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Domestic violence remains ‘pervasive issue’

By Jon Andreassi, For The Greene County Messenger 4 min read
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news@greenecountymessenger.com

Across Pennsylvania, protection from abuse (PFA) filings went up an average of 5% from 2021 to 2022, though that has not necessarily been the experience of some local advocacy groups.

Earlier this month, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) issued a press release detailing the rise and provided a tool on its website to break down the data county by county.

In Washington and Fayette counties, the number of new filings went down. In Washington, 724 PFA cases were filed in 2021 and 620 in 2022. Fayette had 525 in 2022, down from 573 the previous year.

Cases in Greene County, however, increased, going from 131 in 2021 to 167 in 2022.

Brian Gorman, executive director of Summit Legal Aid, said their workload has remained consistent.

“PFA filings are always high. Frankly, domestic violence is always present and PFA court is always busy. That has been a constant for us over the years,” Gorman said.

Summit Legal Aid, formerly Southwestern Pennsylvania Legal Aid, is based out of Greensburg and provides attorneys and paralegals to PFA petitioners.

Gorman said they handle about 260 PFA cases per year. The agency tracks numbers quarterly, and Gorman described how the numbers can ebb and flow through the year.

“There are periods of time when you see extraordinarily high numbers, so there can be a density in our work,” Gorman said.

Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania tracks PFA filings differently than AOPC, and has seen a rise in the region in recent years.

“We do our statistics on fiscal year, not calendar year. The increases are actually a lot more significant,” said Alexandra Brooks, senior director of operations for DVSSP.

The fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. According to numbers from DVSSP, PFAs filed in the three-county region of Washington, Greene and Fayette went up 9% from 2021 to 2022, and again from 2022 to this year. The total increase over the past three years has been 17%, according to DVSSP.

DVSSP is based in Brownsville and provides a variety of services to victims of domestic violence, including helping with filing PFAs.

“There is usually more going on. They might need shelter. They might need connected with transportation. We’ll connect them with the right agencies,” Brooks said.

Per the AOPC’s statistics, of the more than 40,000 cases filed in Pennsylvania in 2022, 18% resulted in a final order being granted. In 26% of cases, the plaintiff did not appear in court, and 21% were withdrawn.

Gorman explained that there are several factors that explain the numbers.

“Each county court, and in some cases judge, handle PFAs differently. There can be different resolutions depending on the county or even the judge that those statistics might not directly reflect.”

For one, Gorman said some counties will allow temporary PFAs to be extended, and then dismissed if there are no violations in that time.

“That results in a dismissal or a withdrawal. It still supplies the alleged victim with a measure of protections,” Gorman said.

Gorman added that sometimes they are able to negotiate outside of court and obtain protections for the petitioner, and that those also would be counted as withdrawals.

In many cases, however, it is a matter of a pattern of abuse repeating.

“Some people are married, have children and they try to work it out. Or the cycle of violence just results in a withdrawal of a PFA, and you might see them again,” Gorman said.

Above all, Gorman stressed that domestic violence has been and remains a pervasive issue in society.

“It is something that needs to be taken very seriously, and not something that is dealt with or viewed with some sort of simplicity or dismissiveness,” Gorman said.

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