603 Legal Aid is pleased to announce Taylor Flagg as its new DOVE Project Coordinator. DOVE is a special project of 603 Legal Aid’s Pro Bono Program and connects victims and survivors to volunteers who can provide legal representation at final domestic violence and stalking protective order hearings. Taylor started at 603 Legal Aid in May and is being trained by outgoing DOVE Project Coordinator Pam Dodge before Pam retires at the end of this month.
“Taylor consistently demonstrates problem solving strategies with clients and crisis service advocates, and she applies her knowledge of domestic violence and stalking laws when communicating with lawyers,” said Pam. “Taylor has embraced opportunities for outreach and training programs to take place over the next several months. I am pleased to pass the torch to Taylor, and know the program is in very capable hands.”
Taylor received a master’s degree in justice studies from UNH in 2017. She remained with the school for two years as an employee working at the UNH Prevention Innovation Research Center, where she led the implementation of uSafeUS, a nationally-recognized sexual assault prevention and response mobile app.
“I am truly an advocate at heart and am passionate about giving a voice to the voiceless,” Taylor said. “I do this work to empower victims and survivors to take their power back.”
Taylor also worked as a witness victim witness advocate with the Hillsborough County Attorney’s Office, serving as a liaison between victims, prosecutors, police departments, and other community partners, and at Amoskeag Health as a social work case manager and a prenatal substance use disorder case manager. It was through this job that Taylor first got to know 603 Legal Aid.
“I would recommend patients contact 603 Legal Aid for help if they were having trouble receiving community resources,” she said. “When I found the DOVE Project Coordinator position with 603 Legal Aid, I knew that was my dream job.”
Taylor sees the DOVE Coordinator position as an opportunity to not only advocate for individual victims and survivors trying to obtain a protective order, but also work to improve the justice system for survivors of domestic violence.
“Often times the justice system does not feel like justice for victims and survivors. Being able to increase accessibility of legal representation, minimize additional trauma in the legal process, and improve protective order outcomes are incredibly important to me.”
Taylor has already enjoyed reconnecting with people in the legal community. She also plans to strengthen 603 Legal Aid’s relationships with the state’s network of crisis centers and support and train more volunteer pro bono attorneys to pick up domestic violence cases.
“Clients who have an advocate have a greater chance of getting a protective order and making sure that their needs are addressed,” she said. “Many victims and survivors say that the emotional abuse they face is the hardest thing to overcome. A protective order can not only save a life, it can give the individual time to heal and make a plan to move on safely from their past without facing additional manipulation and harm from their abuser.”
