GCFV Honors the Hall County Domestic Violence Task Force as Task Force of the Year

The Georgia Commission on Family Violence (GCFV) presented its Task Force of The Year Award to the Hall County Domestic Violence Task Force at the 27th Annual Family Violence Conference.

Janet Whittaker, Gateway Domestic Violence Center Shelter Manager and chair of the Task Force said, “Thank you to GCFV for recognizing the Hall County DV Task Force. We have worked hard to educate the county and our partners about domestic violence.  We have been encouraged by the response of the Supporting Survivors of Murder Suicide Committee and the support that has been given to survivors.  We have seen our partners grow in their participation in the Task Force and their understanding of DV.   We look forward to continuing to support the survivors in Hall County.”

The Hall County Domestic Violence Task Force is piloting a murder-suicide response program. The Task Force has held trainings and developed protocols to respond to murder-suicide incidents. This work is very much needed in the community as evidenced by the domestic violence murder suicides that occurred in 2021. Task Force members have spent hours meeting with survivors, providing information about victim's compensation, and gathering required documents for survivors. They have also made counseling referrals and advocated for services needed by survivors.

GCFV Support for Survivors of Murder Suicide Coordinator Kylee Elliot said, “They have shown survivors of murder-suicide that they are not alone and they are not forgotten.  Members of this task force identified a gap in their community and they filled it.  Their community is better, stronger and safer because of their tireless commitment to survivors.”

Family Violence Task Forces are multidisciplinary community groups (government agencies, community-based agencies, survivors of family violence, concerned community members and professionals) whose focus is on increasing victim safety and offender accountability through coordinating local services and effecting change through creating a coordinated community response to domestic violence.

The Commission’s 27th annual family violence conference was held virtually on November 8-10, 2021. The theme of this year’s conference was “Moving Forward, Achieving Justice”. More than 600 local and national stakeholders attended the virtual conference, including judges, prosecutors, law enforcement, advocates, survivors, faith leaders, counselors and community members.

About GCFV: The Georgia Commission on Family Violence, created by The Georgia General Assembly in 1992, is charged with developing a comprehensive state plan for ending family violence in Georgia. If you or someone that you know is being impacted by domestic violence, call 1-800-334-2836 to speak with a domestic violence advocate.