Governor Greg Abbott has appointed 21 members to the Family Violence Criminal Homicide Prevention Task Force. The appointments are effective until the Governor decides otherwise. The task force will study key risk factors that may contribute to family violence criminal homicides, advise state agencies and nonprofit organizations on training for professionals working with survivors, collect and publish non-confidential data by region, and develop policy recommendations for the state.
The newly appointed members come from a range of backgrounds in public service, law enforcement, health care, advocacy, and legal fields. They include Heather Bellino of Austin, chief executive officer of the Texas Advocacy Project; Jia Benno of Austin, injury prevention unit director at the Texas Department of State Health Services; Megan Bermea of Cedar Park, program director at Texas Health and Human Services; Hillary England of Pflugerville, director at the Office of the Governor; Allison Garcia of Round Rock, deputy chief at the Office of the Attorney General; Mariah Gardner of Converse with CVS Health; Staley Heatly of Vernon, Wilbarger County Attorney; Kathryn Jacob of Waxahachie from The Archway (formerly SafeHaven) in Tarrant County; Julie Kinser of Amarillo with Child Protective Services; Kevin Lawrence of Pflugerville from the Texas Municipal Police Association; Daisy Lopez of Brownsville from Friendship of Women Inc.; Heather Mahaffey from Grayson Crisis Center in Denison; Michael McNutt from Round Rock managing the Texas Violent Death Reporting System; Jarvis Parsons from Bryan as Brazos County District Attorney; April Propst from Abilene as associate judge for Court Administration; Hannah Rahaman from Katy at Crime Victims Services Division in the Attorney General’s office; Michelle Shields in Amarillo leading advocacy services at Family Support Services; Chris Smyth in Round Rock as sergeant at Texas Commission on Law Enforcement; Gloria Terry in Buda as CEO at Texas Council on Family Violence; Leila Wood in Austin as professor at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston; and Jamie Wright in Houston with Veterans Affairs.
According to information available on its official website, the Office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott is part of the executive branch and operates statewide across Texas. The office maintains its main offices in Austin at the State Insurance Building and is involved in initiatives such as border security efforts through Operation Lone Star and child sex trafficking prevention. Since his election in 2014, Greg Abbott has led this office with priorities including job creation, education enhancement, individual liberties protection, parental empowerment regarding schooling decisions, and economic development.
The task force will work closely with state agencies and community partners to fulfill its mandate.
