Domestic Violence Services
24 Hour Crisis Line & ShelterDVS Statistics
Our statistics are purely reflective of only the clients we serve, not all victims/survivors in our area.
There are many reasons why someone would not seek our services – lack of knowledge about services; fear of retaliation by abusive partner; fear of other systems such as CPS, law enforcement, and immigration; fear that we would not provide services to someone with a pet, a mental health diagnosis or a chemical dependency issue; fear that we would not serve a specific gender or sexual orientation; shelter may not be a safe option if abuser knows where it is or would not be deterred from finding her; or many other reasons for which we may not be aware.
DVS provides services to any victim of domestic violence regardless of immigration status, race, color, religion, disability, pregnancy, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, age, ethnicity, income, veteran status or any other basis prohibited by law.
DVS also prides itself on having a “screen-in” not a “screen-out” policy. As such we provide shelter services to all intimate partner victims of domestic violence – especially victims that are historically marginalized and undeserved such as victims with disabilities, mental health diagnosis and chemical dependency issues. DVS also provides shelter services for clients with service animals, and for pets as well!
In 2009, DVS provided the following services:
- 376 domestic violence victims and their children stayed in the shelter: 172 women, 202 children, 2 men.
- 6,023 bednights provided.
- Answered 8,384 calls on 24-hour crisis line;
- Provided legal advocacy to 1,623 clients; Assisted with 373 protection orders;
- Over 5,000 advocacy and group counseling hours provided;
- Over $22,000 in rental assistance provided;
- Over 3,000 hours of education & training provided to volunteers and community.
2009 Client Demographics:
Residential Clients:
- 45% white; 47% Hispanic; 6% African-American; 1% Asian; 1% Native-American
- 99% female; 1% male
- 1% <18yo; 24% 18-24yo; 73% 25-59; 2% 60+yo
Non-Residential Clients:
- 60% white; 35% Hispanic; 3% African-American; 1% Asian; 1% Native-American
- 98% female; 2% male
- 4% <18yo; 17% 18-24yo; 74% 25-59; 5% 60+yo
The average number of clients served annually (over the last 6 years) is:
- 340 domestic violence victims and their children stayed in the shelter: 155 women, 179 children, 6 men.
- 5,628 bednights provided.
- Answered 12,100 calls on 24-hour crisis line;*
- Provided legal advocacy to 1,643 clients; Assisted with 339 protection orders.**
* The reduction in crisis line calls is most likely a result of the phone line for our administrative office being more readily advertised and utilized.
** Our ability to provide services to non-residential clients is impacted by our staff levels – the more advocates we have the more clients we are able to serve. (The need for services has always out exceeded the limited availability of our outreach staff!)
2009 Washington State Emergency Domestic Violence Shelter and Advocacy Services
Useful Resources for Stats:
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
National Network to End Domestic Violence
Family Violence Prevention Fund
Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence
National Domestic Violence Hotline
Washington State Violence Against Women Network
