Opening in February 2021, the Survivor Resource Center is the precursor to The Umbrella Center, Charlotte-Mecklenburg's family justice center. It serves victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse, and human trafficking. Cases are referred to the Survivor Resource Center by community partners, and within the referral form, partners are asked whether the individual is at high risk.  Safe Alliance's threshold for determining if the situation is high risk is if the situation could result in the next domestic violence homicide. Based on best practices, the Survivor Resource Center developed a High-Risk Team (HRT) to respond to these cases. After the referral is submitted, the High-Risk Team meets within 24-72 business hours to address the high-risk case. The collaborators within these meetings include representatives from Safe Alliance, Pat's Place Child Advocacy Center, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Mecklenburg County's District Attorney's Office, Town Police Department's, Atrium's Domestic Violence Healthcare Project and several other victim service providers. Through the combined efforts, the different perspectives and connections allow partners to effectively work on each case and ideally prevent domestic violence homicides. 

Each case is unique and will face different barriers whether it be children involved, language and dialect barriers, or if steps can be taken or have been taken, etc. The most frequent signs a case is high risk is when there is involvement of firearms or strangulation. Most cases involve one, if not both, of these factors. The meeting begins with a brief synopsis of all the details and whether there are any police reports. The High-Risk Team considers several factors such as their abuser's history with drugs or alcohol, past offenses, or whether the victim has been hospitalized. The team then figures out what they can do to prosecute the case and keep the victim safe. With the individual considered high risk, it is important that the victim finds safety away from the abuser. They must evaluate their living situation, how they can help remove them from this situation, and how they can prevent them from being in danger.  

One of the collaborators at these meetings is a representative from the District Attorney's Office, Samantha Pendergrass. Samantha supervises the misdemeanor unit on the Special Victims team and assists with domestic violence cases. Although the District Attorney's Office is not a treatment provider, the team still holds a significant role in setting expectations of what can happen in court and answering legal questions.  After attending these high-risk meetings, Samantha recognizes the value these meetings hold as they play a big part in obtaining safety for the victim. "When the high-risk team first started, we were struggling to find momentum and how to refer cases. However, as time went on, we learned how to better organize this process. These meetings have helped us work towards safety for our clients in a more efficient manner," Samantha explained.

By including representatives with different specialties, it allows the High-Risk Team to share information and work together in a way that might not be possible if they did not meet with one another. "By having everyone in the same room, you can get information and ask questions to the appropriate individuals. It makes you more competent to do the job by having all the details," Samantha notes.   

Another group that plays a crucial role and contributes to the high-risk referrals is Safe Alliance's Victim Assistance Court Program (VACP). VACP advocates assess and identify cases considered high lethality. This means they look out for cases with high risk factors like strangulation, sexual assault, children present, and weapons involved. If the individual is deemed in imminent danger of life-threatening harm, the case is referred to the High-Risk Team. Cristian Crisostomo, Senior Court Advocate at VACP has made many referrals to the High-Risk Team.  He believes that the HRT is essential to prosecution and safety for the victim. "These meetings allow for a collaborative team effort to be able to help bring urgency to the victim's case and put an extra layer of attention," Cristian says.  The exchange of ideas opens more suggestions and allows for partners to create a road map for the case. By using the collaborative High Risk Team model, the case is more likely to be prosecuted, and thus keep the survivor safe.