October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month – Learn how the OJP Diagnostic Center Helped Two Communities Analyze their Responses to Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence

Nearly one in four women and one in seven men in the United States have suffered severe physical violence by an intimate partner. In a September 2015 proclamation, President Barack Obama called on Americans to support local efforts to assist victims of these crimes.

The Diagnostic Center is just one component of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) that is working to address domestic violence and intimate partner violence (DV/IPV). The Diagnostic Center’s work in victim advocacy focuses on research and customized response strategies for identifying the scope and increasing the quality of victims’ services.

In the city of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, VA, the Diagnostic Center worked with the Evidence-Based Decision Making (EBDM) Policy Team – comprised of a range of local criminal justice agencies – to analyze DV/IPV responses system-wide. The ultimate goal was to improve offender accountability and victim outcomes. Diagnostic Specialists conducted more than 40 interviews with key stakeholders to analyze how victims could access services and how offenders moved through the criminal justice system. Based on these findings, the Diagnostic Center recommended the Blueprint for Safety, a comprehensive and coordinated approach to maximizing victim safety and holding offenders accountable.

To learn more about the Diagnostic Center’s strategy for the community, as well as the community’s response, check out the full case study here.

View the history of National Domestic Violence Awareness month.