Tennessee State Coordinated Community Response

The Tennessee State Coordinated Community Response (CCR) is the collaboration of community agencies to develop streamlined and responsive approaches to better meet the needs of domestic violence victims throughout local communities and across the State of Tennessee. These agencies work together to support domestic violence victims and hold offenders accountable. The CCR for Sullivan County meets monthly at the Family Justice Center and consists of advocates, probation officers, prosecutors, victim witness, law enforcement, healthcare professionals, the Children’s Advocacy Center, the Department of Children’s Services, social service agencies, the YWCA, and other community partners and service providers. This is a collaborative multiagency team that makes every effort to change the culture of tolerance of domestic abuse by sharing information with each other, identifying available resources for victims, standardizing policies and procedures, and educating members of the community at large. Prosecutors from this office play an active role in this team.

Sexual Assault Response Team

The Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) Act was enacted in 2023 and, as of January 1, 2024, pursuant to the statute, each local law enforcement agency must assemble an adult sexual assault response team to assist in responding to incidents of sexual assault involving adult victims that occur within the agency’s jurisdiction. SART serves as a vehicle for collaboration, relationship building, training, education, and accountability among and between professionals responding to sexual assaults. The team must include victim advocates, law enforcement, criminal prosecutors, healthcare providers and mental health providers. Communications between the sexual assault response team member and a sexual assault victim are confidential and not open to public record requests. The Sullivan County Tennessee SART team meets monthly at the Family Justice Center. Prosecutors with our office are responsible for attending these meetings, supervising investigations, and ultimately prosecuting cases in Sullivan County.

SARTs have a number of primary objectives that are essential to providing victim-centered care to sexual assault victims including, but not limited to:

1. Educate the criminal justice system and the community to raise awareness of sexual assault, decrease victim blaming, and increase offender accountability.
2. Build relationships with sexual assault responders.
3. Identify valuable community resources and avoid duplication of services.
4. Share information, knowledge, and expertise among team members.
5. Reduce further trauma to sexual assault victims and mitigate the effect of sexual assault on victims and their families and or loved ones.

Domestic Violence Response Team

Sullivan County has a Domestic Violence Response Team (DVRT). Launched by Branch House Family Justice Center in 2024, this program is expected to be mandated statewide in the next few years, with the Sullivan County DVRT serving as a model for other communities throughout Tennessee. DVRT meets monthly and is composed of members of the Family Justice Center, prosecutors, law enforcement, social service agencies, healthcare agencies, and other partner agencies. The primary purpose of the team is to offer emergency support, case review, referrals to services for victims of domestic violence, and community and partner agency education. Prosecutors from this office are key members of DVRT.