Montclair Police looks for Domestic Violence Response Team members.
The Montclair Police Department is seeking volunteers for its Domestic Violence Response Team (DVRT). According to the Montclair Police Department, the DVRT is a group of volunteers trained to assist victims of domestic violence. DVRT volunteers offer emergency support, alternatives, and referrals to victims of domestic violence.
“The DVRT program was state mandated in 2000 with the knowledge that victims of domestic violence are often isolated and trapped in abusive relationships,” said a statement issued by the town. “Studies demonstrate that victims of domestic violence are three times more likely to return to their abusers if they are provided with little or no support. Police officers provide protection to victims of domestic violence by arresting and processing the batterer, while volunteers help the victim to feel less isolated and alone. DVRT volunteers respond to the police department to provide emotional support, information on domestic violence, community resources and a safety plan.”
Objectives of volunteers for the Domestic Violence Response Team include decreasing the emotional trauma of victims, educating victims about their options and increasing victims’ access to community resources. Volunteers will be able to accomplish this by providing victims an opportunity to express their emotional response to their crisis, educating victims about the dynamics of domestic violence, increasing the victim’s awareness of available community resources, increasing the victim’s awareness of available legal options and their understanding of the legal process, providing the victim with the necessary information to access available resources and assisting the victim in contacting available community resources, according to the statement.
Those interested in becoming a Domestic Violence Response Team volunteer can download the DVRT application form, fill it out and bring to the Montclair Police Department, located at 647 Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair. Applicants can also contact the Montclair Domestic Violence Response Team Coordinator Gerri Powell at 973-509-7543 or gpowell@montclairnjusa.org.
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