Housing Options for Battered Women Being Debated in D.C.

The link between domestic violence and homelessness is undeniable: Wilder Research Center found the single most common reason women are homeless in Minnesota is because they are fleeing domestic violence.

Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 2005 would authorize a collaboration and crosstraining program to develop comprehensive community responses to domestic violence and homelessness. This program would help protect victims residing in homeless shelters, as well as provide additional housing options for victims to prevent them from becoming homeless.

Victims of domestic violence often return to their abusers because they cannot find long-term housing. VAWA 2005 would fund collaborative efforts to create permanent housing options for victims that help develop communities and leverage private dollars.

Many domestic violence shelters are unable to house families longer than 30 days to allow space for individuals in immediate danger. There are not enough federal housing rent vouchers available to accommodate the number of victims and their children in need.

Transitional housing resources and services provide an essential continuum between emergency shelter and independent living. A national study found that the majority of battered women in transitional housing programs said that had these programs not existed, they would have returned to their abusers.

VAWA 2005 would expand the existing transitional housing program for victims to include funds for creating and operating transitional housing projects and helping victims maintain safety and self-sufficiency.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “one-strike” policy allows federally subsidized housing providers to evict entire families for crimes committed or disturbances created by family members or guests. Though the law does not target victims of domestic violence, many have been evicted or denied housing due to the crimes committed against them or their abuser’s actions.

Battered women and their families across the country are being discriminated against, denied access to, and even evicted from public, subsidized, and private housing because of their status as victims of domestic violence or the abuse perpetrated against them. VAWA 2005 would:

• authorize a grant program to help public and Indian housing authorities and assisted housing providers respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking in a way that protects victims while holding perpetrators accountable;
• increase the ability of the Low Income Housing Assistance Voucher and Public Housing programs to meet the safety and housing needs of victims;
• protect the safety and confidentiality of victims within the homeless services system; and,
• ensure that victims have access to the criminal justice system without jeopardizing their current or future housing.

Please call your members of Congress and tell them that VAWA must be reauthorized in 2005. For more information, visit the National Network to End Domestic Violence or contact Liz Kuoppala.