The Ed Gondolf COMPASS Award

Recognizing and honoring those who have significantly guided and expanded efforts to protect survivors through advancing and evaluating accountable perpetrator intervention research and programming.

Will be awarded to: Barbara Hart J.D. November 2017

Barbara J. Hart, J. D. is the Director of Strategic Justice and Violence Against Women Initiatives in the Justice Policy Program of the Cutler Institute on Health and Social Policy of the Muskie School of Public Service of the University of Southern Maine.

She is the Principle Investigator on the Violence Against Women Measuring Effectiveness Initiative, the Tri-­County Advocacy Project, and Community Assessment of Firearms Retrieval Systems. She sits on the Maine Domestic Abuse Homicide Review Panel that produces bi-­annual reports and recommendations for systemic reforms to eliminate domestic fatalities.

Her work has included public policy development, training, and technical assistance on a broad range of issues including: analysis and critique of social science research on violence against women; advocacy for victims; risk assessment and safety planning; civil legal representation of victims; firearm retrieval from abusers; economic justice and security for survivors; systems to monitor batterer intervention programs; implementation of coordinated community intervention systems; development and critique of legislation; construction of court procedures and standards; consultation on impact litigation; development of fatality review processes; and design of training curricula. She has served as a leader in the national efforts to implement the Violence Against Women Act.

Apart from work at the Cutler Institute, Ms. Hart co-­authored, “Practical Implications of Current Intimate Partner Violence Research for Victim Advocates and Service Providers” with Andrew R. Klein, Ph.D. of Advocates for Human Potential, under contract with the National Institute of Justice, the U.S. Department of Human Services and the Office on Violence Against Women.

She hosts a series of national/international webinars designed to create discourse between prominent researchers and expert practitioners. Web libraries and recordings are produced for each webinar and can be found on the Battered Women’s Justice Project website.

Ms. Hart writes monthly legal and legacy columns for the National Bulletin on Domestic Violence Prevention, a West publication.

She has authored and co-­authored many articles on domestic violence, including: State Codes on Domestic Violence: Analysis, Commentary and Recommendations; Model Code on Domestic and Family Violence; Safety and Accountability: The Underpinnings of a Just Justice System; Confronting Domestic Violence: Effective Police Response; Seeking Justice: Coordinated Justice System Intervention Against Domestic Violence; Safety for Women: Monitoring Batterers’ Programs; and Accountability: Program Standards for Batterer Intervention Services.

She is a co-­founder of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the PA Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Berks Women in Crisis, the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women, the Battered Women’s Justice Project, the National Center on Protection Orders and Full Faith and Credit, International Justice Connections, the Domestic Violence Resource Network, and the Coalition Advocate and Attorney Network.

Publications:

Safety For Women: Monitoring Batterers’ Programs

Building Bridges Towards Safety and Accountability to End Domestic Violence Homicide (2014)

Practical Implications of Current Intimate Partner Violence Research for Victim Advocates and Service Providers (2013)

Barbara Hart discusses domestic violence offender rehabilitation in the Bangor Daily News (2015)