Report From the Front Lines: The Impact of Violence on Poor Women

• NCJ Number: 167054
• Author(s): C T Kenney; K R Brown
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 29 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report presents the methodology and findings of a key- person survey designed to determine the scope and extent of domestic violence for women in welfare-to-work programs in New York City.

Abstract

The authors conducted 25 telephone or in-person interviews with New York City direct service program staff, including job training and job placement program coordinators, vocational counselors, and job developers. The focus of the interviews was on job training providers' perceptions of the extent to which domestic violence is a barrier to job placement and job retention for recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Interviewees were asked to estimate the proportion of women in their program they believed were victims of domestic violence, to indicate how the program staff became aware of program participants' abuse, and to describe the impact of domestic violence on women's participation in and successful completion of their programs and on their subsequent ability to retain jobs. They were also asked what kinds of programmatic responses their organizations had made to address the needs of participants who were experiencing domestic violence. The findings show that high proportions of women in welfare-to-work programs are being abused by their partners. Although abuse takes many forms, it is often intended to undermine women's efforts to gain employment skills. Further, abuse prevents women from completing training programs and retaining jobs. Finally, some programs attempt to address participants' abuse, but respondents advise that funding shifts may exacerbate the problem. The authors advise that abused poor women should not be quickly forced into job placements and be subject to strict time limits on government assistance. The evidence suggests that such a strategy will increase the risk of violence for these women and force them to leave any jobs they may obtain. Instead, there should be flexibility in implementing welfare reform and a re-thinking of welfare programs that ignore the problems confronted by poor women who are abused by their partners. 8 notes and a 15-item bibliography