Results and Impact A. Implementation Problems and Successes. The lack of resources to employ the number of advocates necessary to cover all the bases listed above has created the most significant barrier to implementation. Yet, the needs for direct services, including housing, food, transportation, childcare, clothing, counseling, etc. are monumental and increase daily. Advocacy cannot be undertaken unless these vital supportive services are in place. Many battered women cannot safely seek justice unless these fundamental services are available to create a bridge to independent living and to provide shelter and protection until legal remedies can be implemented.
Funding remains insufficient.
Most advocates have no formal education in the law, in community organizing, in negotiation or in policy-making. Thus, upon employment, domestic violence programs have the not insubstantial responsibility of training advocates on the fundamentals and thereafter building essential advocacy skills. This takes time and resources that are in scarce supply. Domestic violence programs have been able to maximize resources by retaining and developing advocates. Increased state and local funding over the course of the last 20 years has enabled an expansion in the numbers of advocates engaged in legal advocacy endeavors.