In 1993, federal funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) were provided to establish and provide ongoing support to the Domestic Violence Resource Network (DVRN). This network of national resource centers was designed to inform, coordinate, and strengthen public and private efforts to end domestic violence by providing guidance and expertise in key areas of practice and policy. The DVRN includes the following:
• National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV)—provides a source of comprehensive information, training, and technical assistance in support of effective domestic violence intervention and prevention
• Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP)—provides legal training, technical assistance, and other resources on domestic violence related to civil court access and representation, criminal justice response, and battered women’s self-defense issues
• National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence—works to guide the development of a multidisciplinary and comprehensive health care response to domestic violence
• Resource Center on Domestic Violence: Child Protection and Custody—focuses on domestic violence issues arising within the context of child custody cases and within child protection agencies
• Sacred Circle National Resource Center to End Violence Against Native Women—addresses violence against Native women in the context of the unique historical, jurisdictional, and cultural realities facing American Indians and Alaskan Natives
The constituency of the resource centers is broad, not limited to grantees of DHHS. To ensure maximum impact, however, each of the resource centers targets its training and technical assistance. Utilizing toll-free numbers, Web sites, newsletters, teleconferences, training workshops, and national and regional conferences and workgroups, each resource center provides the following:
• Materials and publications on a range of domestic violence issues
• Support for the development and replication of model programs, legislation, and practices
• Technical assistance, training, and referrals to assist advocates, programs, allied professionals, government agencies, and communities to meet local, state, and national needs
The technical assistance and training provided through the DVRN is both reactive and proactive, not only responding to requests from the field but also anticipating the need for information and guidance around emerging policy and practice issues.
In 2006, the DVRN was expanded to include other DHHS-funded national domestic violence initiatives with which the resource centers have forged strong partnerships. This expanded DVRN now includes the National Domestic Violence Hotline; the National Training Center on Domestic Violence, Mental Health and Trauma; and three multicultural institutes— Alianza: The National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence, the Institute on Domestic Violence in African American Communities, and the Asian Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence.
Members of the DVRN have worked collabora-tively to ensure that training and technical assistance available throughout the country are complementary, comprehensive, advocacy based, and informed by the entire network.
