The Bellingham-Whatcom County Commission Against Domestic Violence was created on December 1, 1998 to provide leadership in the community’s effort to reduce and prevent domestic violence. The Commission is a joint effort by the City of Bellingham and Whatcom County, the purpose of which is determined in the City of Bellingham Ordinance No. 1998-11-084 and Whatcom County Ordinance No. 98-072. The functions of the Commission, as identified in the ordinance, are outlined below:

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• Develop and implement a coordinated comprehensive domestic violence plan that is monitored, evaluated and updated on a regular basis.
• Promote coordination and increase collaboration of institutions, systems and services as they respond to offenders, victims, children and others who have been impacted by domestic violence.
• Increase community awareness and understanding about domestic violence.
• Serve as an advisory board to local government agencies and the community with respect to domestic violence issues.
• Develop community benchmarks for monitoring domestic violence and prepare an annual report.
• Serve as a community forum on domestic violence and create a mechanism for identifying issues, concerns, needs and resources.

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Membership
The Commission consists of 13 government and 14 community members. Government officials are designated by government position. Community members are appointed by the Mayor of Bellingham and the County Executive from among members of the community who have an interest in, or are impacted by, domestic violence. The Mayor and County Executive each appoints seven community members representing the following stakeholder groups:

• Domestic Violence Service Provider (1 each)
• Human Service Providers (2 each)
• Major Employer (1 each)
• Health Care Provider (1 each)
• Community at Large (2 each)

Terms of appointed members are 4 years. If you are interested in serving on the Commission, please contact the Commission at mail@dvcommission.org.
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Meetings
Commission meetings are open to the public and are generally held on the fourth Tuesday of the month from 10:00 a.m. until noon, in January, April, June, September and November.
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Strategic Plan
The Commission has developed a multi-year strategic plan that is used as a basis for the Commission’s annual work plan. Committees and work groups actively work throughout the year to implement the strategic plan.
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Publications
Published works of the Commission can be found on the reports page