Understanding the Intersections

Advocates working with domestic violence (DV) survivors to obtain housing are committed to the principles of Housing First and Rapid Rehousing that recommend getting clients into permanent housing as quickly as possible. They struggle, however, with how “as quickly as possible” may be defined by funders and policy makers who do not fully understand the intricacies of their efforts. The purpose of this study was to better understand the complexities involved in helping IPV survivors obtain safe and stable housing.

An estimated 15.5 million American children are exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) every year. Such exposure negatively impacts children’s health, development and academic performance and may also be accompanied by housing instability or homelessness. Children growing up with periods of homelessness or housing instability are at risk for many of the same detrimental outcomes as children exposed to IPV. This brief highlights key findings from a qualitative, longitudinal study examining mothers’ perceptions of how receipt of flexible funding designed to increase their housing stability may have also impacted their children’s safety, stress, mood and behavior.

The Housing First model has been shown to be a highly effective approach to achieving permanent housing for chronically homeless individuals with serious mental illness and chemical dependency. There are numerous components of the model that lend themselves toward achieving similar goals for homeless domestic violence (DV) survivors and their children. A leading cause of homelessness for women, many of whom are mothers, is DV. This article describes the commonalities between the Housing First model and the tenets of DV victim advocacy work and explores how Housing First can be adapted to effectively achieve safe and stable housing for DV survivors and their children. Preliminary evidence for the adapted model – termed Domestic Violence Housing First – is provided, and policy implications are discussed.

This research brief provides a brief overview of the current and expanding evidence behind best practices in helping domestic violence survivors obtain safe and stable housing. It begins with evidence for three common core components of this work: mobile advocacy, flexible funding, and attending to safety. It then provides evidence for how services should be provided: survivor-driven, trauma-informed, and voluntary.

Describes results of an evaluation of DASH's Survivor Resilience Fund, a low-barrier and trauma informed approach to homelessness prevention for survivors.

The District Alliance for Safe Housing (DASH) is a large, community-based organization located in Washington, D.C. It aims to provide services that promote self-determination, autonomy and safety for all survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), sexual assault, sex trafficking, same-sex IPV, and homelessness. DASH also engages in systems advocacy to increase survivors’ safe housing options throughout the housing continuum. DASH uses low-barrier, voluntary, trauma-informed approaches to service delivery in order to enact their core beliefs:integrity, sovereignty, empowerment, accountability, partnerships, compassion, and re-centering. In 2013, evaluators from Michigan State University’s Research Consortium on Gender Based Violence collaborated with DASH to implement a process and outcome evaluation of DASH's program model. This document summarizes their findings.

This presentation describes how flexible funds are employed in a DV housing program in Washington DC as a means to prevent homelessness for survivors. Further, it discusses the elements and results of a longitudinal pilot study that tested whether this project (DASH's Survivor Resiliency Fund) represents a promising strategy to prevent homelessness for survivors of intimate partner violence.

In 2016, 8 agencies in California piloted the Domestic Violence Housing First Model (DVHF), an initiative that focuses on helping survivors get into safe and stable housing as quickly as possible, and on providing services to help them move forward with their lives. This process evaluation documents what it takes for agencies to implement the DVHF model and provides preliminary evidence for its impact on the lives of survivors and their children.

One approach for DV survivors who require housing assistance and supportive services for a longer period of time is transitional housing (TH), which provides an apartment or rental unit, along with rental assistance and supportive services for up to two years, allowing survivors time to work on any barriers they face to securing permanent housing and to heal from the trauma they have experienced. Another approach for DV survivors is rapid re-housing (RRH), which allows DV survivors to locate their own apartment and to receive rental assistance and supportive services for a period of time.This study explored the ways in which DV survivors experienced a TH program that they were currently enrolled in, as well as their perceptions about whether RRH would have been a good fit for them given different durations of rental assistance and supportive services.

In 2017, the National Alliance for Safe Housing, in collaboration with the Domestic Violence and Housing TA Consortium and other key partners, developed and disseminated a national Safe Housing Needs Assessment to gather input from community service providers, coalitions and continuums of care. This assessment -- the first of its kind -- aimed at simultaneously reaching the domestic and sexual violence field and the homeless and housing field. It gathered information on topics ranging from the extent to which both fields coordinate to provide safety and access to services for domestic and sexual violence survivors within the homeless system, to ways in which programs are implementing innovative models to promote long-term housing stability for survivors and their families. This report provides an overview of the key findings from the 2,000+ people who participated in the needs assessment.

In 2022, NRCDV conducted a Needs Assessment project to document the current and emerging barriers to safe, stable, and accessible housing for BIPOC survivors, as well as the innovative practices implemented by grassroots organizations and community-based agencies to address survivors' housing needs. It included a desk review, listening sessions with service providers and survivor-advocates, and interviews with researchers. 

The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV) conducted a two-part needs assessment project. The first part of the assessment documented domestic violence survivors' current and emerging housing needs, centering on the perspectives of marginalized populations, particularly Black and Brown communities. The second part of the assessment documented the innovative practices, promising housing approaches, and interventions implemented in the field by grassroots organizations and community-based agencies to address the housing needs of survivors. 

Lecciones aprendidas de una investigación participativa de base comunitaria. El equipo de investigación fue formado por personas de una organización de base comunitaria y otras personas de una institución académica.Todos los procedimientos del estudio, incluyendo la recopilación de datos, análisis e interpretación de datos se realizaron en español.

This infograph highlights the lessons learned from the community-based participatory research study Viviendo Con Dignidad: Las Experiencias de Sobrevivientes Latinas Inmigrantes" (Translation: Living with Dignity: Lived Experiences of Latina Immigrant Survivors). The research team was made up of people from community-based organizations and others from academic institutions. All study procedures, including data collection, data analysis, and interpretation were conducted in Spanish. The study and infograph were then translated into English. 

Este informe es una construcción colectiva de conocimiento en la que articulamos la sabiduría de un grupo de mujeres sobrevivientes de violencia de género de una organización de base comunitaria desde sus propias vivencias junto con los conocimientos metodológicos de un equipo de investigación académico. Es nuestra intención reconocer la capacidad y el poder profundo de los grupos comunitarios de crear conocimiento, como también resaltar nuestro compromiso con estudios de investigación que no son extractivistas del conocimiento y el saber de las comunidades de la mayoría global a través de procesos de investigación participativa. Nuestra colaboración es entre Madre Tierra, una organización Latina de base comunitaria que provee servicios de apoyo a sobrevivientes de violencia de género en Virginia, Maryland y Washington DC y la División de Justicia Lingüística del Consorcio de Investigación en Violencia de Género de la Universidad Estatal de Michigan.

The LGBT Center of Central Pennsylvania (PA) received funding from the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV) to pilot a flexible financial assistance model. This process evaluation was undertaken to document the organization's background and service model, what it takes for the organization to implement the flexible financial assistance model, and to provide preliminary evidence for its impact on the lives of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ survivors. This report summarizes the findings from this evaluation to offer guidance to other organizations. This includes the challenges encountered and lessons learned in the implementation process along with preliminary evidence of the success of the flexible financial assistance model. 

This infograph highlights the information presented within the report titled "Process Evaluation of a Flexible Funding Pilot Program to Prevent Homelessness among BIPOC and LGBTQ+ Survivors". It identifies what the guiding principles of flexible funding are, how funds were distributed, outcomes, and lessons learned from the evaluation. 

The State of Homelessness in America 2016 is the sixth in a series of reports charting progress in ending homelessness in the United States. It is intended to serve as a desktop reference for policymakers, journalists, and community and state leaders.

NLIHC’s annual report, Out of Reach, documents the gap between wages and the price of housing across the United States. The report’s Housing Wage is an estimate of the hourly wage that a full-time worker must earn to afford a modest and safe rental home without spending more than 30% of his or her income on rent and utility costs. The report indicates that housing costs are "out of reach" for both for the average renter and for millions of low-wage workers, seniors and people with disabilities living on fixed incomes, and other low-income households. In no county, even those where the minimum wage has been set above the federal level, can a minimum wage renter working a 40-hour work week afford a modest two-bedroom rental unit. 

The 2016 Downtown Womens' Needs Assessment is a community-based research project, and the sixth in a series of comprehensive surveys on the needs, characteristics, and conditions facing homeless and extremely low-income women living in downtown Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles County, the number of women experiencing homelessness increased by a staggering 55% between 2013 and 2016. Research shows that domestic violence is a primary driver into homelessness for women and that gender-based violence is the most significant difference between men and women experiencing homelessness. The purpose of this report is to give voice to the opinions and perspectives of those with lived experience to guide client-centered systems change and develop coordinated community responses that meet the direct needs of this population.

This research brief explores the relationship between housing issues, homelessness, and sexual violence. The research reviewed indicates that residents of subsidized housing and people who are homeless experience disproportionate rates of sexual violence.

This study looked at gender-specific issues related to housing programs in Winnipeg, Canada. Among other findings, safety was a key concern among women looking for housing. Researchers noted that many women have experienced domestic violence in their homes, and that women are more likely to stay in unsafe situations because of their inability to find other housing. Women in the study described having experienced sexual harassment from landlords, and reported that safety features such as lighting sensors and cameras in stairwells and elevators made them feel safer. The authors strongly recommend implementation of gender-based analysis in all housing policies and programs, and note that cooperative (shared) housing is greatly assistive to women with low incomes.

This research paper presents findings from an evaluation of a Housing First program for homeless individuals with mental illness in five cities across Canada. Conclusions from this research include that adapting Housing First with anti-racism/anti-oppression principles offers a promising approach to serving the diverse needs of homeless people from ethno-racial groups and strengthening the service systems developed to support them.

Because of known differences in health care experiences and outcomes by race and ethnicity, researchers in Toronto tested the effectiveness of a Housing First program enhanced with antiracism and antioppression practices. The main principles of the antiracism and antioppression services delivered include empowerment, education, alliance building, language use, and advocacy. The study’s findings have key policy implications for Housing First interventions and suggest that Housing First enhanced with anti-racism and anti-oppression practices can improve housing stability and community functioning.

This document covers the common barriers and challenges survivors have brought forth related to accessing housing security. It provides concrete steps and policy solutions that seeks to shift the landscape of housing access, inventory, and sustainability.