Governor Greg Abbott has appointed 21 individuals to the Family Violence Criminal Homicide Prevention Task Force. The appointments are for terms that will last at the Governor’s discretion. The Task Force is tasked with analyzing key risk factors that may contribute to family violence criminal homicides, advising and providing resources to state agencies and nonprofit organizations for improving training of professionals who work with survivors, collecting and making available certain non-confidential information by region, and developing policy recommendations for the state.
The appointees represent a range of backgrounds from law enforcement, public health, legal services, advocacy groups, and government agencies. They include Heather Bellino of Austin, CEO 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 for the Office of Family Services at Texas Health and Human Services; Hillary England of Pflugerville, director of trafficking and sexual violence prevention programs at the Office of the Governor; Allison Garcia of Round Rock, deputy chief of government affairs at the Office of the Attorney General; Mariah Gardner of Converse, field manager at CVS Health; Staley Heatly of Vernon, Wilbarger County Attorney; Kathryn Jacob of Waxahachie, president and CEO of The Archway (formerly SafeHaven) in Tarrant County; Julie Kinser of Amarillo, director at Department of Family and Protective Services – Child Protective Services; Kevin Lawrence of Pflugerville, executive director at Texas Municipal Police Association; Daisy Lopez of Brownsville, director at Friendship of Women Inc.; Heather Mahaffey of Denison, program coordinator at Grayson Crisis Center; Michael McNutt of Round Rock, program manager for Texas Violent Death Reporting System at Department of State Health Services; Jarvis Parsons of Bryan, Brazos County District Attorney; April Propst of Abilene, associate judge for Office of Court Administration; Hannah Rahaman of Katy, appeals manager at Office of Attorney General Crime Victims Services Division; Michelle Shields from Amarillo, director at Family Support Services in Amarillo; Chris Smyth from Round Rock, sergeant at Texas Commission on Law Enforcement; Gloria Terry from Buda, CEO at Texas Council on Family Violence; Leila Wood from Austin, professor at University Of Texas Health Science Center in Houston; Jamie Wright from Houston is a senior management analyst with Department Of Veterans Affairs.
The official website states that the Office led by Governor Abbott is part of the executive branch in Texas. Since his election in 2014 as governor (source), Greg Abbott’s administration has overseen various initiatives including job growth efforts and border security measures like Operation Lone Star (source). The office also maintains its main operations in Austin (source) and collaborates with different organizations statewide. Governor Abbott was named among TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in 2024 (source).
The creation and staffing of this task force reflect ongoing efforts by state leadership to address issues related to family violence and improve responses across regions.
