ABOUT DVFR

The Domestic Violence Fatality Review Act (Public Act 102-0520) was signed into law in August 2021 creating a process to establish domestic violence fatality review (DVFR) teams across Illinois.

What is fatality review?

Fatality reviews consist of multi-disciplinary, multi-agency teams of stakeholders working together to examine data from a variety of sources to piece together the days, months, and years leading up to a person’s death.

Domestic Violence Fatality Review aims to prevent future domestic violence related fatalities and near fatalities and reduce the severity and frequency of domestic violence. This process is accomplished by looking at both strengths and vulnerabilities in various intervention that may lead to adverse outcomes for survivors, victims, and their families.

Fatality review teams have been established in other fields, including those specific to fatalities involving child victims, elderly abuse and neglect, aviation, and more recently, deaths related to the opioid epidemic.

Statewide DVFR Committee

The Statewide Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee is responsible for overseeing the formation of regional domestic violence review teams across Illinois and providing technical assistance and support to those teams. The Statewide Committee will gather policy and system recommendations from each regional review team and make collective recommendations The Committee will serve as a statewide resource for addressing domestic violence-related fatalities and near-fatalities.

Officers

Megan Alderden, Ph.D., Co-Chair

Megan Alderden

Dr. Megan Alderden is an Associate Professor of Criminology at DePaul University. Her areas of expertise include research methods and program evaluation, victimology, and policing. She was a co-Investigator on two National Institute of Justice funded projects examining the impact of forensic evidence on police and prosecutorial decisions and court outcomes in sexual assault cases. Currently, she is a co-investigator on a federally funded project that focuses on educating and training laypersons, practitioners, and mental health professionals on how to identify and prevent targeted violence. She is the lead evaluator for a federally funded research project that aims to support and link recently incarcerated individuals with job training and employment. She is the Board President for the Justice Research and Statistics Association and the co-chair of the Illinois Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee.  

Prior to joining DePaul University, she was the Associate Director of Research with the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA), a state agency dedicated to improving the administration of justice in Illinois. As the ICJIA Research Director, she oversaw a wide portfolio of research projects that spanned from victim services to effective correctional practices and policies. 

Sara Block, Co-Chair

Sara Block Sara Block is the Managing Director of Advocacy and Partnerships at Ascend Justice where she focuses on policy and systemic reform that impact families experiencing domestic violence. Sara is also the Academic Director for Child and Family Law Programs at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

In the Master of Jurisprudence in Child Law program at Loyola, Sara teaches Child Welfare Law and Policy, and Juvenile Justice Law Policy. Sara was a Skadden Fellow at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago with a fellowship focusing on the intersection of domestic violence and child welfare. Sara was awarded the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network’s Outstanding Partnership Award, the Family Defense Center’s Major Litigation Award for her involvement in Julie Q. v. DCFS, and the Jewish United Fund’s “36 Under 36” award. Sara received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2007, where she was a Child Law Fellow and the Features Editor of the Children’s Legal Rights Journal. Sara received her B.A. degree with honors in American Studies from Northwestern University. Sara is the author of the book entitled Together Unbroken: Stories, Law, Practice and Healing at the Intersection of Domestic Violence and Child Welfare. She has two daughters and feels honored to be their mother. 

Jayden Anderson-Baker, Secretary

Jayden Anderson-Baker

Jayden Anderson-Baker, MPA, CDVP, is the Development Director for Harbor House, the only domestic violence agency serving Kankakee and Iroquois Counties. She leads the organization’s fundraising and development efforts. With seven years of experience in domestic violence advocacy and nonprofit leadership, Jayden pioneered the 21st Judicial Circuit Domestic Violence Fatality Regional Review Team and served as its first Co-Chair, leading the completion of the first domestic violence fatality review in Illinois under the state’s new legislation. She also serves as Secretary of the Illinois Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee, is a member of the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence Funding Oversight Committee, and serves on the Kankakee County Crisis Intervention Board. Jayden regularly speaks at events about nonprofit leadership, survivor advocacy, coordinated community response, and sustainable community impact.

Committee Members

Members are appointed in accordance with terms of the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Act, 750 ILCS 62. The membership of DVFRC is required to have racial, ethnic, gender, and geographic diversity.

  • Sen. Celina Villanueva

    Senator, 12th District

    Illinois Senate

  • Sen. Terri Bryant

    Senator, 58th District

    Illinois Senate

  • Rep. Maurice West

    Representative, 67th District

    Illinois House of Representatives

  • Rep. Patrick Windhorst

    Representative, 117th District

    Illinois House of Representatives

  • Emily Miller

    Senior Advisor to the Governor

    State of Illinois

  • Jennifer Cacciapaglia

    Executive Director

    Mayor’s Office of Domestic Violence and Community Violence Prevention

    City of Rockford

  • Jayden Anderson-Baker, Secretary

    Development Director

    Harbor House

  • Fawn Pettet

    Client Support Services Manager

    Land of Lincoln Legal Aid

  • Amirrah Abou-Youssef

    Local Council Coordinator

    12th Judicial Family Violence Coordinating Council

    Will County

  • Willette Benford

    Senior Advisor

    Office of MK Pritzker

  • Jennifer Vancil

    Chief Operating Officer

    Quincy Area Network Against Domestic Violence

  • Fatimeh Hussien

    Director of Advocacy

    Life Span

  • Sheikera Balentine

    Director of Legal Advocacy

    Violence Prevention Center of Southwestern Illinois

  • Shelby Hoffman Binder

    Policy, Advocacy, and Research Manager

    The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence

  • Jennifer Welch

    Chief Policy Officer

    Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence

  • Meg Hefty

    Associate Director

    Sarah’s Inn

  • Dr. Thomas Golebiewski

    L.C.S.W. in Private Practice

    Psychotherapy and Counseling

    Adjunct Professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work

  • Dr. Anastasia Khoubeava

    Emergency Medicine Attending

    Endeavor Health Medical Group

  • Tom Weitzel

    Chief of Police, Retired

    Riverside Police Department

  • Sheriff Andrew Hires

    Richland County Sheriff

  • Dr. Megan Alderden, Co-Chair

    Associate Professor of Criminology

    DePaul University

  • Sara Block, Co-Chair

    Managing Director of Advocacy and Partnerships

    Ascend Justice

  • Alisa Velonis

    Associate Professor

    University of Illinois School of Public Health

    Community Health Sciences

Ex-Officio Members

  • Ariana Correa

    Policy Manager

    Office of Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton

  • Erica Koegler

    Bureau Chief

    Bureau of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault & Human Trafficking

    Illinois Department of Human Services

  • Kevin Garcia

    Lieutenant Colonel

    Division of Criminal Investigation

    Illinois State Police

  • Heather Blancke

    Associate Deputy Director Child Protection

    Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

  • Patrick J. Delfino

    Director

    Illinois State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor

    Appellate Prosecutor’s Office

  • Carolyn Klarquist

    Director of Pretrial Fairness Unit

    Office of the State Appellate Defender

  • Naomi Taylor

    Rape Prevention and Education Coordinator

    Illinois Department of Public Health

  • Robert J. Anderson

    Retired Circuit Judge

    18th Judicial Circuit