[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
ENDING THE CYCLE: EXAMINING
WAYS TO PREVENT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
AND PROMOTE HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
=======================================================================
JOINT HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
CIVIL RIGHTS AND
HUMAN SERVICES
OF
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, MARCH 22, 2021
__________
Serial No. 117-4
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and Labor
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via: edlabor.house.gov or www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
43-872 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia, Chairman
RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina,
JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut Ranking Member
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, JOE WILSON, South Carolina
Northern Mariana Islands GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania
FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida TIM WALBERG, Michigan
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
MARK TAKANO, California ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
MARK De SAULNIER, California JIM BANKS, Indiana
DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey JAMES COMER, Kentucky
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington RUSS FULCHER, Idaho
JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York FRED KELLER, Pennsylvania
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania GREGORY F. MURPHY, North Carolina
LUCY Mc BATH, Georgia MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa
JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut BURGESS OWENS, Utah
ANDY LEVIN, Michigan BOB GOOD, Virginia
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota LISA C. Mc CLAIN, Michigan
HALEY M. STEVENS, Michigan DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee
TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico MARY E. MILLER, Illinois
MONDAIRE JONES, New York VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana MADISON CAWTHORN, North Carolina
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York, Vice-Chair MICHELLE STEEL, California
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin Vacancy
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas Vacancy
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey
JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
KWEISI MFUME, Maryland
Veronique Pluviose, Staff Director
Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON CIVIL RIGHTS AND HUMAN SERVICES
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon, Chairwoman
ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina RUSS FULCHER, Idaho, Ranking
JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut Member
TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania
FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana LISA C. Mc CLAIN, Michigan
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
KWEISI MFUME, Maryland SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina (ex
(ex officio) officio)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on March 22, 2021................................... 1
Statement of Members:
Bonamici, Hon. Suzanne, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Civil
Rights
and Human Services......................................... 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 4
Fulcher, Hon. Russ, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Civil
Rights
and Human Services......................................... 6
Prepared statement of.................................... 6
Statement of Witnesses:
Miller, Elizabeth, MD, Ph.D., Director, Adolescent and Young
Adult
Medicine, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh........... 24
Prepared statement of.................................... 27
Novoryta, Ami, Chief Program Officer, Catholic Charities of
the
Archdiocese of Chicago..................................... 20
Prepared statement of.................................... 23
Schlater, Wendy, Vice Chairwoman, La Jolla Band of Luiseno
Indians.................................................... 13
Prepared statement of.................................... 15
Timmons, Vanessa, Executive Director, Oregon Coalition
Against
Domestic and Sexual Violence............................... 8
Prepared statement of.................................... 10
Additional Submissions:
McBath, Lucy, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Georgia
Letter in support of the Family Violence Prevention and
Services Improvements Act of 2019...................... 56
ENDING THE CYCLE: EXAMINING
WAYS TO PREVENT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
AND PROMOTE HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
----------
Monday, March 22, 2021
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services,
Committee on Education and Labor,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 12 p.m., via
Zoom, Hon. Suzanne Bonamici (Chairwoman of the subcommittee)
presiding.
Present: Representatives Bonamaci, Adams, Hayes, Leger
Fernandez, Mrvan, Bowman, Scott, Fulcher, Thompson, Spartz,
Fitzgerald, and Foxx.
Staff present: Ilana Brunner, Ijeoma Egekeze, Alison Hard,
Sheila Havenner, Eli Hovland, Carrie Hughes, Ariel Jona, Andre
Lindsay, Max Moore, Mariah Mowbray, Kayla Pennebecker,
Veronique Pluviose, Banyon Vassar, Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff
Director; Courtney Butcher, Minority Director of Member
Services and Coalitions; Amy Raaf Jones, Minority Director of
Education and Human Resources Policy; Hannah Matesic, Minority
Director of Operations; Jake Middlebrooks, Minority Staff
Member; Carlton Norwood, Minority Press Secretary; and Mandy
Schaumburg, Minority Chief Counsel and Deputy Director of
Education Policy.
Chairwoman Bonamici. The Subcommittee on Civil Rights and
Human Services will come to order. Welcome everyone. I note
that a quorum is present. The subcommittee is meeting today to
hear testimony on ``Ending the Cycle: Examining Ways to Prevent
Domestic Violence and Promote Healthy Communities.''
I note for the subcommittee that full committee Member
Representative McBath of Georgia is joining us and is permitted
to participate in today's hearing with the understanding that
her questions will come after all Members of the subcommittee
on both sides of the aisle who are present have had an
opportunity to question the witnesses.
This is an entirely remote hearing. All microphones will be
kept muted as a general rule to avoid unnecessary background
noise. Members and witnesses will be responsible for unmuting
themselves when they are recognized to speak, or when they wish
to seek recognition.
I also ask that Members please identify themselves before
they speak. Members should keep their cameras on while in the
proceeding. Members shall be considered present in the
proceeding when they are visible on camera, and they shall be
considered not present when they are not visible on camera. The
only exception to this is if they are experiencing technical
difficulty, and inform committee staff of such difficulty.
If any Member experiences technical difficulties during the
hearing you should stay connected on the platform, make sure
you are muted, and use your phone to immediately call the
committee's IT Director whose number was provided in advance.
Should the Chair experience technical difficulty, or need to
step away to vote on the floor, which won't happen today,
Chairman Scott or another Majority Member of the subcommittees
if he not available is hereby authorized to assume the gavel in
the Chair's absence.
This is an entirely remote hearing and as such the
committee's hearing room is officially closed. Members who
choose to sit with their individual devices in the hearing room
must wear headphones to avoid feedback, echoes and distortion
resulting from more than one person on the software platform
sitting in the same room.
Members are also expected to adhere to social distancing,
and safe health guidelines including the use of masks, hand
sanitizer and wiping down their areas, both before and after
their presence in the hearing room. To make sure that the
Committee's five-minute rule is adhered to, staff will be
keeping track of time using the committee's field timer.
The field timer will appear in its own thumbnail picture
and will be labeled 001_timer. There will not be a one minute
remaining warning. The field timer will sound its audio alarm
when the time is up. Members and witnesses are asked to wrap up
promptly when their time has expired.
A roll call is not necessary to establish a quorum in
official proceedings conducted remotely or with remote
participation, but the committee has made it a practice
whenever there is an official proceeding with remote
participation for the Clerk to call the roll to help make clear
who is present at the start of the proceeding.
Members should say their name before announcing they are
present. This helps the Clerk, and also helps those watching
the platform and the livestream who may experience a few
seconds delay.
At this time I ask the clerk to call the roll.
The Clerk. Chairwoman Bonamici?
Chairwoman Bonamici. Chair Bonamici is present.
Ms. Adams.
[No response]
The Clerk. Mrs. Hayes?
[No response]
The Clerk. Ms. Leger Fernandez?
Ms. Leger Fernandez. Ms. Leger Fernandez is present.
The Clerk. Mr. Mrvan?
Mr. Mrvan. Present. Frank Mrvan present.
The Clerk. Mr. Bowman?
Mr. Bowman. Jamaal Bowman present.
The Clerk. Mr. Mfume?
[No response]
The Clerk. Ranking Member Fulcher?
Mr. Fulcher. Fulcher is here.
The Clerk. Mr. Thompson.
[No response.]
The Clerk. Ms. McClain?
[No response.]
The Clerk. Ms. Spartz?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mr. Fitzgerald?
Mr. Fitzgerald. I am here, present.
The Clerk. Chairwoman Bonamici that concludes the roll
call.
Ms. Foxx. Madam Chairwoman I am here too.
Ms. Adams. Alma Adams is present.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you. Pursuant to Committee Rule
8(c), opening statements are limited to the Chair and the
Ranking Member. This allows us to hear from our witnesses
sooner and provides all Members with adequate time to ask
questions.
I recognize myself now for the purpose of making an opening
Statement.
Today we are discussing the urgent need to update and
strengthen Federal programs that help prevent intimate partner
violence and provide services to survivors. Before I begin, I
want to recognize that this discussion may be extremely
difficult for some people who are watching.
I would ask all participants to be mindful of the sensitive
nature of this conversation. I encourage anyone who needs
support to visit www.thehotline.org. This is an important and
timely conversation. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has
increased the risk for intimate partner violence and disrupted
services that offer protection and support to survivors. As a
result, an already quiet crisis has become even harder to both
track and address.
In Oregon leaders like Vanessa Timmons who the committee
will hear from today are working tirelessly to reach survivors
and provide them with resources and support. In the district I
represent here in Northwest Oregon, providers like the Domestic
Violence Resource Center and Greater Portland YWCA provide
shelter, support, services for children, and counseling for
survivors in crisis.
But we know they need more resources to meet the demand for
assistance. The urgent need to address intimate partner
violence could not be overstated. About 1 in 4 women, and
nearly 1 in 10 men, have reported experiencing some form of
intimate partner violence.
These incidences often cause physical injuries that portend
to even greater risks. Some reports have shown that half of
female homicide victims were killed by an intimate partner. For
survivors of violence the emotional trauma can last long after
the physical injuries have healed.
These experiences often first occur when survivors are
younger than 25, triggering potentially life-long struggles
with chronic disease and mental health conditions. Congress
took a major step to address this issue in 1984 by authorizing
the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. Today this
essential pillar in our fight against intimate partner violence
is responsible for shelters, support services for survivors,
and 24-hour domestic violence hotline.
With the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010,
Congress also established the Pregnancy Assistance Fund which
provide critical services to improve the health of women and
children. Specifically, this program invested in expanding
access to services for teen parents as well as pregnant people
and new parents, who are survivors of domestic violence or
sexual assault.
These foundational programs are proven to be effective in
addressing intimate partner violence, but they are also
severely underfunded, particularly in light of today's
challenges. Just a few weeks ago in the American Rescue Act,
excuse me in the American Rescue Plan, the committee secured
450 million dollars for programs to address intimate partner
violence and sexual assault.
Importantly, this funding will help culturally specific
organizations outreach to underserved communities of color
which have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
This historic investment in the American Rescue Plan will save
lives, but we need long-term policies and investment.
Now Congress must look to next steps, such as updating the
Family Violence Prevention and Services Act which we have not
reauthorized since 2003, and the Pregnancy Assistance Fund
which expired in 2019. Today we'll discuss steps to further
strengthen our response to the domestic violence crisis, and
importantly discuss ways that domestic violence and sexual
violence can be prevented.
First, we must focus on equity. Domestic violence can
affect people from any background or income, but we know that
communities of color, LGBTQ individuals, and people with
disabilities face disproportionate rates of intimate partner
violence, and have limited access to services.
We must further expand programs that are specifically
designed to reach and support these underserved communities. We
must also specifically invest in meeting the needs of native
survivors of domestic violence. We know tribal communities face
unique barriers to navigating the healthcare and criminal
justice systems, with only limited access to largely
underfunded support services.
Finally, and importantly, we must focus on preventing
intimate partner violence before it happens. Currently, the
only prevention program in the Family Violence Prevention and
Services Act is significantly underfunded. Reauthorizing this
law would help protect our communities from the pain and cost,
emotionally, physically and financially of domestic violence.
We can aggressively combat intimate partner violence and
prevent it from happening in the first place. It's not only the
smart thing to do as rates of violence increase, it's the right
thing to do for the well-being of our families and communities.
I thank my colleague, Representative Lucy McBath for her
leadership and working to reauthorize the Family Violence
Prevention Services Act, and I also want to thank her witnesses
for being with us. And I now yield to Ranking Member Mr.
Fulcher for your opening Statement.
[The statement of Chairwoman Bonamici follows:]
Statement of Hon. Suzanne Bonamici, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Civil
Rights and Human Services
Today, we are discussing the urgent need to update and strengthen
Federal programs that help prevent intimate partner violence and
provide services to survivors.
Before I begin, I want to recognize that this discussion may be
extremely difficult for some people who are watching. I would ask all
participants to be mindful of the sensitive nature of this
conversation, and I encourage anyone who needs support to visit
www.thehotline.org.
This is an important and timely conversation. The ongoing COVID-19
pandemic has increased the risk for intimate partner violence and
disrupted services that offer protection and support to survivors. As a
result, an already quiet crisis has become even harder to both track
and address.
In Oregon, leaders like Vanessa Timmons, who the committee will
hear from today, are working tirelessly to reach survivors and provide
them with resources and support. In the district I represent, providers
like the Domestic Violence Resource Center and the Greater Portland
YWCA provide shelter, support, services for children, and counseling
for survivors in crisis. But we know they need more resources to meet
the demand for assistance.
The urgent need to address intimate partner violence cannot be
overstated. About one in four women and nearly one in ten men have
reported experiencing some form of intimate partner violence. These
incidents often cause physical injuries that portend even graver risks.
Some reports have shown that more than half of female homicide victims
were killed by an intimate partner.
For survivors of violence, the emotional trauma can last long after
the physical injuries have healed. These experiences often first occur
when survivors are younger than 25, triggering potentially lifelong
struggles with chronic disease and mental health conditions.
Congress took a major step to address this issue in 1984 by
authorizing the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. Today,
this central pillar in our fight against intimate partner violence is
responsible for shelters, support services for survivors, and 24-hour
domestic violence hotlines.
With the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, Congress also
established the Pregnancy Assistance Fund, which provided critical
services to improve the health of women and children. Specifically,
this program invested in expanding access to services for teen parents
as well as pregnant people and new parents who are survivors of
domestic violence or sexual assault.
These foundational programs are proven to be effective in
addressing intimate partner violence. But they are also severely
underfunded, particularly in light of today's challenges.
Just a few weeks ago in the American Rescue Plan Act. the Committee
secured $450 million for programs to address intimate partner violence
and sexual assault. Importantly, this funding will help culturally
specific organizations outreach to underserved communities of color,
which have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic.
The historic investments in the American Rescue Plan will save
lives, but we need long-term policies and investment.
Now, Congress must look to next steps, such as updating the Family
Violence Prevention and Services Act, which we have not reauthorized
since 2003, and the Pregnancy Assistance Fund, which expired in 2019.
Today, we will discuss steps to further strengthen our response to
the domestic violence crisis and importantly, discuss ways that
domestic violence and sexual violence can be prevented.
First, we must focus on equity. Domestic violence can affect people
from any background or income, but we know that communities of color,
LGBTQ individuals, and people with disabilities face disproportionate
rates of intimate partner violence, yet have limited access to
services. We must further expand programs that are specifically
designed to reach and support these underserved communities.
We must also specifically invest in meeting the needs of Native
survivors of domestic violence. We know tribal communities face unique
barriers to navigating the health care and criminal justice systems
with only limited access to largely underfunded support services.
Finally, and importantly, we must focus on preventing intimate
partner violence before it happens. Currently, the only prevention
program in the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act is
significantly underfunded. Reauthorizing this law would help protect
our communities from the pain and cost ? emotionally, physically, and
financially--of domestic violence.
We can aggressively combat intimate partner violence and prevent it
from happening in the first place. It is not only the smart thing to do
as rates of violence increase, it's the right thing to do for the well-
being of our families and communities.
I want to thank my colleague, Representative Lucy McBath, for her
leadership in working to reauthorize the Family Violence Prevention and
Services Act. I also want to thank our witnesses, again, for being with
us, and now I yield to the Ranking Member, Mr. Fulcher.
______
Mr. Fulcher. Thank you, Madam Chair, for convening this
hearing regarding domestic violence. A 2015 survey by the CDC
estimated that one-third of all men and women are victims of
domestic violence at some point in their life.
Data in 2019 from my home State of Idaho supports this
survey whereby about 37 percent of assaults were domestic
violence related. In 2020 it's worse. COVID-19 has dealt our
Nation with government mandated restrictions and economic
challenges. It appears those negative outcomes have snowballed
to exacerbate an even worse fallout.
Evidence suggests that in this pandemic ridden environment
stress, due to work, school, substance abuse and financial
struggles have added to more violence in the home. Especially
hard hit appear to be rural areas, where job opportunities can
be hard to find.
Last year Idaho saw an 84 percent increase in domestic
violence related calls along with more emergency intakes and
overnight shelter requests. Domestic violence in any form is an
evil that demands a strong response. This issue does not impact
all people equally. While a notable share of men are
victimized, domestic violence disproportionately impacts women.
And despite the cancel cultures desire to blur the lines
between women and men, facts are facts. We need to protect
everyone, but realize that our women are the most vulnerable.
Congress has continued to allocate the funding to address this
issue, most recently in the CARES Act, the Family Violence
Prevention and Services Programs, which I and many of my
colleagues supported.
Moving forward our efforts should include confronting the
issue and supporting survivors with tools like domestic
violence hotline, so victims can reach out and receive help.
However, the solution is more complicated than simply
increasing spending. More money alone will not solve domestic
violence in our society.
We must understand that dealing with this issue is best
done at the local level, and government can't always provide
the answers. Local civic groups and faith-based providers are
best positions to provide aid and deliver it effectively.
Committee Republicans recognize the importance of
supporting survivors of domestic violence, but any
reauthorization should focus primarily on local solutions and a
coordinated community response, not just more Federal spending.
The committee should work to support best practices and act
knowing that as good as our intentions may be, we cannot
pretend to be able to solve them all from Washington, DC.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses, especially
Ms. Ami Novoryta, I'll get that straight, who will discuss the
important work of local organizations that faith-based
providers are doing to serve those in need. Madam Chair thank
you. I yield back.
[The statement of Ranking Member Fulcher follows:]
Statement of Hon. Russ Fulcher, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Civil
Rights and Human Services
A 2015 survey by the CDC estimated that one-third of all men and
women are victims of domestic violence at some point in their life.
Data in 2019 from my home State of Idaho supports this survey, whereby
about 37 percent of assaults were domestic violence-related. In 2020,
it's worse.
COVID-19 has dealt our Nation with government-mandated restrictions
and economic challenges. It appears those negative outcomes have
snowballed to exacerbate an even worse fallout. Evidence suggests that
in this pandemic-ridden environment, stress, due to work, school,
substance abuse, and financial struggles, have added to more violence
in the home. Especially hard-hit appear to be rural areas where job
opportunities can be hard to find. Last year, Idaho saw an 84 percent
increase in domestic violence-related calls, along with more emergency
intakes and overnight shelter requests.
Domestic violence in any form is an evil that demands a strong
response. This issue does not impact all people equally. While a
notable share of men are victimized, domestic violence
disproportionately impacts women. And despite the cancel culture's
desire to blur the lines between women and men, facts are facts. We
need to protect everyone and realize that our women are the most
vulnerable.
Congress has continued to allocate funding to address this issue,
most recently in the CARES Act via Family Violence Prevention and
Services (FVPSA) programs, which I and many of my colleagues supported.
Moving forward, our efforts should include confronting the issue and
supporting survivors, with tools like the domestic violence hotline so
victims can reach out and receive help.
However, the solution is more complicated than simply increasing
spending. More money alone will NOT solve domestic violence in our
society. We must understand that dealing with this issue is best done
at the local level, and government cannot always provide the answers.
Local civic groups and faith-based providers are best positioned to
provide aid and deliver it effectively.
Committee Republicans recognize the importance of supporting
survivors of domestic violence. But any reauthorization should focus
primarily on local solutions and a coordinated community response, not
just more Federal spending. The Committee should work to support best
practices and act, knowing that as good as our intentions may be, we
cannot pretend to be able to solve them all from Washington, DC.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses, especially Ms. Ami
Novoryta, who will discuss the important work local organizations and
faith-based providers are doing on the ground to serve those in need.
______
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Ranking Member Fulcher.
Without objection all other Members who wish to insert written
statements into the record may do so by submitting them to the
Committee Clerk electronically in Microsoft Word format by 5
p.m. on April 5, 2021.
I will now introduce the witnesses. Mrs. Vanessa Timmons is
the Executive Director of the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic
and Sexual Violence. Ms. Wendy Schlater is the Vice Chairwoman
of the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians. She is Board Treasurer
of the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center.
Ms. Ami Novoryta is the Chief Program Officer for Catholic
Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and Doctor Elizabeth
Miller is a Pediatrician and Director of Adolescent and Young
Adult Medicine at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. We
appreciate the witnesses for participating today, and we look
forward to your testimony.
Let me remind the witnesses that we have read your written
Statements, and they will appear in full in the hearing record.
Pursuant to Committee Rule 8(d) and committee practice, you are
each asked to limit your oral presentation to a five-minute
summary of your written Statement.
I also remind the witnesses that pursuant to 18 of the U.S.
Code, Section 1001, it is illegal to knowingly and willfully
falsify any Statement, representation, writing, document, or
material fact presented to Congress or otherwise conceal or
cover up a material fact.
And before you begin your testimony, please remember to
unmute your microphone. During your testimony, staff will be
keeping track of the time and a timer will sound when your time
is up. Please be attentive to the time and wrap up when your
time is over and then remute your microphone.
If you experience any technical difficulties during your
testimony or later in the hearing, please stay connected on the
platform, make sure you are muted and use your phone to
immediately call the committee's IT director, whose number was
provided to you in advance.
We will let all the witnesses make their presentations
before we move to Member questions. When answering a question,
please remember to unmute your microphone. I will first
recognize Mrs. Timmons. You are recognized for five minutes for
your testimony.
STATEMENT OF VANESSA TIMMONS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OREGON
COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC AND SEXUAL
VIOLENCE
Ms. Timmons. Thank you Chairwoman Bonamici, Ranking Member
Fulcher and distinguished Members of the subcommittee. Thank
you for the opportunity to testify today on ending the cycle,
examining ways to prevent domestic violence and promote healthy
communities.
My name is Vanessa Timmons. I'm the Executive Director of
the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. I've
been in the field for more than 30 years, and I have been the
OCADSV Executive Director for the past 8 years. I hope to speak
on behalf of not only our 51 Member programs in Oregon, but
also on behalf of survivors that we all serve.
Unfortunately, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men are survivors
of domestic violence. This means all of us know someone who has
been impacted by intimate partner violence. No one in our
country escapes the impact of this public health crisis.
Intimate partner violence is a public health issue which
requires all of us and a holistic public health response.
Over 1,600 domestic violence programs offer services such
as emergency shelter, counseling, legal assistance, and
preventive education to millions of adult and child victims
every year. These programs rely on the consistent funding
provided by the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act,
also referred to as FVPSA.
FVPSA expired in 2015 and must be reauthorized with key
enhancements in order to meet the intersecting crisis of this
moment. Since its passage in 1984, FVPSA has remained the sole
Federal funding source for domestic violence shelters and
services. FVPSA is the life blood of domestic violence
programs, providing stable modest funding.
FVPSA also provides dedicated funding to domestic violence
coalitions in every State and U.S. territory. Coalitions
provide support, technical assistance and training to our local
programs, who support the survivors that we all care so deeply
about. Coalitions are important because we bring that birds eye
view to the field by programs and doing their day to day work.
We work closely with our State government agencies to
ensure funding is getting to each and every community. Despite
the progress brought by FVPSA, programs are underfunded, and we
struggle to keep up with demand for services. According to the
National Network to End Domestic Violence's forthcoming
Domestic Violence Counts Report, in 2020 domestic violence
programs across the country served more than 76,000 victims
just in 1 day.
But sadly in that same day, over 11,000 requests for
services went unmet due to a lack of resources. Approximately
57 percent of these unmet requests were for housing and
emergency shelter. For those individuals who were not able to
find safety that day, the consequences could be dire.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected
victims of domestic violence and exacerbated their urgent
needs. Stay at home orders, quarantines, and a lack of privacy
that is inherent in an abusive home has created additional
barriers to safety, and access to services.
Black, indigenous and other survivors of color have always
faced increased barriers to safety such as systemic racism and
historical trauma. The pandemic has heightened the need for
culturally specific organizations who are better equipped to
address the complex challenges facing victims from racial and
ethnic minority populations.
The reauthorization of FVPSA provides an important
opportunity to continue the progress we have made toward
meeting the needs of domestic violence victims and breaking
that terrible cycle of abuse. Victims needs are great and there
is much to do to end domestic violence in our country.
In order to move closer to this goal, I urge the committee
to prioritize the swift, reauthorization of the Family Violence
Prevention and Services Act. I thank you for your time, and I
look forward to answering your questions.
[The prepared Statement of Ms. Timmons follows:]
Prepared Statement of Vanessa Timmons
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Mrs. Timmons, for your
testimony. And now I will recognize Ms. Schlater for five
minutes for your testimony.
STATEMENT OF WENDY SCHLATER, VICE CHAIRWOMAN,
LA JOLLA BAND OF LUISENO INDIANS
Ms. Schlater. Miiyuyam and Nosun Looviq, hello and thank
you, Chairwoman Bonamici, Ranking Member Fulcher, and committee
Members. My name is Wendy Schlater and I'm the Vice Chairwoman
for the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians.
The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, FVPSA, has
made a difference in the lives of victims of domestic violence.
FVPSA reauthorization with the enhancements will ensure the
door to lifesaving services for all victims remains open. I
urge this committee to support reauthorization with the
proposed enhancements.
The 2018 Commission on Civil Rights Broken Promises Report
found that the Federal Government's failure to fulfill its
trust responsibility is at the root of inequities facing Native
Americans in health, public safety, and housing.
I am also the Director of the Safety for Native Women's
Program funded by FVPSA, responding to violence against women.
We provide 24/7 crisis services, shelter, counseling and other
assistance. Our FVPSA funding fills in the gaps that victims
otherwise fall through.
One of those gaps is the justice system who often fails
victims. For these victims, FVPSA's resources are all that's
preventing them from going missing or being murdered. Your
support for FVPSA enhancements is key to tackling these
problems.
Only with FVPSA funding can we provide shelter through
hotel rooms, safe homes, and shelters in the shelter that we
opened which is often full. We also help children who are
removed from their homes, placing them with other family.
Without these resources our children are placed in a local
children's center, which we avoid using because they have been
further victimized in this center.
While FVPSA reauthorization expired in 2015, appropriators
have set aside increased funds from 2017 to 2021 for an Alaska
Native resource center to reduce tribal disparities through our
national Indian domestic violence hotline, and tribal event
programs.
The proposed reauthorization enhancements permanently
authorize these changes made by appropriators. An authorization
for an Alaska native resource center and Indian domestic
violence hotline, increased overall authorizations, and
adjustments to the formula increased what tribes received from
10 to 12.5 percent. I know first-hand how FVPSA has made a
difference.
One morning when I arrived at my office a woman and her
children were parked in the front of our office and had spent
the night there. The woman had run away the night before with
her children, one of whom was autistic and had Down syndrome.
She left with nothing because her husband had been abusive and
burned their clothes, including their son's orthotic brace,
which he needed to walk.
Through FVPSA we replaced the son's orthotic brace, found
her temporary shelter, and later a home of her own. The
National Domestic Violence Hotline launched a National Indian
Hotline, called StrongHearts. Native advocates helped navigate
the barriers facing Native victims, despite the rates of
violence against Native women.
Native services are thin. Where the national hotline has
more than 4,000 resources in their data base, StrongHearts has
fewer than 300 Native resources. There are more than 1,500
shelters nationwide compared to fewer than 60 Native shelters,
hence the proposed authorization for a National Indian Hotline.
Tribal coalitions have been key to educating the
policymakers. Examples of these resulting changes include the
local shelter that we've opened, and the States that have
established missing and murdered indigenous women's task
forces. The technical assistance by coalitions has been at the
heart of these changes.
Unfortunately, tribal coalitions are not authorized to
receive FVPSA funding. This exclusion reflects a disparity
faced by tribal coalitions and the tribes they serve. One of
the proposed FVPSA enhancements is authorizing funding for
tribal coalitions. In 2013 the National Indigenous Women's
Resource Center developed the Alaska Native Women's Resource
Center which helped to raise challenges facing Alaska Native
victims as issues of national concern.
As a result, in 2017 Congress appropriated funds for the
Alaska Native Resource Center, which has been an invaluable
resource providing information to prevent domestic violence
like never before. In addition, we have coordinated with the
Native Hawaiians to address domestic violence, helping to
create a grass roots organization with over 50 years of
advocacy experience.
The 1993 Apology to Hawaiians recognized the economic and
social changes over the centuries that have been devastating to
the health and well-being of the Hawaiian people. Congress
amended FVPSA in 2010 authorizing Native resource centers,
including Native Hawaiian Center, which could help promote
healthier communities.
In closing, the Federal Government must fulfill its trust
responsibility to assist tribes and Native Hawaiians and
safeguarding women. Failing to do so results in Native women
experiencing disproportionate rates of violence. I urge the
committee to reauthorize FVPSA with the proposed enhancements.
Nu$son Looviq, my heart is good. Thank you.
[The prepared Statement of Ms. Schlater follows:]
Prepared Statement of Wendy Schlater
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you for your testimony. And I
will now recognize Ms. Novoryta for five minutes for your
testimony.
STATEMENT OF AMI NOVORYTA, CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER, CATHOLIC
CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO
Ms. Novoryta. Chair Bonamici, Ranking Member Fulcher, and
Members of the subcommittee, thank you for giving me the
opportunity to testify on how Catholic Charities of the
Archdiocese of Chicago strives to prevent domestic violence and
promote healthy communities.
Catholic Charities is one of the largest social service
providers in the Midwest, and I am here today as Charities'
Chief Program Officer. For 104 years, Catholic Charities has
served and accompanied anyone in need in Greater Chicago. Every
year, Charities' helps nearly 200 survivors of domestic
violence, and those at high risk through emergency shelter,
safety planning, counseling, legal services, and transitional
housing.
Our wrap-around services and our partnerships help
survivors and in many cases their children improve stability
and restore security.
The survivors that we serve at Catholic Charities Chicago
face staggering challenges. One hundred percent live below the
Federal poverty line. They come to us as survivors of
intergenerational trauma. They fear losing their children. They
often have prolonged exposure to substance abuse and are
experiencing homelessness or are unstably housed. Almost
universally, they are in poor physical and emotional health.
Survivors are often isolated due to cultural factors,
language barriers, and lack of awareness of their lawful
protections. Moreover, they have inadequate support once they
leave the abusive situation.
It is often the church, and Catholic Charities, to which
survivors turn. The role of trusted, faith-based providers in
this service arena is profound. We are finding that COVID only
compounds the struggles faced by the survivors we serve. Since
the pandemic began, the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline
reports a 15 percent increase in calls and a 2,000 percent
increase in text messages requesting help.
Additional burdens include financial stress, unemployment,
isolation, increased family conflict, and deepening mental
health issues. For persons experiencing domestic abuse,
lockdowns and other COVID restrictions have forced them to
spend more time with their abuser, and less time with their
support network, increasing survivors' difficulty trying to
flee.
A grim reality is that flight from an abusive situation
often leaves survivors without a place to call home. In
response, Catholic Charities operates two transitional housing
programs for domestic violence survivors. While families are in
a safe environment, Charities supports them on their journey
toward healing and recovery, with a long-term goal of securing
permanent housing and stable employment. We offer free legal
services, including facilitating orders of protection and court
representation.
Although survivors may reside with us for up to 2 years,
families typically transition after 12 to 14 months. Once a 1-
year housing agreement is secured, Charities arrange for the
family to move into its new home. With our support, survivors
arrived with a truckload of furniture, household supplies and
clothing, and often with savings of $2,000.00 to $3,000.00.
Most important is their increased self-sufficiency and
their deep connection to a supportive, faith-based community.
Our presence continues in many survivors' lives through after
care programming, including support groups, and access to food,
clothing, school supplies, and other necessities.
Even through COVID, 100 percent of the survivors that we
have served remain in stable, permanent housing. Prior to
COVID, 68 percent sustained full-time employment. Today
employment is an ongoing struggle.
This winter we began offering new services for survivors of
domestic violence on the west side of Chicago where African
Americans and Latinx communities have been hardest hit by
COVID. Our staff offer trauma-informed counseling and intensive
case management. We are collaborating with churches, hospitals,
and others to expand access to free, confidential services for
survivors. Together we are helping people regain control of
their lives and continue their healing process.
Our shelters and our healing recovery programs help
survivors to rebuild their lives with hope and dignity. Thank
you for this opportunity to lift up our work before you today.
[The prepared Statement of Ms. Novoryta follows:]
Prepared Statement of Ami Novoryta
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you for your testimony. And
finally, we will hear from Dr. Miller. I recognize you for five
minutes for your testimony.
STATEMENT OF ELIZABETH MILLER, MD, Ph.D., DIRECTOR, ADOLESCENT
AND YOUNG ADULT MEDICINE, UPMC
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PITTSBURGH
Dr. Miller. Thank you, Chairwoman Bonamici, Ranking Member
Fulcher, and Members of the committee. Thank you for the
opportunity to speak with you today on the importance of
preventing domestic violence and child abuse and reauthorizing
the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, FVPSA.
My name is Dr. Liz Miller. I'm a Professor of Pediatrics
and Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. I also
direct Adolescent and Young Adult Health and Community Health
at UPMC Children's Hospital.
I'm here today to share with you some of my personal
reflections over the last 20 years working as a pediatrician
and researcher. And I begin with a story from two decades ago
while I was still a physician in training. I was volunteering
one night a week in a clinic for young people who were unstably
housed.
A 15-year-old came in for a pregnancy test. She did not
want to be pregnant and was not using any contraception. Her
pregnancy test was negative. I offered her education. Along the
way I asked her the usual domestic violence screening question
I've been taught to ask. Are you feeling safe in your
relationship? To which she nodded a quick yes.
I finished with her exam, gave her some health information,
and encouraged her to come back if she wanted help preventing
pregnancy. Two weeks later she was in our emergency room with a
severe head injury, having been pushed down the stairs by her
boyfriend. That experience fundamentally shifted my career.
I dedicated myself to understanding more about the impact
of violence on young people with opportunities created by
FVPSA, I have been able to provide some of the evidence that we
can indeed prevent violence. For this testimony I'm going to
focus on two evidence-based programs.
One, in partnership with the National Health Resource
Center on Domestic Violence run by Futures Without Violence, a
FVPSA grantee. I co-created an intervention for healthcare
settings that can reduce rates of violence. This approach,
which we call CUES, C for confidentiality, U for universal
education, E for empowerment and S for support, has been shown
in several randomized trials to be effective.
A second program I'd like to lift up is called Coaching
Boys Into Men. This violence prevention program inspires
athletic coaches to teach their young athletes about healthy
and respectful relationships. In randomized trials with both
high school and middle school athletes, the program has found
dramatic reductions in relationship abuse and sexual violence 1
year later.
In fact, our team recently published an estimate that for
every 1,000 boys exposed to this program, 20 cases of sexual
assault are prevented. Given that the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, the CDC, estimates one sexual assault
costs our society about $123,000.00.
The return on investment of a program like this is immense.
I strongly recommend the reauthorization of FVPSA. While the
FVPSA program is administered by Family and Youth Services
Bureau within the larger Administration for Children and
Families, it is the Delta Program administered by the CDC and
authorized as part of FVPSA that focuses on prevention.
The Coaching Boys Into Men Program I mentioned, has been
implemented across the county using Delta funding. And Delta
extends only to about 10 States each year, so I recommend that
we continue to fund Stated local partnerships, via the Delta
program to test new and innovative ideas for prevention.
Second, to provide base-line funding so all of our States
and territories may have designated funding for prevention, and
finally to provide additional designated funding to the Family
Violence Prevention and Services Program within Family and
Youth Services Bureau so that our victims service agencies can
also support prevention activities.
I also want to go back for a moment to the story I
mentioned at the outset. Although my patient was not pregnant
that day, she could have been among our young people who are
pregnant and parenting. The Pregnancy Assistance Fund
previously played a vital role in helping this most vulnerable
group.
Young people who are pregnant and parenting need extra
support to succeed--high quality childcare, education, housing,
food security, transportation and certainly comprehensive
healthcare. So, I will leave you with three thoughts.
Violence is preventable. Second, to prevent domestic
violence and child abuse we must take a holistic approach. And
finally, FVPSA is an excellent Federal program. We know it
works. Rarely have so few dollars accomplished so much to help
people.
And we can do more to support prevention. First, by
expanding the Delta Program so funding can reach all States.
And second, by authorizing additional prevention funding out of
the Family Violence and Services Office. Thank you for the
honor and privilege of sharing these thoughts with you today,
and for your consideration. I'm now ready to take your
questions as well.
[The prepared Statement of Dr. Miller follows:]
Prepared Statement of Dr. Elizabeth Miller
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you so much, each of you, for
your excellent testimony.
Under Committee Rule 9(a), we will now question witnesses
under the five-minute rule. After the chair and Ranking Member,
I will be recognizing Members of both subcommittees in the
order of their seniority on the full committee.
And again, to make sure that the Members' five-minute rule,
staff will be keeping track of time and the timer will sound
when your time is over. Please re-mute your microphone.
And as chair, I recognize myself for five minutes.
Mrs. Timmons, thank you so much for your work and
commitment to helping survivors in Oregon. I'm impressed by
everything you've accomplished over the years. I learned a lot
from our conversation last week. Recently, Congress provided
450 million dollars to support survivors of intimate partner
violence and sexual assault during the COVID-19 pandemic.
So, I wanted to ask you could you please tell me more about
the operational challenges that programs in Oregon have
experienced during the pandemic, and during prior disasters
that have made supplemental funds so critical?
Ms. Timmons. Thank you. Yes. Survivors in Oregon really
struggled early on to get the proper PPE, or proper equipment
to keep our shelters open and keep survivors safe while they
were in shelter. We struggled significantly with getting masks,
and cleaning supplies.
And shelters in our State are small. They're primarily
homes that have been transformed into shelters. And so, this
was a significant barrier to safety. We also had fires that
raged through our community which caused some shelters to have
to close and move survivors into hotels.
We were struggling with really basic needs at that point
from food to water, to clothing and some of the really basic
things that folks needed. One of the things that I also want to
touch on in terms of COVID is that the disproportional impact
that COVID has had on tribal and [inaudible] of black,
indigenous and people of color communities that are in Oregon.
And I think that there has been a significant impact to
advocates in those communities who are doing that work. We saw
reductions in volunteers. We saw reductions in advocates being
able to do the work that they need to do as they're taking care
of their elders, taking care of their children, while also
trying to keep survivors safe.
We also had to pull all of our sexual assault advocates
that were doing accompaniment to hospitals, out of the
hospitals, and find alternative methods to do sexual assault
advocacy. So the COVID-19 impact has just been incredibly
broad.
Chairwoman Bonamici. I don't want to cut you off, but I
want to get a couple more questions in.
Ms. Timmons. Please do.
Chairwoman Bonamici. It's very, very helpful.
Ms. Timmons. Any time.
Chairwoman Bonamici. I just wanted to recognize Ms.
Novoryta. You've mentioned some of the same things in your
testimony too about the challenges during COVID. I wanted to
ask Vice Chairwoman Schlater, we know that the Family Violence
Prevention and Services Act administered as we know by
Department of Health and Human Services, approaches intimate
partner violence from a public health perspective.
And why is the public health approach so important for
Native survivors, and what are some of the barriers that Native
survivors face in getting assistance from places, for example,
the criminal justice system?
Ms. Schlater. Thank you Chairwoman Bonamici, I'll get back
with you more in detail in writing on that question. But you
know, the answer that comes to the top of my mind right now is
jurisdictional issues. And you know, who has jurisdiction over
the incident, especially in a Public Law 280.C state like
California.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Right.
Ms. Schlater. And so, it's really hard sometimes to even
get a response from the justice system.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you. Well, I look forward to
finding out more about that. And Dr. Miller I'm concerned
because during the pandemic, pregnant women of color, for
example, have sometimes delayed or reduced prenatal care
visits, and that has exacerbated complications.
We already have the complexities of the national maternal
mortality crisis, so why is it so important, especially for
survivors of color to continue to receive healthcare and social
services that are provided by the Pregnancy Assistance Fund
grants?
Dr. Miller. Thank you, Chairwoman Bonamici, for that
question. The maternal mortality is something that's deeply
personal for me. Here in Pittsburgh we recently did a study
where we rank the third percentile, so 97 percent of other
comparable cities across the country look better than us on
maternal mortality.
So, we have been deeply, deeply engaged in this issue. And
it is certainly complex, but the solutions lie in having really
consistent and trustworthy health and social services, and the
Pregnancy Assistance Fund is absolutely vital to that in terms
of providing the social services and supports that are needed,
and getting to those who are experiencing the greatest fear in
marginalization.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you very much. And I'm going to
set a good example because the clock is now at zero. I'm going
to yield back and recognize Ranking Member Fulcher for five
minutes for your questions.
Mr. Fulcher. Thank you. Madam Chair, and you certainly do
set a good example. I've got my stop clock going. This question
is for Ms. Novoryta. I got your name correct I think this time,
forgive me. But I appreciate that you shared the value of
faith-based organizations in serving survivors in this issue.
Any objective review of history reveals that faith was a
critical part of our founders and fundamentally important part
of life in America.
I know I've seen first-hand in my own life the importance
of the church in helping to meet the needs of the local
community. Can you share a little bit more about why it's
important for the faith community to be involved with this
issue?
Ms. Novoryta. Sure. Thank you, Representative Fulcher. Due
to the trust factor, many people go to their minister, clergy,
staff at stay safe providers, like Catholic charities and
others when they need help, whether it be for domestic
violence, other sources of distress.
Similarly, what we're finding is that providing services
at, or in connection with a church, temple, parish, helps the
survivor feel safe. As have been shared today, isolation and
control are very common in domestic violence relationships, and
often the church, or another faith-based institution is a place
that an abuser will allow their partner to go alone.
I think it's important to say too that for many faiths,
believers may feel that they cannot leave an abusive
relationship because they have taken a religious vow or
sacrament, and the sacred ritual of marriage. It is empowering
for them to hear from their minister, clergy, or a counselor
connected to the faith, that they are not expected to stay and
endure the abuse.
Mr. Fulcher. Thank you. And if I could just do a followup
to that. I personally, I'm not Catholic, I'm evangelical
Christian, so I don't necessarily understand the inner workings
of Catholic charities. But what I do know is the positive
impact that your efforts have had, and those appear to be
undeniable.
So, this question is basically how do you do it in the
sense of you must do some partnering in local communities. And
how do you do it? How does it work?
Ms. Novoryta. So, survivors are often dependent on their
abusers in multiple ways--financially, emotionally, socially.
As Rachel Louise Snyder, she had in her 2019 book, No Visible
Bruises, domestic violence is adjacent to so many other
problems that we as a society grapple with--education,
economics, mental and physical health, crime, gender, racial
equality and more.
And so, what we know is that the protection and safety of
survivors requires both policies and systems and partnerships
that recognize that domestic violence is a public health crisis
with enormous implications for public safety, homelessness, and
economic insecurity.
So in our work with survivors, we know that an array of
services, and a coordinated approach is necessary. We partner
with other local trusted service providers, including local
hospitals. The women's mental health program at Cook County
Jail, the Network Advocating Against Domestic Violence, and
others that offer job development, housing, and legal services.
What we do know is none of us can do this work alone, and
so together we wrap services around the survivor, so that they
can both become more self-sufficient, and also feel a part of a
broader supportive network.
Mr. Fulcher. And thank you for that. And we've only got a
little bit over a minute, so this will need to be a little bit
quicker, but how are you funded? How do you keep the lights on,
and the services going?
Ms. Novoryta. Yes. So, like everybody else has shared here,
funding from the government for domestic violence services is
limited, and so we combine both a combination of Federal and
State funding as well as significant private donations from the
local community.
Mr. Fulcher. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Novoryta, for
what you do and your testimony, to the rest of our panel as
well. Thank you so much. Madam Chair, I yield back.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Ranking Member Fulcher. I
now recognize Representative Adams from North Carolina for five
minutes for your questions.
Ms. Adams. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to pull over
and ask questions. Thank you to all of the witnesses for your
testimony. African-American women experience intimate partner
violence at a rate of about 35 percent higher than their white
counterparts. However, they're less likely to use social
services and seek out medical treatment for intimate partner
violence.
Ms. Timmons, what are some of the unique and systemic
barriers women in Black communities face in accessing support
services?
Ms. Timmons. Thank you. African-American survivors
definitely face significant barriers to accessing services. I
think the most significant barrier that I have personally
noticed when working with black women is the barrier around
finding services that they can trust, and that they feel are
responsive to the unique and culturally specific needs of their
community, of their children, and of their families.
And so that's the biggest barrier, is looking for that
culturally specific response that they feel they can really
trust and get their unique needs met.
Ms. Adams. OK. What role does the National Center on
Violence Against Women in the Black Community play in ensuring
that victims in the community are connected with the
appropriate resources?
Ms. Timmons. They play a significant role. The biggest role
I think that they play for us in Oregon is making sure we have
access to adequate information about the disparities in the
black community, allowing us to understand where those gaps
really are, and what are the best practices in responding to
those gaps and those needs.
Ms. Adams. Thank you very much. So, we know that many
people in our country do not feel comfortable calling the
police when they need help. Vice Chairwoman Schlater and Ms.
Timmons, can you talk more about what happens when victims
don't feel safe calling the police, and what other resources
can they turn to, and why these funding services are so
important in these cases. That's for Vice Chairwoman Schlater
and Ms. Timmons.
Ms. Schlater. OK. Thank you, Congresswoman Adams. So
basically, without our program here, it was very--before these
type of funds came into our community, it was very unsafe on
our reservations because there was no accountability for
offenders, and somewhat hopelessness.
And with tribal government's hands tied by jurisdiction
issues, it was like if you called the sheriffs for a domestic
violence call you'd get an 8-hour response, or no response at
all. And that in turn led to more abuse for the victim who made
the call for help, right?
And so, there have been incidents in our community where
families have tried to intervene with you know, beating up the
victim's perpetrator, but that hasn't resulted in anything
healthy. That wasn't a good solution for that.
So with our program and our services, we've been able to
build relationships with the local law enforcement, build our
own tribal law enforcement program as well, and then really
establish a life-saving link between the victim when they pick
up the call for help there. So, Ms. Timmons?
Ms. Timmons. Thank you. I think one of the things that
we've absolutely learned about domestic violence is one size
dos not fit all, right? We can build wonderful, vigorous,
culturally responsive responses to the multiple complicated
issue of domestic and sexual violence.
This is not something that has--that we can create simple
answers to. And I think that when it comes to law enforcement,
there is absolutely a role that they play, an important role,
in keeping us all safe from domestic and sexual violence, but
it's everyone's issue.
And our whole community has to respond to it in vigorous
and responsive ways from educating family Members on best
practices and how to respond, to educating healthcare workers,
to educating clergy, to educating our communities and
neighbors, and so I think that when I think about you know,
that law enforcement response, I think it's been a wonderful
tool for many survivors, but when people are afraid to call law
enforcement, they have to have just as strong, and just as
wonderful a tool in their toolbox as well.
So, we have to move beyond one size fits all, and really
respond to the needs that survivors are bringing us each and
every day.
Ms. Adams. Great. Thank you both very much. Madam Chair,
I'm going to yield back.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Representative. I now
recognize Representative Fitzgerald from Wisconsin for five
minutes for your questions.
Mr. Fitzgerald. Thank you, thank you. I just wanted to kind
of go back to one of the things that Ranking Member Fulcher had
mentioned, and it's I think because of my knowledge of what
goes on in the Milwaukee Archdiocese.
And Catholic Charities, I know, I'm just wondering overall
kind of the financial picture because I know that many
individual parishes that work with some of the non-
denominational outlets that many women can reach out to.
And the one that I'm very familiar with, it's in my
congressional district, it's called PAVE, People Against a
Violent Environment. And I know that there's issues, you know,
kind of across the spectrum on funding as a result of some of
the parishes struggling, who often times set aside dollars for
many of the programs related to the archdiocese and to
charities.
So, whether it's Milwaukee Archdiocese Charities, or
Chicago Charities, I'm just wondering if you can kind of
comment on that, Ms. Novoryta? I hope I said that right, sorry.
Ms. Novoryta. You're close. It's Novoryta, it's Novoryta.
Mr. Fitzgerald. OK.
Ms. Novoryta. Yes. I mean to build on kind of what I think
has been shared pretty universally across the comments today,
funding for survivors of domestic violence who are 95 percent
of survivors in Illinois, are women, is insufficient. And that
is true at Catholic Charities of Chicago as well, and I think
that speaks to both the need for Federal dollars come into
local jurisdictions more frequently, and at a more significant
level.
We have, in Chicago, how we have been able to continue
these programs is I think in two ways. First it's through
leaning on folks within our community to support the work that
we're doing financially.
And second, it's as I spoke to earlier, we have significant
partnerships outside Catholic charities. I think the other
thing that might be important to mention is that within
Catholic Charities of Chicago, so as a large organization, we
serve about 400,000 people every year across a variety of
services, and particularly through Federal funding and other
resources we have housing programs, including transitional
housing, permanent housing, other wrap around services as they
relate to the counseling, trauma, informed therapy, excuse me,
so on and so forth.
And so, we, our staff has become very solution oriented in
kind of bringing the puzzle pieces they need together from
different funding sources in different parts of the
organization in order to provide services.
Mr. Fitzgerald. Yes, thank you very much. I know there's a
series of challenges obviously, and I appreciate your testimony
and you being here today. And I would yield back, Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Mr. Fitzgerald. I now
recognize Representative Hayes from Connecticut for five
minutes for your questions.
Ms. Hayes. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you to our
witnesses for joining us on this important hearing. In my State
of Connecticut, I've seen them struggle to combat the surge of
domestic violence during this pandemic. We've seen at our
domestic violence shelters, 150 percent increase in capacity,
and calls for help have increased by 71 percent.
But even before we reached this point, I saw my students in
the classroom who were suffering with the long-term ripple
effects of family violence. In Congress I've advocated for the
need for trauma informed care, for students to help address the
growing mental health crisis that they face.
I actually have a bill, the Supporting Trauma Informed
Educational Practices Act that I've been working to get support
on, because I know how critically important it is. Family
violence prevention and support funds would also be good, and
support of the National Center on Domestic Violence at Trauma
and Mental Health is important, especially now.
So, my question today is for Ms. Timmons. Could you please
speak to the importance of incorporating trauma informed care
into our response to victims of intimate partner violence?
Ms. Timmons. Thank you. Trauma informed care, and trauma
informed responses are really how I believe, are really how
we're going to see ourselves through the domestic violence
crisis and to the other side. I feel as if without trauma
informed responses, it's very difficult to break the cycle of
violence.
Trauma affects us in our whole bodies. It affects how we
parent. It affects how we navigate our own healing, how we see,
how we're able to access our own resources. So I really do feel
like trauma informed care is central to the work that we're
doing.
Everything that we've learned about trauma and how to apply
it to our healing, healing our families, our organizations and
our communities has brought us closer and closer to really
ending this terrible epidemic of violence that we've been faced
with.
Ms. Hayes. Thank you. There's another component of that.
Like I said I was a classroom teacher for many, many years, and
I saw family violence up--well, the impact of family violence
up close, but also dating violence.
Many young people get involved with dating violence very
early on, and in turn they are adults with the highest rates of
interpersonal violence. Can you speak to what schools can do to
help reduce domestic and family violence and promote safe and
healthy relationships?
Ms. Timmons. Yes. Education. Education, education,
education. I think that prevention is key to breaking the cycle
of violence. We have to be able to teach our young people what
consent is, what violence is, and what healthy relationships
are, so I think that's really, really important.
Ms. Hayes. Thank you. My last question, nearly 20 years ago
Congress authorized special grants under the Family Violence
Prevention and Support Act. Dr. Miller, can you speak to the
importance of a multi-general approach, particularly as it
relates to these types of relationships we've seen, as we've
heard before where multi-generations deal with this type of
violence? What can we do in Congress?
Dr. Miller. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you for bringing
the focus back to prevention as well, because while FVPSA is
about services and supporting our victim's service agencies to
do the work of supporting our survivors with the trauma
sensitive responses that Ms. Timmons was just speaking to, it
is also absolutely critical that we invest in prevention.
And prevention includes recognizing that we need to support
more adult allies and peers, right? So, to Ms. Timmons' point
education, integrating dating violence prevention, but more
broadly, trauma sensitive school practices as you're talking
about, Congresswoman Hayes, into our K through 12 schools.
That also includes, however, from the zero to five, you
know Kindergarten readiness that thinking about positive
parenting strategies, creating this sort of audacious hope,
right, that positive parenting is possible in that context of
recognizing that healing and recovery is possible.
Our families are not broken. Our communities are not
broken. We need to come together. As Representative Fulcher was
saying, this is local. Because indeed it is a local response of
creating a collective from our faith-based collaboratives, our
schools, our community organizations and the vital importance
of our victim's service advocates who create a community of
care.
Ms. Hayes. Thank you so much. Madam Chair, I yield back.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you so much. We now have the
Ranking Member of the Full Committee, Ranking Member Foxx, I
recognize you for five minutes for your questions.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. My question
is for Ms. Novoryta. What has been the biggest impact of COVID
on your programs that worked to address the problems of
domestic violence? Have you seen any change in outreach through
your peers, as society has started to open more recently?
Ms. Novoryta. Yes. We are finding that many victims of
domestic violence are reaching out to Catholic Charities for
other immediate needs because they lost their job, they might
need financial assistance to stay in their homes. They need
food. And when our staff are able to meet that need, and begin
building a relationship with that individual, we begin to learn
more about other struggles, including with domestic violence.
In many of the communities that we serve, stores are
closed, houses of worship are not open. Schools, community
centers are closed, and we're finding that we need to really
meet people where they are. And over the last year that has
been at hospitals.
And so, similar to what Dr. Miller has been sharing, we've
been working with local hospitals to train physicians, their
social workers, their case managers, to screen patients for
other social determinants of health, and also for domestic
violence.
They then are referring their patients to Catholic
Charities. We're also finding that we need to be more flexible,
and I think this is one of those millions of trends that
started during COVID and are going to continue.
Lack of privacy is a huge barrier to counseling. The 45-
minute sessions that have been our standard of care is rare.
Instead, our trauma informed counselors are connecting with
survivors more frequently, often via text messages, and short
phones calls. We are responding to spontaneous calls, and we're
doing more regular safety checks.
It's more difficult for survivors to get time alone, and so
we're coaching them on ways to do that. Sometimes that means
locking yourself in the bathroom. That means going for a walk
with your phone. That means sitting in your car.
I think another thing to note in this conversation is that
the survivors that we work with who again, 100 percent are
below the Federal poverty line, do not always have access to
Zoom, which is bringing us here today. And this is particularly
challenging because during COVID, survivors have been expected
to participate in court via Zoom.
And so, we now have mobile telehelp cars at 10 of our sites
across Greater Chicago, in part so survivors have a safe,
private place to access and attend court on behalf of
themselves and often their children as well.
Ms. Foxx. Well, thank you. That was just a pearly good
answer. I had a followup, a bit of a followup to that, but
you've done such a fantastic job of answering the question my
followup is related to it. It was as you've described, how
you're able to work with other groups through your provision
services like food, childcare, legal services, in house, which
has allowed you, as you've described, to be more effective in
identifying the people who need services for domestic violence.
I think you've done a very, very good job of that. I want
to thank you, and everyone involved with Catholic Charities for
stepping up to do what you do. What you've done for generations
of people, it's fantastic. Because I've had to split, I've gone
from one hearing to another today, I don't know if there was
any opportunity or if you were denied any opportunity to make
comments on something someone else said or to finish up an
answer.
Do you have--I think I have a little time left. Do you have
anything else you want to add to the discussion?
Ms. Novoryta. I will add, I want to build on what Vanessa
Timmons was sharing about the importance of trauma informed
counseling. And briefly, last August we began working with a
mother and her 5-year-old daughter, and our trauma informed
therapist met with this child after she spent the morning
clutching the hands of her mother as she lay recovering in
critical care after her husband nearly beat her to death.
And that little girl spent the night crying, ``Mommy,
mommy, mommy.'' She told our therapist that she wanted her mom
to hear her voice before God took her away from her. The
survivors and the families that we serve, I'll be brief, have
suffered and continue to suffer from trauma, and professional
counselors with the credentials, trauma informed expertise and
experience are just essential to our work, not only with
adults, but the children.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. I yield
back.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Ranking Member Foxx, and no
worries about going over on that, I think that was a very
compelling story that we all benefit from hearing, tragic as it
may be. Next, I recognize Representative Leger Fernandez for
five minutes for your questions.
Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you, Chair Bonamici, and thank
you to all our witnesses for joining us today and for evoking
the response of a tear in the eye over these stories, right.
But I think we need to make sure that we take these stories,
heartbreaking as they are, and take them as our call to action.
I will say I've worked with Catholic Charities over many
decades and their excellent work with immigrants who've been
welcomed and supported by Catholic Charities regardless of
their status, and I've always appreciated that of them.
And Ms. Novoryta, thank you for detailing the work you've
done with survivors and making it come home. Dr.ller, thank you
for your audacious hope that it is possible to prevent violence
and break the cycle.
I want to address my first question is to Vice Chairwoman
Schlater. Your testimony did highlight that American Indian and
Alaska Native women experience higher rates of violence than
any other race or ethnicity, about close to 50 percent. And
then there are the fact that there are fewer shelter programs
that we need to support coalitions, especially given this
jurisdictional issue.
I completely agree with you that we are failing in our
trust obligations and must do more. So Ms. Vice Chairwoman,
could you please share what you believe Congress should focus
on to better protect Native women, both in the reauthorization
of the Family Violence Protective Services Act, and if you
believe we should do more in some other area as well for
protecting our sisters.
Ms. Schlater. Thank you, Congresswoman Fernandez. Yes, so
you know the enhancements that we're proposing in this
reauthorization of FVPSA are very critical for the tribal
program increase, tribal grants increase from 10 to 12.5
percent, the dedicated funding for a national indigenous Indian
domestic violence hotline.
The direct funding for the Alaska Native Resource Center,
and last for our Hawaiian Native sisters as well. They've been,
you know, neglected, you know, over the decades by the Federal
Government as well. And so, for their resource center as well.
You know on Congresswoman Hayes' comments on informed trauma
care, we need more funding dedicated toward that as well.
Because we know that the solutions lie within the tribal
teachings of our people and our language. And when we do
cultural activities with our youth and then when we do peer
counseling with the women and the men that we service, and we
go back to our stories and our teachings, it gives great
comfort.
And it also gives an example on how to be a good relative,
right? And so, for like our young boys group that we work with,
you talk about prevention. We teach our boys rattling, and so
to hold a rattle is sacred for our songs.
And so, if you're holding a rattle that is sacred, then you
don't hurt anybody with your hands. And if you're singing those
songs, you don't hurt anybody with your words, right? And so
and there's a whole teaching that goes into the rattle as well,
and as it deals like with consent, and you know, asking for the
rattle to be put together, and you know, representing the seeds
inside the rattle, representing the family.
So those are beautiful teachings that we work with, with
our youth. And for the young girls group we do singing, and
dancing as well. As so we talk about the regalia that they
wear. And that the honor that it is that some of the family
Members make their pieces of regalia that they put on.
And so that they in return, you know, are to take care of
themselves first, because they are sacred life givers. And then
if women are given everything that they need to be taken care
of, they in return will take care of the whole village. That
includes the men and the elders, and everyone else, the
children.
And so those are beautiful teachings, and that can come
through with cultural specific trauma informed care. And so,
I'll end there, but thank you.
Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you very much. And that
highlights the need for flexibility. And I don't know if we
have enough time, Ms. Timmons, but I wanted for you to address
the issue of rural, addressing violence in rural areas. Much of
my constituency are rural. Can you speak to that real quickly?
Ms. Timmons. Yes. The needs of rural survivors are quite
unique and complicated, and I will try to get some information
out to you. I think I ran out of time. Thank you so much.
Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you. Please do send that
information. I apologize.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you. No, I know it's an
important issue. We look forward to receiving that information.
And next I recognize Representative Thompson from Pennsylvania
for five minutes for your questions.
Mr. Thompson: Madam Chair, thank you so much. Thank you for
this incredibly important hearing, and thank you to all the
witnesses who have taken time out of their busy schedules, and
the great work that you do each and every day serving and
protecting a lot of individuals to be here.
Ms. Novoryta, thank you for being here today, and you know
to discuss an issue that affects one-third of all men and women
throughout their lives. Their domestic violence. Domestic
violence has been casted into the background for most of our
history, sadly keeping it a hidden problem.
Survivors of domestic violence have often tolerated
physical, mental, emotional abuse and silence out of fear that
their spouses or partners would retaliate. You know, former
battered women, civics organizations and professionals began to
open shelters in the 1970's to provide services to abused women
and their children.
And after seeing the great results from these efforts,
Congress led a series of hearings in the early 1980's to
understand the scope of this violence and explore possible
responses. Now this led Congress to pass legislation that
touched on all facets of domestic abuse, and legislation we're
all very familiar with, originally passed in 1984 the Family
Violence Prevention and Services Act, or FVPSA, is the primary
Federal funding source that support emergency shelter and
related assistance for victims of domestic violence and their
families.
And since then FVPSA has addressed domestic violence
through community driven solutions. There are a network of
programs and services dedicated responding to domestic violence
across the United States, including our U.S. territories.
Further, FVPSA funds nearly 1,600 community-based programs,
their State formally grants, including nearly 60 programs were
located throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, my home
State.
These programs provide necessary resources to local
communities and help education individuals on health
relationships, as well as offer legal assistance, crisis
intervention and counseling. Now this critical legislation has
been authorized seven times since its enactment, most recently
in 2010 for 5 years for Fiscal Year 2015.
And I've always supported this program, including
introducing legislation in previous years that would offer a
clean reauthorization of FVPSA for 5 years. Additionally
supported the CARES Act, which provide 45 million dollars in
supplemental funding for FVPSA, formal grantees and 2 million
dollars in supplemental funding for the National Domestic
Violence Hotline.
The Congress should now focus on ways to support, continue
to support pathways to strengthen families to prevent domestic
violence and to continuing to support survivors despite the
added challenges that COVID has posed.
Ms. Novoryta, you mentioned in your testimony that COVID-19
compounds the struggles faced by survivors of domestic
violations, and the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline reports
a 15 percent increase in calls, a 2,000 percent increase in
text messages requesting help.
Can you elaborate on how Catholic Charities aided survivors
and those seeking help during the pandemic?
Ms. Novoryta. Absolutely, absolutely. So, most of our
referrals come to us from parishes, local hospitals, and
community partners, or from other programs and services within
Catholic Charities. A client might come to us for rental
assistance, and then when we respond to that need, a
relationship begins to take root, trust builds, and then more
serious issues, including often domestic violence come to
light.
We also receive referrals through our Domestic Violence
Help Line, and immediately work with the victims on the phone,
or subsequently in text messages to identify their needs and
their options, and work with them in the moment to create a
safety plan with them.
The greatest emergency need that people who call our help
line bring to us is for safe housing, away from their abusers.
We first see if we can bring them safely into one of our two
transitional housing programs. We also are integrated into the
Chicago and Greater Network of Service Providers, and we have
agreements at our--they did not exist years ago, with ride
share companies to transport survivors in crisis to safety 24/7
when they are ready to leave.
So those are some of the ways that survivors come to us,
and our work is with them. It begins immediately on that first
call.
Mr. Thompson. Well, let me just close with saying
congratulations. I understand that were 100 percent of the
survivor families served by Catholic Charities remain in
stable, permanent housing, including during COVID. That is
quite an accomplishment and thank you for all that. And thank
you to all the witnesses for the work that you do serving,
preventing--working to prevent domestic violence, and serving
the survivors of it. And thank you, Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Representative. And I now
recognize Representative Mrvan from Indiana for five minutes
for your questions.
Mr. Mrvan. Thank you, Chairwoman. My question is for Ms.
Novoryta. How are you? I'm from Gary, Indiana, so the Gary
Diocese. So, when you speak to the Chicagoland greater area,
you're speaking to me, because we fall into that category, and
it's wonderful to have you here.
First, I want to mention to you that as a North Township
trustee, I did Poor Relief assistance. I represented 180,000
people, and I worked very closely with Catholic Charities,
specifically on immigration. Candy Torrez, who came over from
Puerto Rico, I worked hand in hand with her. I know she's
familiar with what you guys do, and we worked with domestic
violence individuals.
And I personally have sent through Dr. Miller, we do intake
for people who need assistance, and we use the A study, and we
work with people. And every case is a snowflake, as you're
talking about, right?
So my question to you directly, Ami, is can you give an
example with a collective impact, so all of you witnesses know
what I'm talking about, the collective impact of Federal and
State government agencies working with you to better a
survivor's chances of having a quality of life and better
outcomes?
Just give me one example where Federal and State agencies
came together and worked together in a collective impact to
help a survivor.
Ms. Novoryta. Sure, I think that what I'd like to highlight
as part of, in my response here, is the transitional housing
program that Representative Thompson just mentioned. And
housing is, I think, one of the most complex interventions to
put into place, and to sustain over time. And it absolutely
requires blending and rating public and private funding as well
as a wide network of partnerships.
The success of this program that we found at Catholic
Charities is three-fold. First, we provide transitional housing
for up to 2 years. The healing does not happen overnight. And
securing the skills, and then securing a job to have stable
employment that takes time. And there are going to be
challenges along the way.
Second, we know that housing alone is insufficient, and so
in addition to the women who are in our transitional housing
program, receive intensive case management services, access to
benefits. This includes Snap, this includes WIC, this often
includes Medicaid, and they commit to actively participating in
a healing and recovery programming, including weekly classes,
some of which are led by folks at Catholic Charities in
Chicago, and some of which are from partner organizations.
These range from addictions and anger management, financial
literacy, budgeting, mindfulness, journaling and reflection,
that trauma informed counseling, English as a second language
if needed, particularly with the immigrant community, and job
readiness.
We also are able to provide onsite childcare if needed. And
finally, as the last piece that cannot go unStated, is
survivors actively participate in our aftercare program, that
provides an ongoing support system. They know they can reach
out if and when they are struggling, and they need extra
support.
Our support doesn't have an end date. We continue to
provide counseling, small group sessions, food pantry,
clothing, to help our survivors over the long haul as they hit
those bumps in the road.
Mr. Mrvan. And I just want to say the partnership that I
had as an elected official in my agency to collaborate with
those collective impact and those services such as Section 8
housing, and access to housing.
Ms. Novoryta. Yes.
Mr. Mrvan. Those are all things that we worked together to
make sure people had access to Federal programs. I thank you
very much. And in closing I have a question for Ms. Timmons.
Very quickly, Ms. Timmons, on my part quickly, we have seen an
increase in the rates of physical intimate partner violence and
sexual assault in this COVID-19 and the pandemic.
What characteristics do you think the COVID-19 pandemic
have lent other than isolation to this increase in violence
among domestic partners?
Ms. Timmons. Well, I think isolation plays a key role. I
think that just the inherent lack of privacy and lack of
support that happens with this kind of isolation is a
significant piece. Also, the stress. There's a concurring, we
see concurring incidents where there's stress, addiction,
alcohol substance abuse use, and those kinds of things
definitely increase if there's domestic and sexual violence in
the family. And I think that that has played a significant
role.
Mr. Mrvan. Thank you to all the witnesses. I appreciate
your answers and your time and what you do for victims and
survivors.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you. And I now recognize
Representative Bowman from New York for five minutes for your
questions.
Mr. Bowman. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to all
the witnesses for being here. And thank you all for
highlighting the need for trauma informed schools, and trauma
informed education. A big shoutout to my colleagues for
bringing up that particular issue.
You know my background is education. I worked 20 years in
public schools as a teacher, counselor, and middle school
principal, and trauma informed approaches do work, having more
counselors in our schools, having more music programs, having
direct instruction in these areas really work very strongly, so
thank you all for highlighting that.
Dr. Miller, I wanted to ask you. One of the main prevention
strategies in the Delta Program is engaging influential adults
and peers. In your testimony you referenced the Coaching Boys
Into Men Program, and the success the program has had with
increasing positive bystander behaviors among middle and high
school athletes.
Can you please elaborate on the successes of the program,
especially around creating a culture of respect, and reducing
intimate partner violence and sexual assault?
Dr. Miller. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you so very much
for asking about this program. And Coaching Boys Into Men is
just one example of the kind of prevention programs that we can
co-create with communities. And you know the history of this
work was recognizing that we needed more adult allies involved
in this work, while victims service advocates do phenomenal
work in our communities, more people need to be spokespersons
for prevention.
And wow, coaches are amazing, right? Because they are role
models, they're mentors, you know, and in some instances really
serve as an adult caregiver role for many of our young people,
especially young people in minority communities as well.
And so what is amazing about the Coaching Boys Into Men
Program is that we ask coaches to spend 10 to 1five minutes a
week talking about respectful language, talking about
leadership, talking about consent, right, very, very basic
healthy relationship skills, and that that is part of being a
leader in the school community and on the team.
And what is really quite wild is that as athletes hear and
discuss amongst themselves, they develop a code word of like
they see a peer engaging in disrespectful behavior, they go,
whoa, Boys to Men right, and it interrupts that behavior.
And so what we have seen with both middle school and high
school, again in very rigorous randomized trials, is that at
the end of the sports season these athletes who get exposed to
the program are much more likely to speak up and stand up when
they see disrespectful behavior.
And in fact, one of our local school districts that has
probably turned out more NFL players in the country, is you
know they were early adopters of Coaching Boys Into Men, and
this is like the one school district where they say the
football players are the most respectful in the entire school
community.
And so, it is a joyful program. It's one that very easily
athletic coaches are able to adopt, and this is really you
know, the difference between the cost of prevention, which is
training victims' service advocates training coaches to do this
program that is otherwise free, right?
And compared to the cost of one sexual assault, the CDC
estimating $123,000.00 to U.S. society for one sexual assault.
The cost for one instance of intimate partner violence about
over $100,000.00 for women, about $23,000.00 for men is what
the CDC estimates.
And so, you know, we can all do the math very quickly.
Prevention is a great return on investment.
Mr. Bowman. Awesome. Thank you for that. Ms. Timmons,
research shows that trauma is intergenerational, with mothers
transmitting trauma to their children. Children also bear a
significant burden in the house when there is intimate partner
violence. They may suffer significant trauma in their own
right.
If we do not break the cycle of violence and trauma, how
much do children stand to lose from the proliferation of
domestic violence?
Ms. Timmons. That's an awesome question. Thank you. I think
that one of the most devastating impacts of a 30-year career in
domestic violence is seeing the impact on kids, of this--of
domestic and sexual violence. And children stand to lose a
significant portion of their future when they're impacted by
this.
Our whole selves as I've said earlier, is impacted. I can't
over-emphasize how holistic and inclusive and complicated that
trauma impacts us as humans. And so, I just would say that
children have a significant amount to lose if we don't
intervene in the cycle of violence.
Mr. Bowman. So when we talk about a public health holistic
approach, we're talking about education, K to 12 systems, we're
talking about housing, we're talking about healthcare system,
preventative measures in the community, and measures to support
those who have been victims of emergency housing and other
services. Thank you all for that. That was amazing thank you. I
yield back my time.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you. And now I recognize the
Chair of the Full Committee Representative Scott from Virginia
for five minutes for your questions.
Ms. Scott. Thank you, Madam Chair. Ms. Novoryta, you
mentioned positive parenting. Exactly what does that mean? And
why is it important?
Ms. Novoryta. Thank you for your question. And my father is
going to be grateful that the name Novoryta is getting so much
play today. I think that positive parenting which is a really
critical and important aspect of the work that we're discussing
today, was brought up by Dr. Miller, and I actually would love
to ask Dr. Miller to comment further on that.
Mr. Scott. OK.
Dr. Miller. Thank you very much. So, the term positive
parenting encompasses a number of different supports for
parents. And I want to begin by, one, the first part is
recognizing that for many parents, including adolescents who
are pregnant and parenting, that they may not have always been
exposed to healthy and respectful environments.
And in fact, we know for adolescents who are pregnant and
parenting, that far too often it was also in the context of
unhealthy environments. And so, exposure to violence is part of
the story that we earlier heard about the ACE's study in
adverse childhood experiences study as well.
So, we all recognize as Ms. Timmons was saying, that the
intergenerational impact of exposure to violence, it can impact
the way in which one parents. What is so vital however, is that
how we approach and work with parents as a pediatrician, I both
acknowledge that sometimes, No. 1, parenting is hard.
No. 2, parenting is extra hard for parents for whom they
may have had prior exposure to violence, in that they may have
been harmed as children. And the third is to say that they are
not alone. The pediatrician's office, to be able to say there
is no shame, no judgment here.
I'm offering information to all of the parents because I
recognize that sometimes parenting is hard. And here are
opportunities for parents? programs and support, yes.
Mr. Scott. Essentially positive parenting using positive
reinforcement as a strategy to change behavior, rather than
slapping the child?
Dr. Miller. Absolutely. But also recognizing the parents do
need support, and so they need to be given the supports around
mindfulness and wellness and recognizing that parent mental
health is vitally important to the health and wellness of their
children as well.
So, it is absolutely around identifying strategies to
support your child's developing behaviors that does not involve
corporal punishment, while simultaneously recognizing that
parents often need more support and services.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. Vice Chair Schlater, are there
complications in the criminal justice system that make it
difficult to hold Native Americans who are guilty of violence
accountable in the criminal justice system?
Ms. Schlater. Yes. Currently there are many challenges
Congressman Scott. You know, one of them is, you know, non-
Native perpetrators on Indian land. And I'll send you something
in writing. I'll answer that in writing, thank you.
Mr. Scott. OK. Does this bill do anything about it?
Ms. Schlater. What this bill will do if the proposed
enhancements are granted, it will give survivors, victims, an
access to heal, and get those resources. But in regard to
holding perpetrators accountable on our land for their actions,
that I think falls outside of FVPSA's funding.
But kind of goes into Department of Justice. But if there
are some considerations and measures and additional funds, we
would gladly take it.
Mr. Schlater. And it probably wouldn't be within our
jurisdiction. It would probably be in the Judiciary Committee,
but I know when I was on the Judiciary Committee, we had some
problems. You mentioned hotlines. How effective are they?
Ms. Schlater. They are actually a lifeline. We've noticed
an uptick in calls to the Native Hotline, so we've also noticed
on the National Hotline, as they're parenting the StrongHearts
Native Help Line currently, that a lot of Native callers will
call in, but if they don't get connected to the Native Hotline,
prior to them going 24/7, they would wait until they could talk
to a Native advocate on the hotline.
And so, the Native Hotline is gathering a lot of tribal
resources and data that are specific to the survivors that can
get connected to their lifelines back in their tribal nations.
Mr. Scott. Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Chairman Scott. I now
recognize Representative McBath from Georgia for five minutes
for your questions.
Ms. McBath. Thank you so much, Madam Chair, and to all of
the subcommittee Members. Thank you so much for having this
important hearing today and allowing me to take part in it. And
I want to thank all of our witnesses today for sharing their
expertise and insight, and just thank you so much for all the
preventive measures that you take to protect women and
families.
Since it was first authorized in 1984, I'm so sorry, and I
just lost my remarks for a second. Hold on. Oh goodness hold
on. I knew that was going to happen. It's been happening all
day. OK. Since it was first authorized in 1984, the Family
Violence Prevention and Services Act has provided the resources
and funding necessary for shelters and organizations to help
survivors of domestic and dating violence.
And in that time however, we've learned, you know, there
are far better methods for prevention and support. And that's
why last Congress I introduced the Family Violence Prevention
and Services Improvement Act, FVPSA, with Representatives Gwen
Moore, Tom Cole and Katko, John Katko.
And I look forward to reintroducing this legislation again,
thus we can provide more equitable resources and access to
funding for all communities. Madam Chair, I think we've already
done so, I'd like to enter into the record a letter of support
we've already provided, that's been signed by 19 organizations
stating their support for the FVPSA Improvement Act of 2019,
and their desire for the passage of the comprehensive FVPSA
legislation during this Congress.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Without objection.
Ms. McBath. Thank you. As the new and improved methods of
prevention have been discovered over the years, so too has the
link between intimate partner violence and gun violence.
According to the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, about
4.5 million women in the United States have been threatened
with a gun, and nearly 1 million women have been shot or shot
at by an intimate partner.
Women are also five times more likely to be murdered when
their abuser has access to firearms. And in my home State of
Georgia, 73 percent of reported domestic violence related
deaths were committed by firearms in 2019 alone.
Dr. Miller, my questions are for you. Could you please
speak to how these efforts to reduce gun violence and murder
are such an intrinsic part of a comprehensive plan to prevent
intimate partner violence?
Dr. Miller. Absolutely. And I want to begin first by
saying, Representative McBath, thank you so much for your
leadership on this issue, knowing that it is deeply personal
for you. And I'm just incredibly grateful for your lifting up
the intersections of different forms of violence.
So, we know, right, that intimate partner violence is
inextricably linked with gun violence, and violent loss in our
communities. And when I talk about violence prevention, we were
talking about trauma sensitive school practices, for example,
or positive parenting strategies.
Ways to create safe and supportive environments. Those
kinds of cross cutting violence prevention strategies where we
bring in our faith-based organizations, our healthcare systems,
our community organizations, those cross cutting preventions
will also reduce gun violence and murder, and that is why the
CDC has invested so much in prevention around influential
adults and peers, safe and supportive environments as well as
economic supports for our families, because we know that's what
is needed to create safer communities.
But certainly, as a pediatrician, and somebody currently
working in schools, I also want to lift up what Representative
Bowman was identifying as a former middle school teacher. We
currently are in the midst of this pandemic doing work
virtually with young people who have been exposed to violence
in our middle schools here in Pittsburgh.
Over 60 percent of the young people in our research study
have experienced violent loss. That means losing a friend or
loved one to murder. It is extraordinary exposure to violence
that our young people are facing, and those of us who are on
this call together have an obligation to work together to end
gun violence, and intimate partner violence. So, I'm grateful
to you for that question.
Ms. McBath. Well, absolutely. Thank you so much. And Dr.
Miller, I know that you've also done some research on the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on intimate partner violence.
Can you share some of what you learned about how prepared
service providers were for the pandemic, and what needs to be
done moving forward to ensure that intimate partner violence
providers are prepared for any future emergencies such as
COVID-19?
Dr. Miller. Absolutely. Thank you. So, I have had the
immense privilege of working with the CDC and the American
Academy of Pediatrics in Futures Without Violence, on a project
interviewing intimate partner violence. victim service
advocates, as well as child welfare workers, and
administrators.
Domestic violence coalitions across the country, to
understand how they have responded to this pandemic. And I have
to say the victims service advocates were my heroes long before
the pandemic, they certainly taught me everything I know about
how manage and support survivors.
But they are like way up there in triple gold stars now,
because what they have accomplished with almost nothing in
terms of resources, has been extraordinary. Incredibly nimble
ways of supporting survivors. Ms. Novoryta earlier was talking
about the importance of privacy.
We had heard from advocates who had figures out all kinds
of clever solutions for interacting with survivors in ways that
support their privacy and safety. And what we are learning is
that we were woefully unprepared for this, and we can do so
much better.
Because it turns out that even in my city of Pittsburgh,
intimate partner violence, child abuse, was not part of our
emergency preparedness plan. That's changing, right? Because
moving and coming out of this pandemic we recognize the victim
services have to be much more robust. We have to be able to
much more nimbly respond, because suddenly you know, congregate
living in shelter was not a safe option, so.
Ms. McBath. Thank you so much for your answers. I yield
back.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you. We do have another Member
joining us. Representative Spartz from Indiana, I recognize you
for five minutes for your questions.
Ms. Spartz. Thank you very much. I appreciate it, it's
important conversation. And I think it's you know, a pandemic
puts a lot of different things you know to a different
perspective, and really kind of brought to our attention.
What I want to ask, Ms. Novoryta, what do you believe how
we can do a better job to individualize services to meet family
needs and survivors where they are to make sure that we have
more on the ground tailored services? If you have any ideas and
could share with us.
Ms. Novoryta. Sure. Absolutely. So, this healing journey is
a very long process with many ups and down. Every survivor's
experience has been different. Everybody's journey is going to
be different as well.
Many victims who come to us are not yet prepared to safely
exit their situation. We do know that on average, the average
survivor leaves their abuser seven times before they safely,
fully leave. So, the work that we do at charities and so many
of the other organizations that are being lifted up today help
each person to create a plan to stay safe, understands their
options and know that they are not alone.
It may take years, but we are right there with survivors,
accompanying them in their journey. Meeting with the victims of
domestic violence where they are, can mean meeting them in
houses of worship. In preparation for today's discussion one of
our counselors shared with me the experience of a woman who had
been experiencing domestic violence for many years.
She and her 10-year-old son came to church regularly, and
one Sunday in the homily a speaker who was there on behalf of
Catholic Charities gave a sermon about domestic violence,
saying that the church did not condone staying in a violent
marriage, and shared where to seek help.
This woman reached out to Catholic Charities and she shared
with her counselor, who I spoke with in preparation for today,
that her 10-year-old soon sparked that outreach. He told his
mom as they left service that day, hey, he was talking about
you. He was talking about us.
We have so many different clients who come to us, and so
many different situations, and at different points on their
journey. We had one client recently who called because her
physically abusive boyfriend is being released from jail.
She has no support. She is unemployed, and he is returning
home. She's single, so her options currently for shelters are
quite limited. We stayed on the phone with her and helped her
create a safety plan in that moment and worked with her to
secure transportation and placement at an emergency shelter the
next day.
Another client called us recently for counseling. She has
an order of protection and two children. She is employed, and
wants to remain in her apartment, and we are providing
counseling for her and her children, and helping her go to the
court to amend her order of protection, creating that safety
plan, and providing her with the linkages that she needs for
food, to legal services, to kind of the whole gamut.
So I think here to your question and kind of the need to
tailor services, those are three specific examples of women who
have come to us at different points in their journey, in very
different life situations, and really the expertise of the
folks on the ground that we get to lift up today is essential
to provide that trauma informed and client centered support,
you know, an accompaniment along the journey.
Mr. Spartz. Just quickly to followup. Can you share some
best practices? It seems to me it would take collaboration of a
lot of different groups and entities. And sometimes it's very
fragmented different things and services. Could you share some
best practices you've seen of great collaboration of different
organizations on the ground?
Ms. Novoryta. Absolutely. You know, I think one of the
things that's happening in Illinois right now, which is really
exciting, is a new alliance again, actually in the midst of
COVID. And it's called the Alliance for Shared Safety. And what
the Alliance for Shared Safety is doing, is it's bringing
together advocates and organizations in different spaces.
So, bringing together folks from gun violence spaces, from
domestic violence, doing criminal justice system reform, and
folks who are kind of experiencing community violence. I think
one of the things that's really powerful with that
collaboration is recognizing the intersectionality of the
issues, and they were successful.
We were successful in Illinois earlier in 2020 in bringing
Federal dollars and some CARES dollars in a more integrated
fashion, directly to organizations serving victims of violence.
I think that's a really exciting collaboration to keep an eye
on.
Ms. Spartz. Well, thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you very much. And that was a
very meaningful testimony from all of our witnesses today. Now
we're going to material submitted for the hearing record. I
remind my colleagues that pursuant to committee practice,
materials for submission to the hearing record must be
submitted to the Committee Clerk within 14 days following the
last day of the hearing, so by close of business on April 5 of
2021, preferably in Microsoft Word format.
Only a Member of the subcommittee, or an invited witness
may submit materials for inclusion in the hearing record.
Documents are limited to 50 pages each.
Documents longer than 50 pages will be incorporated into
the record via an internet link that you must provide to the
Committee Clerk within the required timeframe, but please
recognize that in the future that link may not longer work.
And at this time, because Representative McBath is on the
Full Committee, but not on the subcommittee, I offer for
inclusion into the record the materials that Representative
McBath offered in support of the policy we're discussing today
and those will be admitted without objection.
Pursuant to House rules and regulations, items for the
record should be submitted to the clerk electronically by e-
mailing submissions to [email protected].
Member offices are encouraged to submit materials to the inbox
before the hearing, or during the hearing at the time the
Member makes the request.
Again, I want to thank each of our witnesses for their
participation today. Members of the subcommittees may have some
additional questions for you. We ask the witnesses to please
respond to these questions in writing. The hearing record will
be held open for 14 days in order to receive these responses,
and I remind my colleagues that pursuant to committee practice,
witness questions for the hearing must be submitted to the
Majority Committee Staff or Committee Clerk within 7 days.
The questions submitted must address the subject matter of
the hearing. And I now recognize the distinguished Ranking
Member, Ranking Member Fulcher for a closing Statement.
Mr. Fulcher. Thank you, Madam Chair. To those who provided
testimony today, this is one of those topics that is extremely
necessary to have a conversation on, but I'll just tell you
personally for me, it's one of the most difficult.
Put me down in front of a tax policy, infrastructure or
foreign policy or resources, and I'm good to go. This one, it
hits you where you live really quick. So, thank you for what
you do. You've got a skill set and a knowledge base that I'm
not as blessed with, but I know how important it is.
And Madam Chair, we probably agree on more of these things
than we do on some of these other meetings today. But we know
this is a problem. We know it's a significant problem. We know
that women are extremely vulnerable with this. Multiple
approaches are very necessary, and notably since 1984, the
Family Violence Prevention Service Acts provided some vital
support for survivors and families to State and local
providers.
And most recently Congress has included additional support
over the past year to respond to problems that have arisen due
to the COVID. But just the high points that I wanted to
reiterate was the local involvement is just so important. And I
heard those who provided testimony affirmed that again, in
areas that I don't have high expertise.
But I heavily suspect that there's a lot of things that are
common denominators that have to be addressed that are very
similar across the board. There are also things that are going
to be different from place to place, and my hometown of
Meridian and Boise is probably a little bit different from
Chicago.
I mean, I can tell you it's a lot different than Chicago,
but in terms of these issues there's probably some different
approaches that are needed in the local, that personal touch,
that you can do locally has got to be supported.
I am a huge fan of faith-based involvement with this issue,
with civic groups it adds to that local side, and I think Ms.
Novoryta, you articulated why that is very well-positioned to
deal with these types of things. There's just some things that
we can't do in government.
There are some things we can't do from Washington, DC, but
Madam Chair that's my closing comment. To Ms. Novoryta, Dr.
Miller, Ms. Schlater and Ms. Timmons, thank you for who you
are, what you do. You're appreciated. Madam Chair, I yield
back.
Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you very much. And I now
recognize myself for the purpose of making a closing Statement.
I want to again thank our witnesses for guiding us through
today's hearing. You each brought a particular expertise and
answered our questions in a very meaningful way.
Intimate partner violence is a public health threat that we
cannot ignore. I'm glad this has been a bipartisan
conversation, and I look forward to working with my colleagues
on both sides of the aisle to address this issue, and I
especially of course we need the investment, and we also need
to have that investment in prevention.
The increased rates of domestic violence during the
pandemic have brought renewed attention to the urgent need to
expand equitable strategies that prevent intimate partner
violence and save lives. But let's be clear, this crisis is
about much more than what's happened over just the past year,
it's about the countless survivors across the country who for
years have lived each day with the trauma of intimate partner
violence.
For the health of our constituents and our communities, we
must do everything we can to support survivors and eradicate
intimate partner violence whenever and wherever it occurs. I am
again, committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of
the aisle to take meaningful evidence-based action to provide
survivors with the support that they need, and to prevent
intimate partner violence from happening in the first place.
I want to close by again encouraging anyone who needs
support or help to visit www.thehotline.org or call 1-800-799-
SAFE. If there is no further business without objection the
subcommittee stands adjourned. Thank you again.
[Additional submission by Ms. McBath follow:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[Whereupon, at 1:51 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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