About DVSupport.Network

Learn how DVSupport.Network strengthens coordinated domestic violence response systems across North America through partnerships, data-sharing, and advocacy.

About This Platform

Mission

The mission of this platform is to support coordinated, systems-level responses to domestic violence by providing shared frameworks, tools, and reference models for organizations that operate within the domestic and family violence ecosystem. The emphasis is on cross-agency alignment, operational interoperability, and responsible information practices between partners.

The platform is designed to complement, not replace, existing local, state, tribal, territorial, and national infrastructures. It focuses on coordination standards, policy-aware guidance, and practical models that agencies can adapt to their jurisdiction, mandates, and governance structures.

Who We Serve

This resource is intended for institutions and professionals engaged in domestic violence response, prevention, and systems coordination, including:

• Domestic and family violence agencies and programs
• Coalitions and statewide networks
• Shelters and housing-focused organizations
• Legal aid and access-to-justice organizations
• Social service providers and multidisciplinary teams
• Healthcare and behavioral health partners
• Government units, task forces, and coordinating councils
• Community-based and culturally specific organizations
• Research, evaluation, and policy partners

The materials are written for operational leaders, coordinators, policy staff, data managers, grant managers, and coalition staff who need structured reference points for inter-agency collaboration.

The Coordination Gap We Address

Many jurisdictions already maintain strong individual programs and initiatives, yet encounter gaps when multiple entities attempt to work together. This platform focuses specifically on those cross-agency and cross-system gaps, such as:

• Inconsistent definitions of roles, responsibilities, and decision rights across agencies
• Variable coordination practices between frontline providers, coalitions, and governmental bodies
• Limited shared frameworks for multi-agency agreements, MOUs, and partnership lifecycles
• Fragmented data collection, reporting, and information-sharing approaches
• Unaligned standards for referral pathways, warm handoffs, and follow-up between partners
• Unclear expectations for participation in collaborative bodies, task forces, and working groups

By focusing on coordination rather than direct service delivery, the platform aims to provide common language, templates, and conceptual models that agencies can tailor to their own regulatory and funding environments.

Our Data & Insights Model

The data and insights model underlying this platform is conceptual and practice-oriented. It is designed to support partners in making informed decisions about how they structure data governance and inter-agency reporting, without prescribing a single technical or legal solution.

Key features of the model include:

• Layered data perspectives: Distinguishing between operational data (e.g., program metrics), coordination data (e.g., referral patterns), and strategic data (e.g., cross-system trends).
• Use-case-driven structures: Organizing guidance around specific coordination use cases, such as shared intake frameworks, cross-referral tracking, and coalition-level reporting.
• Privacy-aware approaches: Emphasizing de-identified, aggregate, and role-based access concepts, with the expectation that agencies will align with applicable laws and policies in their jurisdictions.
• Interoperability concepts: Illustrating options for how agencies can align data definitions, coding schemes, and reporting categories to support more consistent analysis.
• Continuous learning loops: Highlighting how coalitions and multi-agency bodies can use data to inform strategy, resource allocation, and quality improvement.

The platform does not collect or host client-level case data. It focuses on frameworks, sample structures, and coordination models to inform partners’ own systems and governance.

Coalition Standards

Coalitions and coordinated networks operate within complex legal, fiscal, and policy environments. This platform offers non-prescriptive standards and reference points that coalitions may adapt to their own contexts. Areas of focus include:

• Membership criteria frameworks: Sample dimensions for defining eligibility, participation expectations, and alignment with shared principles.
• Governance and representation models: Options for structuring boards, advisory groups, and working committees to incorporate diverse organizational perspectives.
• Coordination protocols: Examples of how coalitions can structure communication schedules, shared agendas, escalation pathways, and decision documentation.
• Policy alignment mechanisms: Approaches for coordinating policy positions, feedback on legislation or regulations, and communication with governmental partners.
• Standards for participation: Sample expectations related to data contributions, participation in evaluations, adherence to collective agreements, and engagement in mutual capacity-building.

These standards are intended as starting points for local adaptation, not as definitive requirements or accreditation tools.

Governance & Ethics Principles

The platform is guided by governance and ethics principles intended to support responsible, transparent, and equitable coordination. These principles focus on system-level design rather than individual service encounters.

• Respect for agency autonomy: Recognizing that each organization operates under distinct mandates, laws, and funding conditions, and that any shared framework must be adoptable on a voluntary, context-sensitive basis.
• Clarity of purpose: Encouraging partners to define clear objectives for each collaborative effort, including scope, decision rights, and expected outputs.
• Proportional information-sharing: Supporting information practices that are limited to what is operationally necessary, with attention to risk, confidentiality expectations, and community trust.
• Equity-aware structures: Highlighting the importance of including culturally specific organizations, smaller community-based groups, and under-resourced partners in governance and decision discussions.
• Transparency and accountability: Promoting accessible documentation of collaborative decisions, roles, and review processes, so that partners understand how coordination structures function over time.
• Non-substitution for legal advice: Emphasizing that the materials are conceptual and operational in nature and are not intended to replace legal, regulatory, or compliance guidance.

Micro-disclaimer

The content provided on this platform is informational and conceptual. It is intended to support agencies, coalitions, and partners in thinking about coordination models, governance structures, and data practices. It does not constitute legal, clinical, or regulatory advice, and it does not direct, mandate, or certify any specific course of action. Users are responsible for determining how, whether, and to what extent the concepts presented here align with their own legal obligations, funding requirements, professional standards, and local policies.