A Study of the Effectiveness of a Housing Intervention for Battered Women Multnomah County Domestic Violence Coordinator

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A Study of the Effectiveness of a Housing
Intervention for Battered WomenMultnomah
County Domestic Violence Coordinators Office,
Chiquita Rollins, Principle InvestigatorFebruary
9, 2007
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Partners

• Cooperative Agreement between Multnomah County
  Domestic Violence Coordinators Office and the
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  
• Nancy Glass, Co-Principal Investigator, Johns
  Hopkins University
• Oregon Health Sciences University, Volunteers of
  America Home Free Program, Raphael House of
  Portland, Dept. Human Services Self Sufficiency
  Program, Portland Impact
• Charlene Baker, University of Hawaii and Phaedra
  Corso, University of Georgia

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Collaborative Community Research Team

• Domestic violence victim advocates and community
  partners included in shaping protocol and process
• Survivor participation
• Encompasses complexity of participants lives and
  resources utilized

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Link between Domestic Violence and Housing

• Poor or homeless women experience DV at higher
  rates and have fewer resources with which to
  seek/maintain safe and stable housing
• From 22 to 57 of homeless women identify
  domestic violence as the main cause of their
  homelessness
• 38 of all domestic violence victims become
  homeless at some point in their lives
• 46 of homeless women reported that they had
  previously stayed in an abusive relationship
  because they had no where else to go

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Impact of Housing Instability or Domestic
Violence on Children

• 47 of homeless school-aged children and 29 of
  homeless children under 5 have witnessed domestic
  violence
• More than half of female domestic violence
  victims live in households with children under
  the age of 12
• Mothers with less stable financial, social, and
  living situations reported their children to have
  intervened more during past violent incidents.

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Impact of Housing Instability on Children

• Homelessness for children is not a brief episode
  or one-time experience.
• More than one-fourth of homeless children have
  multiple episodes of homelessness
• Homeless families move at a rate 16 times greater
  than that of the average American family
• Frequent moves contribute to poor academic
  achievement, physical and emotional health
  problems, hunger, and problems later in life,
  (substance abuse and sexual risk taking)
• Racism means that a disproportionate number of
  the homeless are children of color

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Impact of Domestic Violence in Multnomah County

• Estimated 28,000 victims 60 have children
• Over 50 of all reported violent crime, with
  10,000 police reports/year (PPB DVRU)
• Largest contributing factor to county and area
  homicides (25-30)
• Significant factor in 35 of long-term child
  abuse/neglect cases
• 30,000 crisis calls annually to community-based
  hotlines
• 15,000 domestic violence shelter bednights
  annually (single women and families)
• Minimum cost to local government 15 million
  annually
• Cost to businesses estimated as 10 million

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Response to Domestic Violence in Multnomah County

• Multi-layered multi-jurisdiction response
• Criminal Justice System 9-1-1, law enforcement
  (6 agencies), specialized police, DA and
  probation units, courts, jail, DVERT, defense
  bar victim assistants
• Civil Justice System family court bench,
  restraining and stalking orders, custody,
  visitation, dependency
• Victim Services System crisis lines, 4 shelters,
  7 culturally- or population-specific programs,
  housing, legal advocacy
• TA-DVS
• Other services health care (OHP, county,
  private), mental health, AD, public assistance
  (TANF, employment programs, etc.), other

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Why Evaluate a Domestic Violence Housing Program?

• Clear need for housing for victims of domestic
  violence
• County/City/State and Federal governments all
  funding long-term housing services for victims
• VOA Home Free and other domestic violence
  programs adopting housing first model
• Current emphasis on Rapid Re-housing/Housing
  First without research on effectiveness with
  victims/women
• Domestic violence has a significant negative
  impact and cost in our community and little or no
  cost effectiveness data related to domestic
  violence victim services of any kind

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Importance of the Research Project

• Fill the gaps in current research
• Current housing research doesnt consider
  effectiveness of housing first for victims and
  their children
• Domestic violence research doesnt consider
  impact of housing instability on victims
  abilities to stay safe and on childrens outcomes
• Provide policy direction to funders and agencies
• Funding priorities at OVW and HUD shifting to
  longer-term housing and to proven practices
• Some housing policy creates barriers for victims
  and their children
• Provide cost and efficacy information for local
  policy makers
• Reduce barriers to housing for victims
• Correct misinformation about domestic violence
  and victims

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Important Caveats

• Permanent housing programs must be built on a
  basis of short-term emergency domestic violence
  shelters and crisis intervention
• Permanent housing programs can not replace
  safety-focused crisis intervention and shelters
• Permanent housing program must be safety-focused
  and address full range of victims needs

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Study Design

• Participants Women domestic violence victims,
  age 18-64, who speak English or Spanish
• Study begins at post-crisis stage of service
  delivery
• Data collected
• Outcomes for women and their children
• Cost of domestic violence and cost effectiveness
  of the housing models
• Interviews at 6-month intervals for 18 months,
  with reimbursement
• Qualitative interviews focusing on
  inter-relationships between housing and
  victimization
• Cost effectiveness study
• Process Study

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Program Long-term Housing Long-term Advocacy/ Support
VOA Home Free Rent Assistance YES YES
VOA Home Free Post Crisis Advocacy NO YES
Raphael House YES NO
Human Services DV Grant NO NO
Portland Impact YES NO
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Data Gathered Victims and Children

• Survivor self-reported data
• Demographics
• Income, housing stability, employment
• IPV (type, frequency, severity)
• Health, mental health, substance abuse
• Social support and service utilization
• Parent-child relationship
• Childrens outcomes (health, exposure to
  violence, behavior, school achievement)
• 6-month follow-up interviews will also ask about
  quality of services by partner agencies

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Data Gathered Cost and Cost Effectiveness

• For the programmatic cost analysis
• All programmatic costs associated w VOA Home Free
• For the Cost Effectiveness
• Client-specific programmatic costs associated
  with all 5 interventions
• Client-specific costs associated with the use of
  Community Resources

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Data Gathered Cost and Cost Effectiveness

• Domestic Violence victim services
• Civil and Criminal justice system (LE, DA, Court,
  Probation, Defense bar, other legal assistance,
  etc.)
• Health care systems
• Welfare and child welfare systems
• Housing
• Cost to landlords, employers and the community
• Other

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Research Qualitative Interviews

• A subset of women will be interviewed in-depth
• Their experiences in the various service types
  what worked/didnt work and for whom
• Housing stability barriers and services
• Relationship between domestic violence and its
  impact and housing stability

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Housing Stability Index

• Develop a housing stability index for each study
  participant
• Analyze the housing stability index in
  relationship to outcomes for both the women and
  their children and the cost to the Community
• Re-victimization or exposure to IPV
• Physical and mental health of mother and children
• Service utilization, etc.

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Housing Stability Questions

• How many times have you moved?
• Have you had to live somewhere that you did not
  want to live?
• Have you had difficulty or were unable to pay for
  your housing (e.g. rent/mortgage payment)?
• Have you had to borrow money or ask
  friends/family or others for money to pay your
  rent/mortgage payment?
• Have you had trouble with your landlord in the
  last six months?
• landlord threatened to evict you?
• been served an eviction notice?
• Do you expect that you will be able to stay in
  your current housing for the next 6 months?
• Have you had difficulty meeting your basic needs?
  
• Have they been able to get enough food to eat for
  their your household in the last six months?
• Have you had trouble getting housing in the last
  6 months?
• How likely is it that you will be able to pay for
  your housing this month?
• Would you move to a new location if you could?

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Results Will Include

• Outcomes for women and children (safety, basic
  needs, physical/mental health, etc.)
• Cost of domestic violence in our community
• Identification of services most effective for
  specific groups of victims (based on housing
  history, level of danger or other
  characteristics)
• Documentation of services available and
  utilization by participants
• Impact of housing policy and practice

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Policy Implications

• Document proven practices in the domestic
  violence arena
• Document impact of domestic violence and housing
  barriers on women
• Justify/develop funding for additional housing
  programs
• Identify possible improvements to service
  delivery models
• Gain a better understanding of which populations
  are most likely to succeed in which housing
  programs
• Show the relationship between childrens exposure
  to violence and housing stability
• Provide direction for housing policies and
  funding priorities

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Preliminary Data

• 54 completed interviews as of February 1, 2007
• Average age is 36 with a range of 19-54
• Race/Ethnicity
• 48 White (84)
• 26 African-American (7)
• 17 Hispanic (15)
• 6 Native American (1) and
• 4 Bi-racial

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Preliminary Data

• Relationship status
• 48 single
• 41 divorced/separated,
• 11 married/living with a partner,
• Children
• 22 have no children under the age of 16
• 54 have 1-2 children and
• 24 have three children or more

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Preliminary Data

• 72 are not employed.
• Education
• 22 do not have a high school degree or
  equivalent
• 17 high school only 61 have some
  college/college degree or vocational school
  degree
• Insurance
• 67 have public health insurance (OHP)
• 17 on private insurance and
• 17 have no health insurance
• Basic needs
• 85 report having difficulties meeting their
  basic needs
• 46 do not have enough food for their families

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Preliminary Data

• Danger Assessment
• average number of yes responses 12,
• range from 2-19

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Preliminary Data

• Non-Partner services utilized
• 72 of the current sample has received the TA-DVS
  grant, regardless of referral agency
• 94 saw a health care provider, range 1-10
  providers
• 85 received services from DHS Self-Sufficiency
  or Child Welfare
• 82 utilized criminal justice/civil court
  services
• 41 received other (non-partner) domestic
  violence services (1-4 agencies)
• 41 received legal services and
• 30 received housing services (most mentioned a
  single agency)

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Preliminary Data

• Housing Stability Indicators
• 82 of participants would move if they could
• 70 believe that they will NOT be able to stay
  where they are currently living now
• In the last 6 months 17 have not moved 20
  moved 1 or 2 times and 63 have moved at least 3
  times, with 5 women moving 8 or more times
• 56 report having trouble with landlords
• 37 receiving eviction threats
• 22 reporting evictions

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Preliminary Data Conclusions

• Victims in the study represent those at very high
  risk for re-assault and housing instability
• Participants have high usage of community
  resources
• Anecdotally
• Creative housing solutions
• Long-term housing instability for many
• Long-term victimization for many

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Conclusions

• Study has the potential to provide
• Strong data for successful program models
• Policy direction based on costs and on
  effectiveness
• Information about range of victimization and
  effectiveness of responses
• Dispel myths regarding victims in housing
  programs
• Delineate the relationship between housing
  stability and victimization and other outcomes
  for victims and their children (health, mental
  health, parenting, financial, etc.)
• More accurate estimate of costs of domestic
  violence in a community