Last Updated 22 July 1996
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE
TDD for the Hearing Impaired: 1-800-787-3224
Q: How did this hotline come about?
A: The Violence Against Women Act, part of President Clinton's 1994 Crime bill, contains a provision to establish a national domestic violence hotline. The Department of Health and Human Services was authorized to provide a $1 million grant to establish the hotline, with an additional $400,000 in annual funding to maintain the service for the next five years. Private donations are also helping to fund the hotline.
Q: What exactly does this hotline do?
A: The hotline provides help for domestic violence victims across the country -- 24-hours a day, 365 days a year. The service is toll-free, operating throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
When someone calls the hotline, they will speak to a trained advocate, who can offer them crisis intervention, support, and referrals to local services in their communities. The hotline will help create a more seamless system among local, state, and national service providers. (In emergencies, the hotline is equipped to connect callers to their local police, but calling "911" directly for immediate help is always the best course of action.)
Q: Why do you need a national hotline when so many cities and states have their own local hotlines?
A: Although we've made progress over the last few years in recognizing domestic violence as the criminal and public health epidemic that it is, many areas in this country still lack a comprehensive response system, and many victims still fall through the cracks because they lack access to the help they need. The national hotline is especially important for victims who live in rural or isolated areas which may lack their own local hotlines or other comprehensive domestic violence services. This hotline is also toll-free and can be accessed from anywhere at anytime.
This hotline is a crucial step towards creating a seamless system of domestic violence prevention and intervention. Other components of the Violence Against Women Act -- training for prosecutors and police, funding for shelters, and educational campaigns in our schools and communities -- will work in conjunction with the hotline to treat domestic violence as the serious crime that it is, and to prevent domestic violence before it starts.
Q: Is this the first national domestic violence hotline?
A: This is the first Federal government-funded hotline. Some states and communities do have their own local hotlines, but there is currently no comprehensive system for linking domestic violence victims across the country to the help they need. (A national hotline was operated by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence in Washington, D.C., but escalating costs, coupled with increasing demand for hotline services, eventually led to its closing.)
Q: Why the Texas Council? How were they chosen for the grant?
A: The Texas Council was chosen in accordance with the Department of Health and Human Services' competitive review process. The applicants were required to meet stringent criteria and submit their proposals for review by a panel of experts. The Texas Council is a statewide association that supports battered women's shelters and other domestic violence programs in the state and has been helping domestic violence victims for the past 18 years.
Q: What happens when a person calls the hotline?
A: When a caller phones into the hotline, she will speak to a trained domestic violence advocate. The advocate has access to a national database that contains the most current information on emergency shelters, legal advocacy, social services, and other programs in communities across the country. Help is offered in English or Spanish and to the hearing impaired. Translators are also available in other languages.
Q: How many calls can the hotline handle?
A: The national hotline anticipates that it will receive about 10,000 calls a month. The hotline has 40 lines that will be taking calls. (Twenty-four of which are directly incoming, and 16 that can be used to accommodate peaks and overflow.) Again, it is important to note that callers who need help in an emergency should always call "911" directly for immediate assistance.
Q: Is the funding of the hotline in jeopardy, given the current budget situation?
A: No. The hotline was authorized $1 million in start-up funding from the Department of Health and Human Services last year. For FY 1996 to 2000, the hotline is authorized to receive $400,000 in annual maintenance funding. This funding is included under the current Continuing Resolution, although many other domestic violence programs are being shortchanged.
Q: What about other Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) programs? Have they been fully funded?
A: Most VAWA programs are administered by the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services. While some programs are funded under the current Continuing Resolution, many are not. For example, HHS's CDC-administered programs have received funding through September 30, 1996. Other programs such as the hotline, which received funding in FY 1995, are funded through March 15, 1996, under the current Continuing Resolution at a pro-rata amount based on FY 1995 funding. Still other HHS and Justice Programs which didn't receive funding in FY 1995 are not funded under the current Continuing Resolution.
HHS Programs: Overall, Congress has authorized $96.9 million for VAWA programs administered by HHS, but has appropriated only $31.6 million. The programs that are currently funded are the hotline and those programs administered by CDC: the Education and Prevention grants and the Community Partnership grants.
Justice Programs: Justice's STOP program, which gives grants to states to improve law enforcement and prosecution of domestic violence, has received $130 million for FY 1996. Congress has authorized the following funding for these other Justice VAWA programs: $500,000 for victim counselors, $1 million for training programs, $28 million to encourage mandatory arrest policies, $7 million for rural domestic violence programs, $1.5 million for national stalker reduction programs, and $200,000 for a study on campus sexual assault. However, since these programs were not funded in FY 1995, they are not funded under the current Continuing Resolution.
Q: What else is the Administration doing to address domestic violence?
A: President Clinton's 1994 Crime bill included the Violence Against Women Act, an historic piece of bipartisan legislation. The Violence Against Women Act is authorized to provide $1.6 billion over five years to hire more prosecutors and improve domestic violence training among prosecutors, police officers, and health and social services professionals. It provides for more shelters, counseling services, and research into causes and effective public education campaigns. In addition, VAWA establishes new laws that enable victims to sue in federal court and allow law enforcement officers to pursue perpetrators across state lines. The President also appointed Bonnie Campbell to head the Violence Against Women Office at the Justice Department, which coordinates the Federal Government's efforts in this area.
In addition, the Justice Department has given grants to states to help strengthen law enforcement and prosecution of domestic violence, and to improve victim services in these cases. Justice is also using the COPS program to apply community policing strategies to fight domestic violence, and the Department will soon be releasing guidelines to help states create effective registration systems for people convicted of sexually violent crimes.
HHS also administers other domestic violence programs outside of the Violence Against Women Act. These include the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act which supports battered women's shelters, information and referral services, and public education prevention campaigns. CDC has a new initiative to research the prevalence of domestic violence, and the Administration on Aging and the National Institute of Mental Health have joined to fund the National Center on Elder Abuse to research the causes and impacts of domestic abuse on seniors.
In addition, the President has called on all federal agencies to institute employee awareness campaigns on domestic violence. Attorney General Janet Reno and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala have also created an Advisory Council on Violence Against Women. The Council consists of 46 experts -- representatives from law enforcement, media, health and social services, victim advocacy, and survivors -- working together to prevent violence against women.
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