Research In Brief - Meeting Survivors' Needs: A Multi-State Study of Domestic Violence Shelter Experiences by Eleanor Lyon, Shannon Lane, and Anne Menard for the National Institute of Justice (February 18, 2009)

This groundbreaking study provides important insights into the role that shelters play in survivors' efforts to escape violence and abuse. Results capture the voices and experiences of over 3,400 shelter residents in 215 programs across eight states.

This study was designed to meet the following goals:

1. Obtain information from a diverse sample of domestic violence survivors about their experiences in residential shelter programs.
2. Learn more about what domestic violence survivors want when they come to shelter programs.
3. Learn more about the extent to which survivors have had their expectations met during their shelter stay.
4. Learn more about survivors’ assessment of immediate outcomes associated with their shelter stay.
5. Learn more about how survivors’ experiences, needs and immediate outcomes vary across demographic and shelter program characteristics.
6. Develop recommendations for shelter programs across the country for how they might improve their services.

The Summary of Findings highlights the following items:

• Shelters Have the Capacity to Meet a Range of Needs
• Shelters Serve Diverse Survivors
• Survivors Say Shelters Are Meeting The Needs They Identify
• Challenges
• Implications of the Study

Meeting Survivors' Needs: A Multi-State Study of Domestic Violence Shelter Experiences was conducted by Dr. Eleanor Lyon of the University of Connecticut's Institute for Violence Prevention and Reduction at the School of Social Work in conjunction with the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence. The study was funded through NIJ grant # 2007-IJ-CX-K022 with support from the Family Violence Prevention and Services Program.

• Research In Brief - Meeting Survivors' Needs: A Multi-State Study of Domestic Violence Shelter Experiences
• Executive Summary
• Full Report
• News Release