Coordinated Safety Response Program

RESPOND’s Coordinated Safety Response program helps survivors increase their safety, navigate complex systems, and access the support they need to build lives free from abuse.

Each year, RESPOND supports hundreds of survivors through coordinated, survivor-centered services and partnerships with law enforcement, courts, corrections, probation, parole, mental health providers, and other community organizations. Together, these partnerships promote safety, increase access to resources, and strengthen community responses to domestic violence.

RESPOND’s Domestic Violence Counselors are embedded within the Malden, Melrose, Wakefield, Wilmington, Woburn, and Reading Police Departments. Following a domestic violence incident, RESPOND counselors quickly connect with survivors to offer crisis support, safety planning, information, referrals, and access to RESPOND’s services.

This proactive approach allows RESPOND to reach survivors during one of the most critical moments in their lives, increasing access to support when it is needed most.

RESPOND has also founded and co-founded four multidisciplinary High Risk Teams. These teams bring together law enforcement, probation, parole, mental health providers, certified intervention programs, certified intimate partner abuse education programs, and other community partners to identify domestic violence cases that pose a high risk of serious injury or homicide. Together, High Risk Teams coordinate responses that increase survivor safety, connect survivors with lifesaving services, and promote accountability for those who cause harm.

Many individuals involved with the criminal legal system have experienced trauma and intimate partner violence, making access to survivor-centered support essential during incarceration and re-entry. (Source: National Institute of Justice) 

Through a longstanding partnership with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, established in 2017, RESPOND provides advocacy and support to survivors of domestic violence who are incarcerated or detained as they process their experiences of trauma and prepare for a safe return to the community.

Annually, RESPOND supports more than 200 incarcerated survivors through individual advocacy, group sessions, emotional support, domestic violence education, case management, safety planning, court accompaniment, and re-entry planning. RESPOND staff also work closely with courts, probation, corrections, and community providers to connect survivors with continued support before and after release.

Through partnerships across law enforcement, corrections, courts, and community organizations, RESPOND works to ensure even more survivors are heard, supported, and connected to the resources they need to move toward greater safety and stability.