Reports - National Institute of Justice Grant for Domestic Violence Help Line

At the end of 2003, the Mayor's Office of Domestic Violence in collaboration with the Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL) at Loyola University Chicago were awarded a grant from the National Institute of Justice to conduct an evaluation of the City of Chicago Domestic Violence Help Line. This is a two-year evaluation project ending January 2006. The evaluation focuses on the user’s perspective of the Help Line.

The three primary goals of this evaluation:

Assess the effectiveness of the Help Line's operation in serving domestic violence victims from Chicago's diverse populations. We know who the Help Line is providing service to but we don't know how diverse populations differ in how the Help Line is utilized
Provide information to other municipalities interested in establishing such public-private programs, collaborations, and policies and
Learn about the differing needs of diverse populations and their experiences in utilizing the information, referrals, and linkages.

There are several components to this evaluation. Those involved with the Help Line in a variety of capacities are being interviewed and surveyed. The evaluation began with focus groups with the Help Line staff to explore their perceptions of the effectiveness of the Help Line. Members of all 25 police District Advisory Committees have been surveyed to assess the level of general awareness of the Help Line. Telephone interviews will be conducted with domestic violence service provider agencies about their experience receiving and making referrals to the Help Line. As the largest referral source to the Help Line, Chicago Police Patrol Officers will complete a short survey about their role in the Help Line. Currently, telephone interviews are being conducted with domestic violence victim callers to the Help Line about the victim's assessment of the usefulness of the Help Line.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research development and evaluation arm of the US Department of Justice and is a component of the Office of Justice Programs. This award was granted under the "Broadening Our Understanding of Violence Against Women from Diverse Communities" solicitation. The purpose of the solicitation is to improve policy and practice by advancing the empirical understanding of violence against women from diverse communities and the effectiveness of the programs that assist victims.

For more information on the information above click on the following links below:

Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL)

National Institute of Justice (NIJ)