Evaluation of the Office on Violence Against Women's Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstrative Initiative (DVHPDI)

Evaluation of the Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Initiative

In collaboration with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Office for Violence Against Women (OVW) the Yale University team will evaluate the implementation process and impact of the U.S. Department of Justice's Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative. This evaluation seeks to draw critical findings and potential lessons from the combined experience of the sites including: 1) how the models work in different communities; 2) the barriers and facilitators to implementing the models; and 3) outcomes of the model delivery. The evaluation team will also disseminate the findings with the goal of informing replication.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Domestic Violence
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Lethality Assessment Program; Other: Domestic Violence High Risk Team

Detailed Description

Process Evaluation: The process evaluation will assess: 1) the training and technical assistance provided to sites; 2) the implementation of the models in the communities; and 3) characteristics of the service delivery systems.

Technical Assistance Providers will document the training and technical assistance (TTA) they provide to the sites.

Sites will be asked to identify key stakeholders to participate in interviews before the implementation begins and then two additional times during the demonstration phase. Key informant interviews will assess: recipient's perception of the training and technical assistance; model fidelity; model implementation (including model penetration, barriers and facilitators to implementation); and, perceptions of model impact. In addition to key informant interviews administrative data will be gathered to assess aspects of model implementation and systematic observations of law enforcement initiated screens will be conducted by a member of the evaluation team who will join patrol officers for "ride-alongs".

Impact Evaluation: The impact evaluation will assess changes in: 1) collaboration among service sectors; 2) supervision and sanctions for offenders; 3) recidivism and re-victimization; 4) victim reported feelings of safety; 5) utilization of resources; and 6) nature of safety planning.

System Collaboration will be assessed through a web-based survey completed at three time points by key stakeholders representing all potential partners in the community. Social network analysis will provide a visual depiction of how the network changes over time.

Victim Interviews will be conducted to determine the impact of involvement in the model program on their safety and wellbeing. Victims will be interviewed at three time points and will be asked about: prior and recent contact with law enforcement, domestic violence service providers or other providers; awareness of resources to address IPV; their safety and fear of their partner; coping strategies utilized; social support; financial resources; willingness to utilize criminal justice system and domestic violence service providers; both their and offenders behavior, beliefs and attitudes; self-reported mental health and substance abuse; their report of offenders substance abuse; and demographic information.

Administrative Data will be utilized to examine the breadth of the model implementation; the impact of the model programs on criminal justice processes; and whether there is a connection between the extent of post-risk assessment sanctions and services and the pattern of newly recorded incidents between the victim and offender. The evaluation will compare processing and outcomes across cases that are in many ways similar except that some cases were determined to be high risk and a risk assessment was completed and others where a risk assessment was not conducted. To facilitate these comparisons, the evaluation team will build a comprehensive database that will depict the "life-history" of each victim and offender dyad.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 666

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Connecticut
    • New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06511
      • Yale University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study will include all domestic violence offenders and victims within the six communities.

Description

The demonstration sites are:

California North Carolina Ohio Illinois Michigan Tennessee

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

6

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
California; Lethality Assessment Program	Other: Lethality Assessment Program; Law enforcement officers conduct risk screen of domestic violence victims, if high risk victims are referred to domestic violence services.; Other Names: LAP
North Carolina; Lethality Assessment Program	Other: Lethality Assessment Program; Law enforcement officers conduct risk screen of domestic violence victims, if high risk victims are referred to domestic violence services.; Other Names: LAP
Ohio; Domestic Violence High Risk Team	Other: Domestic Violence High Risk Team; Law enforcement officers conduct risk screen of domestic violence victims, if high risk victims are referred to domestic violence services and a team who monitors the clinical and criminal justice progress.; Other Names: HRT
Illinois; Lethality Assessment Program	Other: Lethality Assessment Program; Law enforcement officers conduct risk screen of domestic violence victims, if high risk victims are referred to domestic violence services.; Other Names: LAP
Michigan; Lethality Assessment Program	Other: Lethality Assessment Program; Law enforcement officers conduct risk screen of domestic violence victims, if high risk victims are referred to domestic violence services.; Other Names: LAP
Tennessee; Lethality Assessment Program	Other: Lethality Assessment Program; Law enforcement officers conduct risk screen of domestic violence victims, if high risk victims are referred to domestic violence services.; Other Names: LAP

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Decreased frequency of re-assault	Decrease in harassment, assault, injury, homicide/mortality	up to 3 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Increased collaboration between network partners	Increased information sharing, case planning, coordinated response	up to 3 years
Increased awareness of and utilization of resources for victims	Increased awareness of and utilization of community resources	Up to 3 years
Increased safety planning	Increased safety planning at the time of police intervention	Up to 3 years
Increased victim reported safety	Victim reported changes in perceptions of safety	Up to 3 years
Increased sanctions for offender	Sanctions such as pre-trial containment, cases to trial, adjudications, containment post-adjudication	Up to 3 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Yale University
• Collaborators: Michigan State University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Joy S Kaufman, PhD, Yale University; Study Director: Christopher Maxwell, PhD, Michigan State University; Study Director: Tami Sullivan, PhD, Yale University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 31, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): December 31, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 12, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 19, 2013
• First Posted (Estimate): December 27, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 24, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 19, 2021
• Last Verified: March 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: domestic violence homicide prevention
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1311013010

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Data will be archived with the National Institute of Justice
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: before December 31, 2020
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: To be determined
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No