IMPACT

The coordinated community response that Shared Safety establishes will ensure an appropriate response to relational violence, regardless of where a victim may first present for services, and whether a victim may immediately identify relational violence as the cause for their visit. When relational violence is appropriately screened for and responded to at the victim’s first point of contact, it prevents an ineffective and costly intervention in that system, as well as the many other systems that a victim may enter while looking for support: homeless systems, child welfare, behavioral health, the school system, hospitals, health clinics, private and non-profit service providers, the court system, public housing authorities, etc.

We have seen the success of a coordinated community response in other communities, such as Newburyport, MA and Duluth, MN. However, these responses are not replicable in a city as large as Philadelphia. We are not aware of any existing large-scale community response in Pennsylvania. Given the critical nature of the project, and the specificity that comes with each state’s unique set of protections, a project in Philadelphia could be replicated in other Pennsylvania communities, as well as viewed as a model for large-scale change nationwide.

No other major metropolitan area in the U.S. has an approach at the scale and depth that this plan advances. Shared Safety is leading the way!

SUCCESSES

Shared Safety has already made ground-breaking advances towards its vision, including:

• Development of a comprehensive screening tool for health and human service practitioners. Download P-SERV in English or Spanish.

• A commitment from the health and human service systems to adopt an integrated data collection agenda that will measure the impact of relational violence in Philadelphia

• Establishment of a first of its kind Director of Domestic Violence Strategies – a crucial investment from the Mayor’s Office that will solidify Shared Safety’s efforts

• The creation of provider toolkits to support the work of health and human services professionals working with people experiencing relational violence

• The creation of the Safe In Philly mobile resource map. A one-stop shop for accessing numerous resources in Philadelphia

• DV and Housing report in 2021. A snapshot of domestic violence housing resources before the COVID-19 pandemic