Screening for domestic violence in public welfare offices: an analysis of case manager and client interactions

Despite a high prevalence of domestic violence among welfare clients, most studies of the implementation of the Family Violence Option (FVO) under welfare reform find that women rarely receive domestic violence services in welfare offices. This study reviews findings from current research on the factors that improve the likelihood that women will reveal their domestic violence experiences to service personnel, and uses the guidelines drawn from this review to evaluate domestic violence screening practices in welfare offices using 782 transcribed interviews between welfare workers and clients from 11 sites in four states. The analysis found that only 9.3% of case encounters involved screening for domestic violence. Screening rates differed by state, interview type, and length of worker employment. Qualitative analysis of the interviews showed that the majority of screening by workers was routine or consisted of informing clients of the domestic violence policy without asking about abuse. Only 1.2% of the interviews incorporated at least two of the procedures that increase the likelihood of disclosure among domestic violence survivors, suggesting deeply inadequate approaches to screening for abuse within the context of welfare offices, and a need for improved training, protocol, and monitoring of FVO implementation.