When the criminal justice system intervenes in domestic violence incidents, numerous public and private agencies get involved. Police and probation departments, organizations of prosecutors and public defenders, and civil, criminal, and family courts play a role. Organizations that support victims, those that supervise and treat batterers, and even the public agencies that protect and serve children are drawn in.

http://www.vera.org/project/project1_1.asp?section_id=4&project_id=28