Welcome to the 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
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.
- Prepare Your Organization
- Implement Survivor-Driven, Trauma-Informed Advocacy
- Implement Mobile Advocacy
- Implement Flexible Financial Assistance
- Implement Community Engagement
- Evaluate & Revise
- Sustain
