ever, does not lead to the assumption that they necessarily should be treated together or in the same way. Mr. Besharov, in his testimony, pointed out: *** in child abuse cases the victim need not seek protection on his or her own. And properly so. We have devised a system in which third parties, primarily concerned professionals and friends, can take child protective action. In cases of spouse abuse, however, it is the victim, usually the abused woman, who must seek out help for herself-against many odds. Thus, although the committee feels that the correlation between incidents of spouse abuse and child abuse provides added necessity for dealing with this problem, this relationship does not necessarily indicate that these problems can-or should-be handled in the same fashion. Each problem warrants the concerted attention and efforts of each level of government and an informed citizenry in seeking out ways to reduce the incidence and consequent damage generated by these forms of domestic violence. INSUFFICIENCY OF PRESENT RESOURCES TO MEET THE NEED In the face of the growing "epidemic" of domestic violence, many citizen's groups and local communities have begun efforts to provide assistance and services to the victims of domestic violence and their families. Yet, it is clear that present resources are insufficient to meet the level of need. Those shelters and programs that have been established have indicated they receive enormous numbers of requests for assistance from the communities they serve. James Walsh, executive director of the Victims Information Bureau of Suffolk County (VIBS), N.Y., testified: Since beginning operation in June 1976, we have received over 9,000 calls on our hotline and have seen 875 clients in our counseling section. Ninety-six percent of the callers and clients are victims of spouse abuse *** VIBS has conducted research, community education and training programs * * *. Through that research, we have been able to accurately project that there are 25,000 abused spouses in Suffolk County and 96 percent of them are battered women. Ms. Edith Blackhall, program administrator of the Child Protection Program in Milwaukee County, Wis., told the subcommittee that in Milwaukee County It is estimated that between 30,000 and 50,000 women are battered each year. Each month, a shelter must be found for at least 50 women and their children. Each day, the crisis line for battered women receives 10 calls per day for help. Susan Naples, from the Women's Transitional Living Center in Orange County, Calif., testified: We're the only shelter serving Orange County, which has 26 cities and a population in excess of 1.8 million residents. S. Rept. 95-824- -5 We opened in January 1976 and since that time we have These programs, the committee found, served many women and children in need of shelter and other assistance. Yet, the testimony at the hearings demonstrated that many victims are turned away because of limited facilities and resources. For example, Haven House, a shelter in Pasadena, Calif., reported that it turned away 400 people seeking assistance in the month of October 1977, alone. In Hayward, Calif., during February of this year, the emergency shelter program refused 146 requests for services because the shelter was full and funding did not permit further expansion. During 1977, this program provided shelter for 437 women and 476 children for a total of 5,967 bednights. Yet, the program was unable to provide services to almost twice the number served who had asked for assistance. Some 1,776 women and children were turned away because of limited facilities. Steven Ybarra, assistant secretary for health and welfare of the State of California, testified before the subcommittee on the lack of resources to meet the level of need: The number of resources in California to serve the victims of domestic violence is totally inadequate. In 1977, there were about 14 facilities providing protective shelters and these shelters were concentrated in only eight counties in the State. We have 58 counties and therefore 50 of the 58 have no shelter programs ***Senate bill 91 was passed in 1977 and became effective in January of this year. It appropriates a total of $280,000 for 2 years. The sum of $30,000 is for professional staff in the State Department of Health, and the other $250,000 is to partially finance the establishment of four to six pilot projects to provide protective shelter and other support services to victims of domestic violence and their children * * *. In response to this legislation, incidentally, California has received about 200 requests for applications. It is anticipated that between 50 and 100 proposals will be received. The law provides for a minimum of four and a maximum of six projects may be funded. The unmet need is obvious. Susan Malone Back, Ph. D., Director of the HEW Services to battered women project, operated by the Colorado Association for Aid to Battered Women, which is conducting a national study of services to battered women, indicated that her project has located approximately 500 shelters and alternative services for battered women throughout the country. Some of these programs have secured Federal financial assistance from sources such as HUD's community development block program, revenue sharing funds, and the ACTION Agency, as well as funds from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration and Community Services Administration. Others have obtained staffing money through the Department of Labor's CETA program. While the Federal Government is involved through these agencies and programs in providing some services to help the victims of domestic violence and fund research activities into the causes and epidemiology of domestic violence, these Federal activities are inadequate, unfocused, and fragmented. Missing and badly needed is a cohesive, coordinated thrust. The committee believes that there can be no doubt that current resources-from Federal or other sourcesare inadequate to meet the demand. CURRENT FEDERAL ACTIVITIES Services The current Federal activity in the area of domestic violence involves a number of different agencies with little meaningful coordination or comprehensive strategy. As indicated previously, demonstration programs and projects funded under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act have, out of necessity, provided some services to battered spouses as well as battered children. The administration for children, youth, and families has also supported the development and dissemination of a design for a 24-hour comprehensive emergency services program in Nashville, Tenn., which emphasizes services to enable children and families to remain in their homes in most cases, rather than move to shelters. In some cases, however, this program provides shelter in emergency situations for children. These children are often accompanied by their mothers, who in a number of instances had also been battered. Dr. Cardenas, in her testimony, indicated that the administration has proposed, in their fiscal year 1979 budget request, an increase of over $1 million in seed money to be provided under section 426 of the Social Security Act for grants to 35 States and local governments to develop these programs. Under existing law, State social services programs, funded under titles IV-B and XX of the Social Security Act, can provide funds that may be used for services to combat the problems of domestic violence. Title IV-B provides protective and support services for children and their families. However, only approximately $56 million has been appropriated under title IV-B in recent years for these activities and the bulk of this money is used for foster care maintenance programs for abused and neglected children. Title XX permits States to provide services for abused, neglected, or exploited children or adults; however, title XX currently limits shelter care to emergency care of children-not adults-in danger of abuse or neglect. In testimony before the subcommittee, Dr. Cardenas indicated that the administration recognized the need for funding authority for shelter care for battered adults as well as children and stated that the administration would be proposing to the Congress language to amend title XX to allow States to use the funds for emergency shelter for a limited time period as a protective service to an adult in danger of physical or mental injury, neglect, maltreatment, or exploitation. Other Federal agencies have been involved in various fashions in the domestic violence area. A number of on-going domestic violence programs have received staffing assistance through the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) programs operated by the Department of Labor. The ACTION Agency has sponsored 10 pilot centers to provide a focal point in the communities in question for the exchange of information and the development of "how-to" manuals, as well as providing volunteers to work in the community to develop volunteer resources and to identify activities designed to reduce family violence. The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) in the Department of Justice has provided funding for domestic violence programs through its victim/witness assistance program and has recently established a family violence program to provide support for three or four comprehensive model programs, using a community-wide approach involving the active participation of all relevant criminal justice, social service, medical, and mental health agencies. Research In addition to supporting activities related to the provision of services to victims of domestic violence and their families, various Federal agencies have been engaged in research activities relating to domestic violence. Some of the research activities funded through the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act have touched upon domestic violence as it relates to child abuse. Additionally, a research effort has been on-going in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), an Institute of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA) since 1968. In testimony before the subcommittee, Dr. Gerald R. Klerman, Administrator of ADAMHA, described some of these activities. A project funded by NIMH recently studied a nationally representative sample of 2,143 families. The study found that one of six couples had a violent episode, defined by the researchers as any act intended to cause physical pain or injury to a spouse, ranging from slapping to severe physical assault. These researchers projected that an estimated 712 million couples had a violent episode during this period and projected that, if the entire U.S. population had been interviewed, the number of spouses admitting to using physical force on one another would be approximately 26 to 30 percent. The NIMH study also found that approximately 4 percent of the violent episodes involved the use of a knife or gun in the attack upon the spouse and that about 5 percent of the spouses interviewed were severely beaten at some point in their marriage. The committee recognizes the need to continue and expand research activities into the causes and inter relationships involved in domestic violence. In the meantime, however, the committee believes that the need for immediate assistance and services to the victims of domestic violence and their families is well documented and fully justifies the programs to be established under S. 2759. Although the committee finds the current activity carried out by various Federal agencies to be useful and worthwhile insofar as they go, the development of a cohesive and comprehensive Federal program, through the establishment of a focal point for the coordination of ongoing and new Federal activities, is clearly needed on the Federal level. This is what S. 2759 as reported is designed to do. The committee stresses that a detailed description and discussion of the provisions of the committee bill (including expressions of committee intent and views regarding the provisions) are included in the following discussion and the section-by-section analysis set forth at the end of this report. DISCUSSION The committee wishes to discuss its views on the appropriate mechanisms for addressing some of the critical aspects of the domestic violence problem, as depicted in the preceding section "need for legislation," and how the committee bill deals with these aspects. SUPPORT OF EMERGENCY SHELTERS The committee believes that one of the most important needs in the area of domestic violence is to provide financial assistance to organizations establishing and operating emergency shelters for domestic violence victims and their dependents. Although the committee bill also seeks to develop mechanisms to deal with the long-term problems associated with domestic violence, these problems cannot even be addressed unless resources are developed in the communities to take victims immediately out of danger. The committee strongly believes that emergency shelter programs are critical elements in any effort to deal with the problems of domestic violence. Accordingly, the committee bill provides that States, in the distribution of grants to local public agencies and nonprofit private organizations, give special emphasis to supporting community-based projects of demonstrated effectiveness, particularly shelters. In addition, the committee bill provides, only for the purposes of providing and maintaining a shelter, that a State may augment the amount of Federal funds in a grant made by the State out of its non-Federal share contribution. The need for these shelters as a first step toward dealing with the problem of domestic violence was reiterated repeatedly throughout the hearings. Susanne Wilson, vice mayor of the city of San Jose, Calif., testifying on behalf of the National League of Cities, on March 8, succinctly stated the problem: The necessity for providing funds for shelters and counseling is obvious. We cannot even begin to address the causes of or the solutions to family violence until we first provide a mechanism to take victims immediately out of life-threatening situations. Shelters should not be seen as the answer to the problems of battered women and children, but as a first step in a comprehensive program to solve all facets of this problem. It is our belief, however, that until we can get shelters in those communities that need them, we will not be able to take effective action. Beverly Monasmith, director of Rosasharon in Los Angeles, also commented on the critical need for emergency shelter facilities for domestic violence victims as follows: *** [I]t [emergency housing] is especially important to victims of abuse. If a woman is turned away and has to return to the violence she or her children may not have another chance to ask for help *** |