Recommendation 1: Increase awareness and education to improve understanding of intimate partner violence (IPV) and how to respond

By December 2017, the Provincial Office of Domestic Violence in partnership with relevant stakeholders will:

• Enhance provincial IPV messaging campaigns to increase public awareness of IPV risk factors, how to respond and how to access community based services.
• Increase service provider (e.g. health, social services and education etc.) ability to identify IPV risk factors and risk of lethality, and how to refer to community based supports and services.
• Implement strategies to improve IPV reporting to and from police.
• Demonstrate cultural humility in the development of IPV awareness and prevention initiatives with the goal of creating cultural safety for the intended audience.

Recommendation 2: Strengthen IPV safety planning and early collaborative case management

By December 2017, the Provincial Office of Domestic Violence in partnership with relevant stakeholders will:

• Develop a plan for common risk identification and collaborative safety planning (short, medium, long term) among service providers and agencies.
• Assess service providers’ ability to respond to IPV.
• Establish and adopt provincially standardized IPV definitions.

By December 2017, the Ministry of Justice working in consultation with justice system leaders and other relevant stakeholders will:

• Undertake a review to determine the merits of early case management by a single judge in family and criminal cases with a view to better informing the system of relevant best practices, including collaborative case management of family and criminal law matters.
• Review education materials on IPV, IPV risk and risk factors including the BC Summary of Domestic Violence Risk Factors, which could be provided for educational purposes to justice system participants, including the judiciary.
• By March 2018, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General in partnership with Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Children and Family Development will:
• Incorporate cultural safety and humility and trauma-informed practices when addressing intimate partner violence through Ministry and funded community programs.

Recommendation 3: Enhance IPV Data Access, Quality and Collaboration

By December 2017, the Provincial Office of Domestic Violence will:

• Coordinate dialogue between the Office of the Chief Information Officer, justice and public safety sectors to clarify the legislative authorities for sharing of information between providers and service agencies to support victims of intimate partner violence and their children.

By December 2017, the BC Coroners Service will:

• Work with stakeholders to revise the BCCS Investigative Protocol to better capture essential IPV data.
• Search the Protection Order Registry in all IPV deaths.