serious ramifications for domestic violence come from coercive control and psychological abuse and economic abuse and all of the other abuses that I mentioned. Without a full understanding of that, it's very hard to, as a practitioner, to help people. Unless you have an experienced practitioner who knows the right questions to ask, you're never going to get to the bottom of those controls or express them to the court, and then the court is not going to be able to take action."

Jaroszynski said she has had times when she has recognized the domestic violence and tried to move the case to IDV court, where she knows it will be handled in a different way, but they are not able to access that in every case. Additionally, she said she believes judges are educated in domestic violence, but if they are not dealing with it every day and have very large caseloads, the case might not be tried for another eight months. Jaroszynski emphasized that the families and victims cannot wait eight months or longer before it is decided that someone is harmful to a child.

"The families can't wait, and I feel like our judicial system, when it comes to domestic violence, makes victims wait too long," Jaroszynski said.

STRIVE WORKING TO IMPROVE SERVICES

There are services available to help victims navigate the system, including the Salvation Army Anew Center who sends advocates to court with the victim for assistance and so they are not alone. Any attorney, family court employee, or member of a police department can direct a victim to where they can go to get the help that they need. Jaroszynski said she has had multiple pro bono cases in her history that she has done for domestic violence victims when an agency has asked for her help.

One other new service in the works that is in the community to help victims of domestic violence is the STRIVE program, or Statewide Targeted Reduction in Intimate Partner Violence Initiative. The STRIVE program is a new grant-funded initiative from the state that began in 2025, intended to reduce instances of intimate partner violence. STRIVE coordinator, Emily Novak, said that in Chautauqua County the Sheriff's Office, Jamestown Police Department, Chautauqua County District Attorney's Office, Salvation Army Anew Center, county Probation Department, and Dunkirk Police Department are funded partners on the executive board. They all come to the table to monitor and guide implementation.

"Along with an Exec Board, STRIVE requires a community-based forum called the Coordinated Community Response, which is intended to be the non-governmental branch of community accountability for funded partners," Novak said. "In other words, the CCR will help keep the funded agencies accountable and report on progress/raise red flags as the Exec Board rolls out the plan. Victims also have a seat at the table as consultants to the process."

The STRIVE program in Chautauqua County has chosen a focused deterrence model that is a three pronged approach, Novak said. This approach includes; enhancing victim support and safety by boosting resources for direct victim servicers; developing a network of offender-based intervention supports; and training, tracking, and focusing criminal justice and court systems to better understand and respond to victims and offenders in cases of IPV.

"The program is still in its infancy and we just started implementing IPVI -- our focused deterrence model -- in August," Novak said. "That is one calendar year after I was hired for the coordinator role. I can't stress this enough; it's still very, very new and we are still training ourselves."

Once the STRIVE program gets more underway, Novak said domestic violence victims will benefit from enhanced victim services countywide and fewer barriers to access. Participating community and government agencies will work together to stop offenders from re-offending, and victims will be supported by new tools for safety planning and self-led decision-making, like mental health counseling support, lethality assessments, and improved court status updates. Additionally, she said lower-level offenders will also receive the opportunity for expanded services to help them stop re-offending, including drug and alcohol treatment, counseling, GED and job placement, and temporary assistance, but with a clear warning that enhanced legal consequences may follow if they choose to re-offend.

Training wise, with STRIVE being county-wide, funded law enforcement agencies across the county except the State Police have committed to focusing efforts on streamlining a victim-centered, trauma-informed approach to identification, documentation, and interaction with victims and offenders in domestic violence cases. Broadly, Novak said, police officers will receive training.

"Not everyone will become as specialized as DV Officer Emma Ward, but yes, plans for training law enforcement are currently in the works," Novak said. "The grant also helps fund a Sr. STRIVE Investigator, Rob Ward, to pursue investigations on only IPV cases, which has helped significantly already. I'll add that it isn't just police officers who will receive enhanced training under this plan, but CCR members, hospital workers, educators, community members, administrative positions--everyone is encouraged to become more aware. Importantly, we have already scheduled a training for Magistrates."

Novak said county district attorney, Jason Schmidt, is also very supportive of this initiative, expressing her gratitude for his commitment to seeing this challenging project through.

"Luckily, the community has been amazingly supportive as we bumble our way through these first few years," Novak said. "That said, changing a culture takes a long time and will require targeted community education over years to see a difference. The good news is we've started community education already."

Novak noted the need to plug some holes between community-based service providers, criminal justice agencies, and the courts. She added that the fact that committed partners are coming to the table enthusiastically to share information, ask questions, and work on solutions together is a huge first step towards making this plan work, but it will take time. As the STRIVE Coordinator, Novak's job is to get everyone to the table so they can talk, and then guarantee the outcomes they want to see for improvement, starting with the basics.

"The STRIVE grant was offered to Chautauqua County because we have extremely high rates of IPV," Novak said. "The underlying problems won't go away without a large-scale coordinated effort between the community, victims, and criminal justice to support change. We've got a team assembled now and improvements are happening."