The Croucher Family Award

In 2013, the Ohio Domestic Violence Network established the Croucher Family Award given each year to a person(s) who have shown outstanding advocacy and leadership.

ODVN created the award to honor Jim and Elsa Croucher of Monroe, Ohio who were pioneers in domestic violence education. The Crouchers were plunged into the world of domestic violence four days before Christmas in 1992 when their youngest child, 18-year-old Tina, was murdered by an abusive ex-boyfriend. Determined to help save others from Tina’s fate, the Crouchers founded Citizens Against Domestic Violence in 1996 and created a Teen Dating Violence Prevention Program, “Dating Violence: 101”. The presentation was given to over 100,000 students. Nationally recognized speakers, the Crouchers furthered their efforts to educate the public about domestic violence with their efforts in the passage of the “Tina Croucher Act,” in 2009.  Named in memory of their daughter, the law requires Ohio students in grades 7 -12 to be provided education on dating violence, warning signs, and characteristics of healthy relationships.

Pictured: CJ Williams and the Honorable Denise Herman McColley

ODVN honored the Honorable Denise Herman McColley and advocate CJ Williams with its annual Croucher Family Award for Outstanding Leadership during its annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month event in the Capitol Atrium on Oct. 9. Retired Judge McColley, a former domestic relations judge in Henry County and a magistrate in Henry and Fulton counties, has spent the better part of her career making Family Court a better place for domestic violence survivors. Williams has worked as an advocate for 34 years in Indiana, Florida, Georgia and Ohio. She received the award for her 12 years of advocacy at the Ohio Reformatory for Women where she worked with more than 3,500 survivors while she was employed by Turning Point in Marion and Delaware counties.

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