The Effectiveness of Coordinated Outreach in Intimate Partner Violence Cases: A Randomized, Longitudinal Design

The current study tests the prediction that early coordinated victim outreach will improve criminal justice outcomes by increasing victim participation in official action. Further, outreach will increase victim safety and empowerment. In collaboration with research, criminal justice, and community-based partners, this project uses a randomized control design to evaluate an innovative outreach program for IPV victims whose cases have come to the attention of the criminal justice system. Participants, who are randomly assigned to receive outreach or treatment-as-usual, will be interviewed at three time points: baseline (case inception), 6- and 12-months. The study addresses three primary goals. First, the applicant will evaluate the effectiveness of a coordinated, community-based outreach program in improving criminal justice and victim safety and empowerment outcomes for IPV victims using a longitudinal, randomized control design. Second, they will identify victim and case characteristics that mediate and moderate program effects on victim support for official action. Finally, they will evaluate the influence of geospatial characteristics on outreach effectiveness. In addition to conventional statistical analyses, geospatial analyses will be used to assess the contribution of spatial variables (such as distance to and time/effort required to access services) to victims' participation in official action and service utilization. ca/ncf