In 1987, one of the men who was convicted of murdering Joey escaped while on a furlough.  The murderer was later recognized as having been in a neighborhood in Methuen, MA.  As a result of this incident, Maureen Donovan and Jimmy and Joan Bamford started an informal petition to ban furloughs for convicted first degree murderers.  Donna reached out to the group and started helping with the effort.  They called themselves Citizens Against an Unsafe Society (CAUS).  The group decided to gather signatures for a formal Massachusetts Ballot Initiative Petition. The petition would put a law before the voters to abolish furloughs for first degree murderers—the same murderers who in other states would have received the death penalty. 

 

CAUS was successful in gathering over 70,000 certified signatures to secure a place on the ballot.  Wanting to avoid dealing with the popular ballot petition at election time, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a law banning furloughs for first degree murderers, so the initiative petition never had to be on the ballot.

 

During the furlough signature drive, Donna met many families of murder victims and quickly realized their need for meaningful grief counseling and other support services.  Also, as a former teacher, Donna believed that schools could help provide children with the skills they needed to lead healthy productive lives—free of violence and substance abuse.  In 1988, Donna founded JFS, a non-profit organization devoted to violence prevention, victim advocacy, and support services.  She was motivated to prevent families from suffering grief, pain, and sorrow when someone they love is murdered.  She believes violence prevention education is the solution long-term.          

 

When Donna learned about the Second Step violence prevention program, she went to Seattle, Washington to earn certification as a Second Step Train the Trainer.  Donna began securing grant funding to implement the Second Step program. She trained teachers, administrators, and parents.  Her work was recognized by Dr. Shirley Handler, Boston’s Director of Health Education, who hired Donna to train the principals and teachers in all the city of Boston’s elementary and middle schools. 

 

The Joey Fournier Services (JFS) is responsible for the Second Step violence prevention program being implemented in 500 classrooms throughout Massachusetts: Boston, Canton, Chelsea, Cambridge, Essex, Lawrence, Malden, Natick, North Andover, and Peabody to name a few.

 

Donna also started the JFS after-school program for Lawrence—which includes enrichment lessons in art, music and drama that reinforce the Second Step violence prevention school-based curriculum.

 

In 1993, Donna was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.  She served the 14th Essex District from September 1993—January 1999.  In the Legislature, she served on the Criminal Justice, Housing, Ethics, and Transportation Committees.

 

Donna Sponsored Major Legislation Signed into Law:

• Assault Weapons Ban—S 1982

• Victim Services Unit, Department of Correction; FY ’99 Budget line item.

• Sex Offender Registry and Community Notification—H 5949.

• Juvenile Justice—H 4252.

• Consideration of Domestic Violence in Custody and Visitation—H 4951.

She Represented the Legislative Caucus on The Council of State Governments Eastern Division.