The Judiciary of Guam held training sessions for court partners through the Helping Men Recover (HMR) program and the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) tool.

These are initiatives made possible due to grant funding secured by the Judiciary’s Court Programs division.

Held at the Judicial Education Center, the HMR program is a gender-based, trauma-informed treatment curriculum for substance use disorders.

The program seeks to expand evidence-based treatment services within the Judiciary’s treatment court programs, including the Veterans Treatment Court, by providing HMR facilitator training to treatment providers.

Conducted by Shane Pugh from the Center for Gender & Justice, participants consisted of representatives from the Guam Vet Center, Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center, WestCare Pacific Islands Inc., Salvation Army - Lighthouse Recovery Center, Transforming Ourselves through Healing, Growth, and Enrichment (TOHGE), Judiciary of Guam - Client Services and Family Counseling and Probation Services Division Alternative Sentencing Office, Guam Department of Education, as well as private practices.

Additionally, the Judiciary of Guam organized and hosted a virtual end-user and facilitator training on the ODARA tool, led by Dr. Zoe Hilton, its lead author and developer.

ODARA is a procedure to identify the risk of future assaults against intimate partners.

The training aligns with the Judiciary’s goals under its FY 2021 STOP VAW Projects, which focus on expanding training and services related to stalking; sexual, domestic, and dating violence; and survivor safety.

Attendees included Judiciary Probation Officers, Guam Police Department Officers from the central precinct, and the Domestic Assault Response Team (DART).

“Our commitment to justice includes empowering our court partners with the tools they need to address recovery and domestic assault in Guam,” said Administrator of the Courts Danielle T. Rosete.

She added, “We thank our service providers for their invaluable work, and we will continue to use grant funding to enhance training and services for our community.”