Collaborative Commission on Domestic Violence Releases Progress Report

Published on June 18, 2024

SAN ANTONIO (June 18, 2024) - The Collaborative Commission on Domestic Violence (CCDV) released its Cumulative Progress Report and Strategic Plan. The progress report highlights the Commission’s efforts and accomplishments since its inception in 2019 geared to improve coordination of efforts to transform the community’s response to domestic violence.  The strategic plan lays out the priorities for the CCDV’s work over the next five years.

“From the start, the CCDV has focused on bringing together stakeholders across every sector of the family violence system to improve our community’s collective action,” CCDV Co-Chair and District Court Judge Monique Diaz said. “This report highlights the importance of these partnerships and showcases the work the CCDV and its stakeholders have accomplished together over the last five years, such as improving the protective order process, expanding capacity for legal services, and creating a Domestic Violence Navigation Line. As we look to the future, the CCDV will continue to lead with collaboration and innovation while implementing its new strategic plan.”

The cumulative report summarizes the collective work of the CCDV from 2019 through 2023. Some highlights of this work include:

• Forming a workgroup in 2020 that executes service of process on respondents, streamlines documentation of service and data collection, and enforces protective orders with law enforcement agencies.
• The San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) transitioning to a victim-centered model in 2020, which seeks to minimize re-traumatization associated with the criminal justice process by providing support through crisis advocates and service providers, empowering survivors as engaged participants in the process, and supporting victims and their families for as long as needed.
• Establishing Bexar County’s first Civil Family Violence Prevention Program in 2021, which provides rehabilitative, wrap-around support services to victims, people who use harm, and their children, and compliance services for court orders, including those regarding firearm possession prohibitions.
• Launching a Domestic Violence Navigation Line in 2021 that is the first-of-its-kind, connecting the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office to a 24/7 call center to assess a survivor’s level of risk for serious harm or death, and connecting them with available resources.
• Developing the Annual Domestic Violence Awareness Symposium to facilitate community learning on domestic violence strategies, which engages individuals and organizations to understand and foster use of current practices to prevent, intervene, and provide support for people who have experienced domestic violence, whether as a survivor or a person who has caused harm.
• Developing a community-wide domestic violence awareness communications campaign by partnering with city, business, and community stakeholders to formulate public service announcements that aired on local TV stations and reached a total of 63,812 community members, and distributing more than 10,000 decals to restaurants, businesses, government agencies, and community organizations from 2020 to 2022 which help people quickly identify local domestic violence intervention and support services.

“We are proud of the progress and improvements we’ve collectively made over the past five years,” CCDV Co-Chair and Deputy City Manager Maria Villagomez said. “The progress represents a step forward in the right direction and we acknowledge there is still more work to do. The new CCDV strategic plan will continue the work by focusing on data utilization, communications planning and healthy relationships and it supports the City’s Metro Health Violence Prevention Plan.”

The new strategic plan that was adopted by CCDV members in December 2023 will be implemented through 2028, and it includes:

• Improving data acquisition, sharing, and utilization.
• Implementing an ongoing comprehensive communications campaign and harnessing social media. 
• Incorporating education on healthy relationships early in life. 

The CCDV was created in 2019 by special order signed by Judge Peter Sakai with the mission to work collaboratively to empower our community to increase safety and justice for all by preventing and effectively intervening in domestic violence and its inter-generational impact. The commission brings together domestic violence stakeholders across all sectors, including healthcare, prosecution, judiciary, law enforcement, education, and non-profits. 

The report can be found at this link.

For anyone experiencing domestic violence, please call the Family Violence Prevention Services 24/7 Hotline at (210) 733-8810 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800- 799-SAFE (7233). In an emergency, please call or text 911.