Evaluating a Domestic Violence Emergency Response Team (DVERT): A Novel Approach to Addressing IPV

• In Event: Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Homicide

Abstract

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a life-threatening public health concern, both nationally and at the local level in Cincinnati, Ohio. Specifically, Cincinnati has seen a 70% increase in IPV fatalities since 2015. In 2017 alone, Cincinnati police officers responded to 2,433 IPV calls for service, and there were 12 IPV fatalities that same year. In response to this escalating problem, Women Helping Women (WHW), a local non-profit organization, collaborated with Cincinnati Police Department to prevent gender-based violence. Their collaboration lead to the creation and implementation of the Domestic Violence Emergency Response Team (DVERT). The DVERT program sends trained advocates to every IPV police call for service in Cincinnati. Since DVERT’s implementation in February 2019, a team of University of Cincinnati School of Criminal Justice faculty and graduate students have been working with WHW staff to evaluate DVERT. The evaluation incorporates a mixed methods design to assess the programs operations and identify areas of strength and areas in need of improvement. Findings from both a secondary data analysis of official records and primary data collection from qualitative interviews with WHW advocates will be presented. Implications for policy and practice also are discussed.

Authors

• Michelle Wojcik, University of Cincinnati

• Batya Rubenstein, University of Cincinnati

• Amber Petkus, University of Cincinnati

• Valerie Anderson, University of Cincinnati

• Bonnie S. Fisher, University of Cincinnati

• Pamela Wilcox, Pennsylvania State University