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Toolkit

Welcome to the Domestic Violence Housing First Toolkit!

A Latina mom and daughter smaling together. The daughter has her arms around her mom and the mom is holding a phone. Text says "Domestic Violence Housing First Toolkit"

Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness for women and children. Domestic violence and homelessness are deeply connected and stable housing plays an important role in survivors and their families finding safety.

The Domestic Violence Housing First approach focuses on getting survivors of domestic violence into stable housing as quickly as possible and then providing the necessary support as they rebuild their lives.

With safe and stable housing at its core, the key components of DVHF include:

  • survivor-driven, trauma-informed mobile advocacy
  • flexible financial assistance
  • community engagement

Circular blue-green graphic showing 3 pillars of Housing First. Logo showing colorful neighborhood is in center.

Any domestic violence program can use the Domestic Violence Housing First approach. This toolkit provides the materials and resources you need to get started. Staff are available at WSCADV and the Safe Housing Alliance for support in implementing the DVHF approach in your program. You can also download the poster below to share with your program.

Domestic Violence Housing First Toolkit

  1. Prepare Your Organization
  2. Implement Survivor-Driven, Trauma-Informed Advocacy
  3. Implement Mobile Advocacy
  4. Implement Flexible Financial Assistance
  5. Implement Community Engagement
  6. Evaluate & Revise
  7. Sustain