api
API Use Cases — DVSupport.Network
Real-world examples showing how partner organizations use DVSupport.Network's API across shelters, hospitals, advocacy groups, and research institutions.
apiuse casestechnical
TECHNICAL INTEGRATION
API Use Cases for Coordinated Domestic Violence Response
Overview
APIs can support standardized, interoperable workflows across shelters, health systems, academic institutions, and government partners. The following use cases outline typical integration patterns that enable consistent data exchange, coordinated operations, and aligned reporting without exposing confidential client-level details.
Shelter Directory Embedding
Shelter directory APIs allow partner platforms to surface up-to-date program and capacity information within their own interfaces while preserving local control over data accuracy and update cycles.
Primary Objectives
- Provide authoritative shelter and service listings within third-party systems.
- Standardize program descriptors (e.g., population served, eligibility criteria, languages, accessibility features).
- Enable near real-time updates to availability indicators or intake status.
Typical Data Elements
- Organization profile (name, region, primary contact, operating hours).
- Program types (emergency shelter, transitional housing, legal advocacy, hotline, outreach).
- Eligibility parameters (age bands, gender inclusion policies, family composition, documentation requirements, referral pathways).
- Capacity signals (beds/units, waitlist status, intake open/paused indicators at an aggregated level).
- Accessibility and accommodations (mobility access, communication supports, language coverage).
Common Integration Models
- Embedded directory widget: Iframe- or component-based directory embedded in a partner site, using API-backed search and filter endpoints.
- Server-side synchronization: Periodic pulls from the directory API into local systems (e.g., 211, coordinated entry, community resource portals).
- Filtered views for specific partners: APIs scoped to show only programs relevant to a partner’s geography, referral relationship, or population focus.
Operational Considerations
- Establish update frequency and responsibility for data accuracy (e.g., shelter admins vs. network coordinator).
- Align classification schemes (e.g., program types, eligibility tags) across participating systems.
- Implement simple status codes (e.g., “accepting referrals,” “waitlisted,” “suspended”) to avoid disclosing sensitive operational details.
- Define how deprecated programs and closed sites are handled to avoid outdated listings.
Shelter directory APIs are generally most effective when paired with clear governance: designated data owners at each agency, scheduled review cycles, and a standardized taxonomy for program attributes.
Hospital Risk Pathway Integration
Hospital and health system APIs can connect clinical risk screening workflows with external domestic violence response networks, enabling structured referrals and aggregated monitoring of pathway utilization.
Primary Objectives
- Translate clinical screening outcomes into standardized referral options.
- Support secure, auditable transfer of referral requests to designated agencies.
- Provide hospitals with de-identified pathway metrics for quality improvement.
Typical Workflow Components
- Risk assessment mapping: Mapping internal screening tools and scores to standardized risk categories or pathways.
- Referral routing rules: API endpoints that accept structured referral requests and route them based on geography, availability, and eligibility rules.
- Status feedback: De-identified status codes (e.g., “referral received,” “referral accepted,” “unable to contact”) returned to the hospital system.
- Aggregate reporting: APIs that expose pathway volume, conversion rates, and timelines without sharing identifiable patient information.
Integration Options
- EHR-integrated order sets: Automated calls from the electronic health record (EHR) to an external API when a clinician selects a domestic violence referral order.
- Care coordination platforms: Third-party care coordination tools invoking the API to connect patients with regional domestic violence agencies.
- Health information exchanges (HIEs): Regional HIEs acting as intermediaries, abstracting multiple referral endpoints behind a single interface.
Operational Considerations
- Define what data is transmitted (e.g., unique reference IDs, risk category, language needs) and what remains within the clinical record.
- Agree on service-level expectations for acknowledging and processing referrals.
- Standardize status codes and closure reasons across all receiving agencies.
- Determine how declined or redirected referrals are logged for quality review.
Many hospital integrations rely on intermediary entities (e.g., care coordination hubs or HIEs) to manage routing logic and normalize data structures, reducing the integration burden on individual domestic violence agencies.
University Research Dashboards
APIs can provide universities and research partners with structured, de-identified data feeds to support evaluation, trend analysis, and policy-relevant research while maintaining appropriate aggregation and governance controls.
Primary Objectives
- Enable standardized, reproducible access to aggregated operational data.
- Support multi-year, cross-agency research collaborations.
- Reduce one-off data extraction burdens on local agencies.
Typical Data Domains
- Service utilization counts by region, program type, and time period.
- High-level demographic distributions in aggregated form (e.g., age ranges, language groups).
- Referral sources and pathways, coded at an institutional level.
- Program capacity and throughput indicators.
- Outcome or follow-up indicators where agencies have appropriate monitoring mechanisms.
Dashboard and Analytics Models
- Pull-based dashboards: University-hosted dashboards that call APIs on a schedule, refreshing key performance indicators and charts.
- Data warehouse replication: Scheduled export to a research data warehouse, enabling advanced statistical analysis.
- Thematic datasets: APIs scoped to particular research questions (e.g., coordinated entry performance, regional capacity distributions).
Governance and Access Control
- Use role-based access models, where research teams receive scoped API keys for pre-approved datasets.
- Define data suppression thresholds to prevent inadvertent re-identification in low-volume cells.
- Align reporting timeframes and update frequencies with agency and funder requirements.
- Document data dictionaries, versioning, and any transformations applied prior to exposure via the API.
Data-sharing arrangements with universities benefit from a clearly documented governance structure, including approval workflows for new indicators, publication review expectations, and periodic evaluation of data quality.
Government Coordination Tools
Government agencies can use APIs to coordinate regional strategies, monitor funded programs, and align cross-sector initiatives involving domestic violence organizations, health systems, housing programs, and justice partners.
Primary Objectives
- Aggregate program and utilization data across multiple providers and regions.
- Support funding allocation decisions through standardized metrics.
- Enable cross-program monitoring without duplicative reporting portals.
Key Coordination Functions
- Program registry integration: Central registries of funded programs updated via APIs from provider systems, including core descriptors and contract data.
- Performance and output monitoring: Aggregated indicators (e.g., contacts served, bed-nights, outreach events) pulled from provider APIs on a defined schedule.
- Cross-system linkage: Alignment of domestic violence program data with complementary domains such as homelessness services, health outcomes, or legal aid.
- Geospatial analysis: Regionally aggregated data exposed via APIs to support mapping applications and service gap analyses.
Integration Models
- Central government dashboard: A government-owned platform that consolidates API feeds from multiple providers and intermediary networks.
- Funder reporting connectors: APIs that translate local operational metrics into standardized funding report structures.
- Inter-agency data exchange: Cross-department APIs (e.g., between health, justice, housing) using shared identifiers for programs and regions rather than individuals.
Operational Considerations
- Define minimal core indicators expected from all funded programs, with optional extended datasets for specific initiatives.
- Clarify update schedules (e.g., monthly, quarterly) and handling of retroactive data corrections.
- Use consistent regional identifiers and taxonomies to facilitate cross-system comparisons.
- Coordinate with intermediary networks to reduce integration complexity for smaller organizations.
Government coordination via APIs is most scalable when reporting requirements, indicator definitions, and taxonomies are harmonized across funding streams, minimizing parallel data pipelines for agencies.
Cross-Cutting API Design Considerations
Across all use cases, a consistent approach to API design and governance supports reliability and reduces implementation overhead for participating organizations.
Standardization and Interoperability
- Adopt shared taxonomies for program types, populations, and regions.
- Use API versioning to manage incremental changes without disrupting dependencies.
- Provide machine-readable schemas and example payloads for each endpoint.
Access, Authentication, and Auditing
- Implement key- or token-based access with granular scopes for different partner categories.
- Maintain audit logs of API usage patterns for governance and troubleshooting.
- Define processes for onboarding, rotating, and revoking credentials across agencies.
Data Quality and Governance
- Establish clear ownership of each data domain (e.g., shelter admins, network coordinators, government entities).
- Document data validation rules and error handling expectations.
- Schedule periodic joint reviews of indicator definitions and usage.
Additional coordination and interoperability resources related to domestic violence data ecosystems are available through the broader infrastructure hosted at DV.Support.