Survivor Housing Access Study
Released June 2022, the Survivor Housing Access Study summarizes the experiences of some survivors of domestic violence who sought services at D.C. Virginia Williams Family Resource Center from May 2018 to May 2019.
DVARC collected and analyzed data from survivor interviews, with the goal of promoting survivors’ voices and influencing decision-making within D.C.’s housing system. Based on survivors’ experiences, DVARC made a series of recommendations regarding how to improve service delivery so that it is both survivor-centered and trauma-informed. The recommendations also focus on how the District can respond to the housing crisis in ways that are more deeply grounded in racial equity and based on the premise that all people have a fundamental right to housing. The overview report, including recommendations, is available here. (You can also view this as a PDF.)
You can also view the rest of the series below:
- “I Could Have Kept That To Myself”: Survivors’ Disclosure of Domestic Violence and Prioritization of Safety When Seeking Services at Virginia Williams Family Resource Center (view this as a PDF)
- “She Didn’t Even Look In My Eyes”: Survivors’ Interactions with Staff While at the Virginia Williams Family Resource Center (view this as a PDF)
- “I’m Still Homeless”: Survivors’ Outcomes at Virginia Williams Family Resource Center (view this as a PDF)
R2P Fellowship Report
Building on our R2P Fellowship, DVARC continued our work to understand survivors of domestic violence’s experiences attempting to access housing through Virginia William’s Family Resource Center, DC’s Department of Human Services, single access point to housing for homeless families who reside in the District.
DVARC was funded by the Center for Victim Research to conduct an exploratory-sequential (Qual Quan) mixed method, community-based research study to: (a) understand how survivors who are housing insecure navigate the DC housing system and attempt to gain access to safe housing and (b) identify barriers to safe housing. The program allowed DVARC to design and develop the study and conduct interviews with survivors. You can find our report here.