Ohio Domestic Violence Network Executive Director Nancy Neylon (left) and Elsa Croucher (right) present Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Ronald Adrine with the 2015 Croucher Family Award for Outstanding Leadership.

Ohio Domestic Violence Network Executive Director Nancy Neylon (left) and Elsa Croucher (right) present Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Ronald Adrine with the 2015 Croucher Family Award for Outstanding Leadership.

The Ohio Domestic Violence Network (ODVN) today presented Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Ronald Adrine with the 2015 Croucher Family Award for Outstanding Leadership. The event in the Statehouse Atrium kicked off Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Judge Adrine was selected for his commitment to ending domestic violence. The award honors Tina Croucher and her parents Elsa and Tim. Tina was murdered by an abusive ex-boyfriend, and the Crouchers created a dating abuse program and worked to pass the “Tina Croucher Act” that requires Ohio public school districts to incorporate and address dating violence in their policies and programming.

First elected to the municipal court bench in 1981, Judge Adrine has served on local and national domestic violence boards and chaired the effort to bring a Family Justice Center to Cleveland to assist victims. He also lectures extensively on domestic violence issues and co-authored the reference volume Ohio Domestic Violence Law.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month evolved from the “Day of Unity” held in October 1981 and conceived by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence to connect advocates across the nation who were working to end violence against women and their children.

ODVN was created in 1989 to support and strengthen Ohio’s response to domestic violence through training, public awareness and technical assistance, and to promote social change through public policy.