Since domestic violence (DV) is a leading cause of homelessness for women but many DV agencies are just beginning to focus on helping clients stabilize their housing situations, the goal of the current study was to better understand the contexts and service needs of unstably housed and homeless DV survivors and to promote more efficient and successful service matching from DV agencies.
The study examined whether DV survivors could be grouped by particular features, histories, and contextual factors, and how these group differences impacted what they needed from DV agencies. The sample included 406 homeless and unstably housed DV survivors who had recently sought DV services. Latent class analysis supported the identification of four distinct classes: (1) highest disadvantages service seeker; (2) moderate disadvantages—criminal legal system service seeker; (3) moderate disadvantages service seeker; and (4) lower disadvantages service seeker. It also profiled each class and tested the types of services survivors in each class needed from agencies. (publisher abstract modified)