The domestic violence justice response is meant to be
a more holistic approach to victims
in particular, the families that are experiencing domestic violence.
So we wanted to make sure that it's very much viewed
from the view of the victim, not the justice system participants,
and certainly not the police or the Crown 
or other people that are involved formally.
We want to make sure that it's approachable and accessible by 
by people that are unwittingly and involuntarily stuck in the system
so that was our primary focus was that holistic approach.
We don't want it to be just about the people that are involved.
We want to make sure that the systems involved have to
respond to people more appropriately.
What we saw as a gap is the inconsistency of services.
There are some victims of intimate partner violence that will get
five or six opportunities for services, 
and others go unattended.
They're in a circumstance where their well-being isn't necessarily
solid or strong enough in that moment to be able to
respond proactively for themselves.
They've just been in an incident and so their mind is racing, 
they're trying to figure out what to do,
they're wanting to care for their children, 
they're wanting to make sure their pets are cared for,
they want to make sure that their home is safe,
and so there's a lot rushing through their mind
and so if somebody walks in and says
"Hey, I'm from this organization and can provide you some supports."
They may not be at a point where they can receive those supports
just because of the whole experience of what they are going through.
So, as a victim serving organization, our goal was to be able to 
provide services beyond just that initial call
so that we could be able to provide services on day 2, day 3, day 7,
day 15, day 75, or five years down the road
if that in fact was how long that incident took to be able 
to come to its fulsome resolve.
The program has been designed so that our workers
will be connecting with them strategically throughout that period of time.
Every situation is different.
Family dynamics is complex.
Things take years to evolve before we actually may get involved
and so to go and think it's a one path solution or one simple solution
is really really shortsighted.
We need an army of people in the community,
as well as in the system
to be able to respond to the complexities of domestic violence
which are different from everyone else.
Yes, there are themes. But the solutions are not necessarily
a one size fits all for everyone as well.
