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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Tracy L. Weber, MPH, Office to Combat Domestic Violence, New York City Office of the Mayor, 100 Gold Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10038, 212-341-9098, tweber@cityhall.nyc.gov and Consuelo U. Dungca, EdD, RN, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, 125 Worth St, Suite 427, New York, NY 10013.

NYC's population of 8 million is multiethnic, culturally diverse and uninsured (36% foreign-born; 44% speak a foreign language) with a large number of domestic violence (DV) victims. In 2005, there were 68 family-related homicides, 260,257 DV incidents and 124,515 DV hotline calls. NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) provided services to 2,334 known DV victims in 2005; however, research suggests that a large number of victims are never identified. HHC's 11 hospitals serve over 1.3 million people annually including 500,000 uninsured. In NYC, DV victims seek assistance from an average of five City agencies, in addition to community organizations. Placing interdisciplinary services in one location reduces barriers that often prevent victims from accessing the needed medical, social, economic and legal services. Since 2002, the Mayor's Office to Combat Domestic Violence and HHC have collaborated on two programs that provide a continuum of multilingual and culturally diverse care for DV victims regardless of where they seek assistance: hospitals, police, courts or diverse community-based organizations. Project H.E.A.L. (Health Emergency Assistance Link) allows victims seeking care in City hospitals to access needed services by placing DV advocates and lawyers onsite. At the Brooklyn Family Justice Center, with one appointment victims can access a myriad of multilingual services including advocacy, civil legal assistance, criminal justice services, counseling, shelter, housing, medical care, and voluntary faith-based support. In 2005, Project H.E.A.L. assisted 2,334 DV victims. In the first 7 months since its opening in July 2005, the Family Justice Center assisted 2,265 victims and 416 children.

Learning Objectives: