injury and violence prevention (ivp) Branch

Domestic Violence/Intimate Partner Violence

The California Department of Public Health does not provide direct services for victims of domestic violence. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. If you are being abused, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.

The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB), Domestic Violence Prevention Program intends to award contracts to the following agencies in response to Request for Application #23-10059, Strengthening Economic Security and Mobility as a Protective Factor for Domestic Violence Prevention pending final approvals and contract negotiations:

MISSSEY (Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting & Serving Sexually Exploited Youth)
Foothill Family Services

View the Intent to Award Letter in Response to RFA#23-10059 (PDF).

What is Domestic Violence?

Domestic violence (DV), also called intimate partner violence (IPV), is abuse that occurs in a close relationship with a current or former spouse or dating partner.

DV refers to a range of behaviors that include physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse. Economic control is also a form of DV, as it can be used against a current or former partner in an attempt exercise power and authority [click here to see the DV Power and Control Wheel (PDF)]. These behaviors can result in a destructive, harmful effect on individuals, the family, and the community.

DV is a public health issue in California that affects all age and socioeconomic groups. Addressing DV requires implementation of comprehensive prevention programs.

1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men report having experienced severe physical violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime.¹
1 in 6 homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner.¹
DV can result in injury or death. Victims/survivors face negative health outcomes such as conditions affecting heart, reproductive, nervous systems that can have long-term effects.¹
Victims can also experience mental health problems such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder and can engage in risky behaviors such as smoking, binge drinking, and sexual risk behaviors.¹
The estimated domestic violence cost over a female victim’s lifetime is $103,767 and $23,414 for a male victim.¹

CDPH’s Role in Violence Prevention

The IVPB's violence prevention programs address DV, teen dating violence (TDV), and sexual violence (SV) through shifting social norms, policies, and practices. Programs use a primary prevention approach, which promote healthy behaviors and environments to stop violence before it even occurs. Rather than focusing on individuals and victims, IVPB’s programs work at a broader population level as opposed to providing direct services to victims after the violence has occurred. CDPH Violence Prevention Initiative webpage offers more information and resources about CDPH’s public health approach to violence prevention.

CDPH Domestic Violence Prevention Program

Mission

To prevent first-time victimization and perpetration of domestic violence/intimate partner violence, rather than providing direct services to those who have already been victimized.

Program Description

Since 1995, CDPH has administered the Domestic Violence Training and Education Program that allocates local funding, through a competitive bidding process, to implement a comprehensive, primary prevention approach within local communities. Current IVPB- funded DV Prevention programs focus their work on population-based and environmental and system-level strategies, policies, and actions that prevent DV/TDV from initially occurring. Such prevention works to modify and/or entirely eliminate the events, conditions, situations, or exposure to influences (risk factors) that result in the initiation of relationship violence and associated injuries, disabilities, and deaths. Additionally, primary prevention efforts address perpetration, victimization, and bystander attitudes and behaviors, and seek to identify protective factors that encourage healthy relationships and impede the initiation of relationship violence in at-risk populations and the community.

The primary goal of IVPB’s current DV Prevention programs is to build organizational capacity in community engagement strategies utilizing the Close to Home (C2H) community mobilization model to prevent DV. Community mobilization is a participatory decision-making process through which members of a community plan, implement, and evaluate specific actions designed to improve health and well-being of the community. The following two agencies received funding awarded through Request for Application (RFA) #18–10016 in 2018 and will be funded through June 30, 2023:

The Close to Home Community Mobilization Approach

Currently, the CDPH funds two five-year projects(2018–2023) to implement and evaluate DV and TDV primary prevention projects utilizing the Close to Home (C2H) community mobilization strategy. C2H is a promising strategy that engages community members to design solutions and lead social change for DV, TDV, and SV prevention. The C2H community mobilization strategy is a community driven process that engages youth, adults, and organizational leaders to develop and implement local prevention strategies through four (4) phases: Assess, Talk, Build, and Act. A critical aspect of this program is to engage youth, adults, and organizational leaders as partners in meaningful activities with other community members that contribute to the community mobilization process and develop and implement prevention strategies. This includes activities such as community mapping, administering surveys, building relationships with key community allies, presenting at community venues, and engaging the community in sustained actions to prevent violence and change social norms.

2018 Close to Home Community Mobilization Project Brief: Preventing Domestic Violence, Teen Dating Violence & Sexual Violence (PDF) highlights the final outcomes and lessons learned from local community mobilization projects implemented from 2014–2018. Close to Home is a promising strategy that engages community members to design solutions for domestic and sexual violence prevention. CDPH will sustain community-driven approaches in future programming to prevent violence by leveraging the CDPH Domestic Violence Training and Education Program and the Rape Prevention and Education Program.