Policy Development and Analysis

Survivors and their families deserve access to the resources and services they choose to support their healing, resilience, and well-being, including DSV, trauma, mental health, and substance use disorder recovery and treatment services.

To meet the needs of survivors, mental health and substance use disorder treatment providers need access to training that supports their ability to provide services that are trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and domestic and sexual violence-responsive.

It is essential that telehealth policy and services incorporate safety and privacy protections for survivors.

NCDVTMH works as a team across the areas of research, practice, and policy to identify and lift up emerging issues from the field to policymakers.

• Substance Use Coercion: During the height of the opioid epidemic, NCDVTMH shared original research on substance use coercion with policymakers. This is a form of abuse targeted toward a partner’s use of substances that is essential to keep in mind when working with survivors across multiple settings and systems. More than 60% of those who sought help for substance use said their abusive partners had tried to prevent them from accessing treatment. Based on this understanding of substance use coercion and with the historic rates of overdose during COVID pandemic, NCDVTMH is leading on policy changes to reduce the barriers to safety and recovery faced by survivors.

• Needs of Local Domestic and Sexual Violence Providers: Local DSV providers report increased demand for mental health and substance use disorder services, even pre-COVID. In 2019, NCDVTMH’s needs assessment among local providers found over 70% saw increased need for mental health and substance use disorder services in their programs but most felt unprepared to meet this need.

Address the structural inequities that harm survivors and their families, including: lack of access to culturally relevant, gender-responsive, DV- and trauma-informed mental health and substance use disorder treatment and recovery services; and lack of resources that center the healing and well-being of survivors, their families, and their communities. We work with state and national partners to address inequities related to child custody and the criminalization of substance use—including mental health and substance use-related child removal policies and practices—that disproportionately impact Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other communities of color.

Incentivize cross-sector collaboration and integrated service delivery to ensure that mental health and substance use disorder treatment and recovery systems are equipped to respond to the unique needs of survivors and their families and that local domestic and sexual violence programs are prepared to support survivors experiencing the mental health and substance use effects of trauma and DV.

• Crisis Response: As states and localities receive large investments from COVID relief funds for suicide prevention hotlines, harm reduction programs, and mobile health funding, these programs should consider DV survivors and partner with local programs and experts.

Intimate partner violence during pregnancy has been shown to contribute to maternal mortality from pregnancy-associated deaths (overdose, suicide, homicide). Our work informed the national legislation, Protect Moms from Domestic Violence Act, that would improve research and invest in innovative programs to prevent domestic violence, support survivors, and address structural barriers to health equity.