Final Letter Report on the New York City Mayor’s Office To End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence’s Compliance With Local Law 38 of 2019 Regarding Reporting on Domestic Violence
Introduction
This Final Letter Report concerns the New York City Comptroller’s audit of the New York City (City) Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence’s (ENDGBV’s) compliance with Local Law 38 of 2019, which requires that ENDGBV: (1) report once a year on certain domestic violence initiatives, indicators, and factors to the Mayor and New York City Council; and (2) post a copy of the annual report on its website. The objective of this audit was to determine whether ENDGBV has complied with these requirements of Local Law 38.
ENDGBV develops policies and programs, provides training and prevention education, conducts research and evaluations, and performs community outreach. According to ENDGBV, domestic violence is an umbrella term that encompasses both intimate partner violence and family violence. Gender-based violence is a general term used to capture any type of violence that is rooted in exploiting unequal power relationships between genders. Gender-based violence can impact anyone, and can include intimate partner violence, family violence, elder abuse, sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking. ENDGBV collaborates with City agencies and community stakeholders in its attempt to ensure access to inclusive services for survivors of domestic and gender-based violence.
ENDGBV also operates New York City’s five Family Justice Centers (FJCs), which aim to provide vital social services and civil, legal, and criminal justice assistance for survivors of domestic and gender-based violence and their children. ENDGBV’s FJCs are located throughout the City’s five boroughs and are normally open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. No appointment is needed to visit a FJC location, and the public can connect to the nearest location by calling 311. As part of the City’s response to COVID-19, ENDGBV’s FJCs have been temporarily closed since March 17, 2020, and their services and support for victims of domestic and gender-based violence is being provided remotely by telephone in the interim.
In Calendar Year 2018, ENDGBV’s FJCs had 65,855 client visits. During that period, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) responded to 250,447 domestic incident reports including 111,330 that were intimate partner related and 83,662 that were family related. There were 30 intimate partner homicides and 25 family homicides during that same year. In Calendar Year 2019, the FJCs had 63,459 client visits. Over that same period, the NYPD responded to 245,366 domestic incident reports including 111,917 that were intimate partner related and 80,503 that were family related. Furthermore, during that period, 25 intimate partner homicides and 38 family homicides occurred in New York City.
Many individuals who are victims of or susceptible to domestic and gender-based violence in New York City rely on programs and services provided by ENDGBV for safety, information, and support. Accordingly, in 2019, New York City Council passed Local Law 38, amending the City’s Administrative Code in relation to reporting on certain domestic violence initiatives, indicators, and factors. Pursuant to those amendments, Local Law 38 requires that starting June 1, 2019, and no later than January 31 annually thereafter, ENDGBV must submit to the Mayor and Speaker of the Council an annual report regarding certain domestic violence initiatives, indicators, and factors.
Audit Findings and Conclusions
Our audit found that ENDGBV complied with Local Law 38 in the areas we tested. ENDGBV submitted its Annual Report on Domestic Violence Initiatives, Indicators and Factors for Calendar Years 2018, 2019, and 2020 by the required dates and posted each annual report on the Annual Reports and Fact Sheets page of its website. ENDGBV submitted its 2018 Annual Report on Domestic Violence Initiatives, Indicators and Factors by June 1, 2019; its 2019 Annual Report on Domestic Violence Initiatives, Indicators and Factors by January 31, 2020; and its 2020 Annual Report on Domestic Violence Initiatives, Indicators and Factors by January 31, 2021. Each annual report reflects data from January 1 through December 31 of the respective year.
In addition, our audit found that each annual report contains the information required by Local Law 38. Specifically, the annual reports list and describe the total number of contracted legal service providers providing services in the FJCs, disaggregated by the primary area of legal practice and languages spoken by the contracted legal service providers. Each annual report also includes the total number of contracted service providers providing non-legal services in the FJCs, disaggregated by type of service for each FJC and in total for all FJCs. In addition, the annual reports provide the total number of FJC clients disaggregated by the total number of client visits, the total number of unique clients, and the number of clients accessing each service type, as well as a list, disaggregated by program or service type, of all FJC programs and services offered which pertain to economic empowerment, such as but not limited to those that promote short- and long-term financial planning or navigation of public benefits. Furthermore, the annual reports include the total number of outreach events, prevention education workshops, and trainings conducted by ENDGBV disaggregated by the event type. Moreover, the annual reports list new data or research reports published by ENDGBV disaggregated into the following four categories: (1) annual reports and fact sheets; (2) research reports; (3) data reports; and (4) other reports. All reports are posted on ENDGVB’s website.
Furthermore, in addition to our testing of the requirements of Local Law 38, we also assessed ENDGBV’s response to COVID-19 which currently impacts its services as stated in its 2020 Annual Report on Domestic Violence Initiatives, Indicators and Factors. Although the FJCs are temporarily closed in response to COVID-19, ENDGBV is still providing services and support for victims and survivors of domestic and gender-based violence by telephone. While COVID safety measures are still in effect, ENDGBV can be reached through the direct telephone number for each FJC, or by calling 311 to be connected to ENDGBV staff from the nearest FJC location, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Through its remote services, ENDGBV can assist or provide guidance to victims and survivors of domestic and gender-based violence with safety planning, mental health and counseling services, job training and education program referrals, and legal help, as well as applying for public benefits and connecting to trained law enforcement personnel.
Additionally, ENDGBV’s FJCs modified their programming to ensure that they are responding to the unique needs of survivors during this time. Specifically, to ensure that clients feel safe while isolating and otherwise complying with New York City and State COVID related restrictions, ENDGBV conducts ongoing safety planning and risk assessments with clients during every interaction and uses specific screening questions to evaluate the client’s immediate environment and safety. Other forms of communication, such as email and text, can be used for individuals who may feel unsafe to speak over the phone. Furthermore, ENDGBV recently opened the Manhattan FJC for clients Citywide to be seen by appointment only, if they have immediate needs and express that they are not able to safely or effectively connect with the FJCs over the phone.
Moreover, to provide services remotely to survivors who may be isolated at home with abusive partners, ENDGBV and community-based service providers are using creative engagement approaches that are developed with the survivor and grounded in safety and designed to minimize risk. For clients that express concerns regarding abusive partners who are monitoring their phones and computers, ENDGBV refers them to a program that it runs in partnership with New York University’s Cornell Tech. This program provides digital privacy checkups with survivors to ensure their devices are not compromised and are safe to use, especially during this time. ENDGBV will also be launching a new partnership with Norton Life Lock, which has recently donated 2,000 anti-spyware licenses for FJC clients to use on their mobile phones and devices.
Additionally, ENDGBV has been working to ensure its responsiveness to follow-up needs of clients by offering a range of virtual follow-up services including ongoing financial literacy workshops, online yoga, and workshops for clients to learn new tools and techniques to help them destress and self-regulate during the COVID-19 health pandemic. ENDGBV has been working to raise awareness around gender-based violence and the services available including its collaboration with New York City Emergency Management to send out texts to individuals signed up for Notify NYC COVID-19 alerts and ENDGBV’s “We Understand” social media campaign. Comparing April 2019 through September 2019, to April 2020 through September 2020, ENDGBV’s interactions with new clients increased from 4,577 in 2019 to 6,179 in 2020 (35 percent). Also, ENDGBV has seen an increase in visits and new visitors to the City’s website for domestic violence information and resources.
We found that in addition to utilizing its website to provide pertinent information regarding ENDGBV’s programs, services, outreach materials, FJCs, and ways to contact the agency, ENDGBV also updated its website to include a Resources for Survivors During COVID-19 page which provides important information and direct links regarding several topics including personal safety, food assistance, cash assistance, housing, utilities, health, mental health, employment, finances, and legal help.
Moreover, ENDGBV released two Statement of Support letters regarding its response to COVID-19. The first letter, released on March 19, 2020 and titled “New York City is Here for Survivors During COVID-19,” outlined its decision to temporarily close the FJCs and serve survivors by phone while adopting social distancing and working from home. The second letter, released on April 24, 2020 and titled “Working Together to Help Survivors,” explained that as ENDGBV continues to comply with New York’s “Stay At Home” directive, it is continuing to spread awareness through special events, public outreach, and engagement to ensure access to inclusive services for all survivors of domestic and gender-based violence. According to the 2020 Annual Report on Domestic Violence Initiatives, Indicators and Factors, ENDGBV conducted 919 outreach remote notifications to City agencies, elected officials, community organizations, medical facilities, and essential businesses to provide information on ENDGBV’s remote gender-based violence services in 2020.
Audit Recommendation
The audit recommended that ENDGBV continue to maintain its compliance with Local Law 38 by ensuring it continues to include all the necessary information on its annual report, the reports are submitted to the Mayor and Speaker of the Council as required, and the reports are available on the ENDGBV website.
Agency Response
In its response, ENDGBV agreed with the audit’s findings and recommendation, stating, “ENDGBV thanks the Office of the Comptroller for its findings that ENDGBV generally complies with Local Law 38 and is upholding its responsibilities to New Yorkers who are survivors of domestic and gender-based violence. ENDGBV will continue to maintain compliance with Local Law 38 so that we can continue to effectively ensure that we continue to provide annual reports to City Council and meet the needs of individuals who are survivors of domestic and gender-based violence who seek access to city services, resources, and benefits.”