Innovative leadership
Award winning programs
01Trauma program wins national awards
Kirsten Pabst joined clinical social worker Andrew Laue, LCSW, and created the first of its kind secondary trauma program for prosecutors, designed to educate staff on the impact of trauma and provide tools to manage the effects of trauma, enhance resilience and increase employee longevity. Hailed as an innovative success, the National Association of Counties (NACo) recognized Pabst and Laue with a national Achievement Award and a 100 Brilliant Ideas in Government Awar...
Learn More02Model special Victims unit
Under Kirsten’s leadership, the Missoula SVU has grown from an historical single person to a trained team of 8 full time employees, including 4 attorneys, a supervisor, investigator, paralegal and victim witness coordinator. The team has traveled to provide trainings to other communities seeking to implement best practices and secure convictions. The Attorney General’s Office has shared the Missoula SVU team’s manual for Prosecuting Sexual Assault Cases with eve...
Learn More03mt's first criminal mediation program
In an effort to extend limited resources, Kirsten designed and implemented Montana’s first formal criminal mediation program to focus resources on the most dangerous criminals. Criminal trials have become prohibitively expensive, a single trial often costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Though mediation, non-violent cases can be settled without the costs associated with trial while offering restorative justice, including restitution, to victims...
Learn More04County attorney’s pretrial diversion program garners more national recognition
The Missoula County Attorney’s Office recently received a $600,000 grant award from the federal Department of Justice to help grow Calibrate, the first prosecution-led pretrial diversion program in Montana....
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