Governor Greg Abbott has appointed 21 members 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 responsible for analyzing risk factors that may lead to family violence criminal homicide, advising state agencies and nonprofit organizations on training improvements, collecting and sharing non-confidential information by region, and developing policy recommendations for the state.
The appointees include Heather Bellino of Austin, chief executive officer of the Texas Advocacy Project; Jia Benno of Austin, injury prevention unit director for 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) of 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 and legal section manager at Office of Attorney General Crime Victims Services Division; Michelle Shields of Amarillo, director at Family Support Services Amarillo; Chris Smyth of Round Rock, sergeant at Texas Commission on Law Enforcement; Gloria Terry of Buda, CEO at Texas Council on Family Violence; Leila Wood of Austin, professor at University Of Texas Health Science Center Houston; Jamie Wright from Houston is a senior management and program analyst in the Department Of Veterans Affairs.
The task force will advise on improving training for professionals who work with survivors and make public certain data about family violence cases. They will also recommend policies to help prevent family violence homicides in Texas.
The Office led by Governor Abbott is part of the executive branch in Texas state government and maintains its main offices in Austin’s State Insurance Building. The office also focuses on job creation initiatives as well as efforts related to border security and child sex trafficking prevention. More details about these priorities can be found on the official website.
Governor Abbott has served as governor since his election in 2014. He was named among TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in 2024 according to information from his official website.
