Contact: David Weaver, 240-777-6530 or
Mary Anderson, 240-777-6534

For Immediate Release: July 18, 2001

Duncan Announces Outside Review of
Center Allegations; Panel to Look at Complaints
Raised by Residents at Krahnke Center

In the wake of serious allegations made by residents of the Betty Anne Krahnke Domestic Violence Center, County Executive Douglas M. Duncan today announced the establishment of an independent Community Review Panel to look into the matter and report back to him by October 15, 2001. Duncan also announced that staff from the Department of Health and Human Services will increase the number of surprise inspections of the facility and implement a revised client feedback mechanism.

“This Center is supposed to be a refuge from abuse,” Duncan said. “The residents of this facility have experienced enough trauma in their lives already, and we are going to do everything in our power to provide them with the care they need to begin to re-build, not add to their stress.”

Mark Battle, retired executive director of the National Association of Social Workers was named by Duncan to chair the panel, which also includes retired Circuit Court Judge David Cahoon; Dorothy Fait, Esq., chair of the County’s Domestic Violence Task Force; Alan Kraut, Ph.D., executive director of the American Psychological Society; and Sidney Schiller, LCSW, former bureau chief of the Prince George’s County Department of Social Services.

Duncan indicated that the internal review initiated by Chief Administrative Officer Bruce Romer last week will continue. “While I have complete confidence in the review being conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services,” Duncan added, “having an outside review will help us better serve the residents of the Center.”

The Betty Ann Krahnke Center opened in April 2000 and provides residential services to abused women and their children. The18-bedroom facility replaced the County’s six-bedroom shelter, which opened in 1979. The shelter is run under contract by Potomac Healthcare Foundation.