c-span 3. on thursday facebook ceo, mark zuckerberg, sundar pichai, and jack dorsey testify on combatting online misinformation before a subcommittee virtual hearing. watch live at noon eastern on c-span 3, online at c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. a number of advocates and public health officials testified on ending domestic violence before the house education and labor subcommittee on civil rights and human services.

witnesses shared how the covid-19 pandemic has had an effect on women and families, resulting in a increase of domestic violence cases. >> welcome everyone. i note that the court must present. the subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony on ending the cycle, examining ways to prevent domestic violence, and promote healthy communities. i note for the subcommittee that full committee member, mcbath of georgia is joining, us and is commit to participating on today's hearing with the understanding that her questions will come after all members of the subcommittee on both sides of the aisle who are present have had an opportunity to question the witnesses. this is an entirely remote hearing. all microphones will be kept muted as a general rule to avoid unnecessary background noise. members and witnesses will be responsible for an meeting themselves when they are recognized to speak, or when

they wish to seek recognition. i also ask that members please identify themselves before they speak. members should keep their cameras on while in the proceeding. members shall be considered present in the proceeding when they are visible on camera. and they shall be considered not present when they are not visible on camera. the only exception to this is if they are experiencing technical difficulty, and inform committee staff of such difficulty. if any member experiences technical difficulties during the hearing you should stay connected on the platform. make sure you are muted. and use your phone to immediately call the committee's i.t. director whose number was provided in advance. should the chair experienced technical difficulty or need to step away to vote on the floor, which will not happen today, the chairman scott or another majority member of this have committee if he is not available is hereby authorized to assume the gavel in the

chairs absence. this is an entirely remote hearing, and as, such the committee's hearing room is officially closed. members who choose to sit with their individual vices in the hearing room must wear headphones to avoid the, back, echoes and distortion resulting from more than 1% of the south where platform sitting in the same room. members are also expected to adhere to social distancing and save health guidelines, including the use of masks, hand sanitizer in wiping down their areas both before and after their presence in the hearing room. to make sure that the committees five minute rule is adhere to staff will be keeping track of time, using the committees timer. the field timer will appear in its own thumb nail picture and will be labeled zero zero one timer. there will not be a one minute remaining warning. the timer will sound its audio alarm when the sound --

time is up. members and witnesses are asked to wrap up probably when their time expires. it will call is not necessary to establish proceedings conducted remotely, but the committee has made it a practice whenever there is a official proceeding with remote participation for the clerk to call a rule to help make clear who is president at the start of the proceeding. members should say their name before announcing their presence. this helps the clerk and also helps those watching the platform and the live stream who may experience a few seconds delay. at this time i ask the clerk to call the roll. -- is president. >> miss adams. miss hayes. miss fernández. >> miss fernand assist

president. >> president. >> mr. bowman. -- >> ranking member falter. >> full tour is here. >> mr. thompson. mrs. maclean. mrs. sparks. mr. fitzgerald. >> i'm here. president. >> that concludes the roll call. >> i'm here as well chair. salma adams is present. >> thank you. pursuing to committee rule eight c opening statements are limited to the chair and ranking member. this allows us to hear from our

witnesses sooner and provides all members without it with time to ask all questions. i recognize my self now for the purpose of making a opening statement. today we are discussing the urgent need to update and strengthen federal programs that help to prevent intimate partner violence and provide services to survivors. before i begin i went to recognize that this discussion may be extremely difficult for some people who are watching. i would ask all participants to be mindful of the sensitive nature of this conversation. i would encourage anyone who need support to visit www. the hotline .org. this is an important and timely conversation. the ongoing covid-19 pandemic has increased the risk for intimate partner violence and disrupted services that offer protection and support to survivors. as a result, and already quiet crisis has become even harder to both track, and address.

in oregon, leaders like jeffrey timmins, is working tirelessly to work with survivors and provide them with resources to support. in the district that i work in, -- greater portland, provides shelter, support, services for children and counseling for survivors and crisis. but we know that they need more resources to meet the demand for assistance. the urgent need to address partner violence can't be overstated. about one in four women and one in ten men have reported experiencing some form of intimate partner violence. these incidents often cause physical injuries and portend greater risks. more than half of female victims were killed by a intimate partner. for survivors, the emotional

trauma could last long after the physical injuries have healed. these experiences often first occur when survivors are younger than 25, triggering potential lifelong struggles with chronic disease and mental health conditions. congress took a major step to address this issue in 1984, by authorizing the family violence prevention and services act. today, the central -- essential pillar in our fight against intimate partner violence is responsible for shelters, support services for survivors and 24 hour domestic violence hotlines. with the passage of the affordable care act in 2010, congress also established the assistance fund, which provided critical services to improve the health of women and children. specifically, this program invested in extending access to services 14 parents as well as pregnant people and new parents who are survivors of domestic violence or sexual assault. these foundational programs are

proven to be effective in addressing intimate partner violence, but they are also severely underfunded, particularly in light of today's challenges. just a few weeks ago in the american rescue act, the committee secured 450 million dollars for programs to address intimate partner violence and sexual assault. importantly, this funding will help culturally specific organizations, outreach to underserved communities of color, which are disproportionately affected by the pandemic. this historic mid investment and the american rescue plan will save lives, but we need long-term policies and investment. now, congress must look to next depth such as updating the finally violence, prevention and services act, which we have not reauthorize since 2003, and the pregnancy assistance run which expired in 2019. today, will discuss steps to further strengthen our response to the domestic violence crisis and importantly, discuss ways that domestic violence and

sexual violence can be prevented. first, we must focus on equity, domestic violence can affect people from any background or income, but we know that communities of color, lgbtq kept individuals and people with this abilities for social foreigner -- and have limited access to services. we must further -- these underserved communities. we must also specifically invest in meeting the needs of survivors of domestic violence. we know tribal communities face unique barriers to navigating the health care and criminal justice systems, with only limited access to largely underfunded support services. finally, and importantly, we must focus on preventing intimate partner violence before it happens. currently, the only prevention program in the family violence prevention and services act a significantly underfunded. reauthorize a this law would help protect our communities from the painting cost,

emotionally, physically and financially of domestic violence. we can aggressively come back intimate partner violence and prevent it from happening in the first place is not only the smart thing to do, as rates of violence increase, it's the right thing to do for the well-being of our families and communities. i think my colleague, for her leadership and working to reauthorize the family violence prevention act and i also want to thank your witnesses for being with us and i now yield to ranking member, mr. folger for your opening statement. >> thank you madam chair. thank you for convening this hearing regarding domestic violence. in 2015 survey by the cdc estimated that one third of all men and women are victims of domestic violence at some point in their lives. data in 2019 from her home state of idaho supports this, where, by about 37% of results were domestic violence related. in 2020, covid-19 has dealt our

nation with government mandated restrictions on economic challenges. it appears, those negative outcomes have snowball to exacerbate and even worse fallout. evidence suggests that in this pandemic ridden environment, stress, to work, school, substance abuse and financial struggles have added to more violence in the home. especially hard hit appear to be rural areas. more job opportunities can be hard to find. last year, idaho saw an 84% increase in domestic violence related calls, along with more emergency intakes in overnight shelter requests. domestic violence in any form isn't evil that demands a strong response. this issue does not impact all people equally, mueller notable share of manner victimized, this disproportionately impact women. and despite the cancel culture's desire to blur the lines between middleman and men,

facts are facts. we need to protect everyone. and realize that our women are the most vulnerable. congress is continue to allocate funding to address this issue, most recently in the cares act family violence prevention services program, which i in many of my colleagues support. moving forward, our efforts should include confronting the issue that's importing survivors with tools like domestic violence hotline, so victims can reach out and receive help. however, the solution is more complicated than simply increasing spending. more money alone will not solve domestic violence in our society. we must understand, that dealing with this issue is best done at the local level and government cannot always provide the answers. local groups and faith-based providers are best position to buy aid and deliver it effectively. many republicans recognize the importance of supporting survivors and domestic violence, but any re-authorization should focus primarily on local

solutions, not just more federal spending. the committee should work to support best practices and act, knowing that as good as our intentions may be, we cannot pretend to be able to solve them all from washington d.c.. i look forward to hearing from our witnesses, especially miss -- who will discuss the important work of local organizations in faith-based providers are doing to serve those in need. madam chair, thank you, i yield back. >> thank you ranking member folger. without objection, all other members who wish to ensure written statements into the record may do so by submitting them to the committee clerk electronically and microsoft q by april 5th of 2021. i will now introduce the witnesses. mrs. vanessa timmins is the executive director of the oregon coalition against domestic and sexual violence. miss wendy is the vice

chairwoman of the law band of indians. she is bored treasure of the national indigenous women's resource center. miss amy nova rita is the chief program officer for charities of the archdiocese and doctor elizabeth miller, a pediatrician and director of adolescent and young adult medicine at you pm see children's hospital of pittsburgh. we appreciate the whistle witnesses for participating today and we look forward to testimony. let me remind the witnesses that we have read your written statements and they will appear in full in the hearing record. according to committee rule atm committee practice, you are each asked to limit your floral presentation to a five minute summary of your written statement. i also remind witnesses that according to title 18 of the u.s. code, it is illegal to

knowingly and woefully falsify any statement, representation writing, document or material fact presenting to congress or otherwise conceal or cover up a material. and before you begin your testimony, please remember to unmute your microphone. during your testimony, we'll be keeping track of staff and a timer will sound when your time is up. please be attentive to the time and wrap up when your time is over and then we need your microphone. if you experience any technical difficulties during your testimony or later in the hearing, you should still conducted on the platform, make sure you are muted and use your phone to immediately call the committee's i.t. director whose number was provided to you in advance. we will let all the witnesses make their presentations before we moved to member questions. when answering a question, please remember to unmute your microphone. i will first recognize mrs. timmins, you are recognized for five minutes for your testimony. >> thank you chairwoman,

ranking members and distinguished members of the subcommittee. thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the indian cycle, examining ways to prevent domestic violence and promote healthy communities. my name is vanessa timmins, i'm the executive director of the oregon coalition against domestic and sexual violence. i've been in the field for more than 30 years and i've been the executive director for the past eight years. i hope to speak on behalf of not only our 51 member programs in oregon, but also on behalf of the people we hold serve. unfortunately, one in four women and one in -- our survivors of domestic violence. this means, all of us have some white pant impact. no one in our country escapes the impact of this public health crisis. and then in public violence is a issue that requires all of us

and a holistic public health response. over 1600 domestic violence programs offer services, such as emergency shelter, counseling, legal assistance and preventative education to millions of adult and child victims every year. these programs rely on the consistent funding provided by the family violence prevention and services act, also referred to as -- tips expired in 2015 and must be reauthorized with key enhancements in order to meet the intersecting crisis of this moment. since its passage in 1984, tipsy has remained the sole federal funding source for domestic violence shelters and services. phipps is a lifeblood of that domestic violence programs, providing stable, modest funding. it's also provides dedicated funding to defending -- every state in u.s. territory. coalition provide support,

technical assistance and training toward local programs who support the provided sub providers we all care so deeply about. coalitions are important because we bring that bird side view to the field, like programs are doing their day-to-day work. we work closely with our state government agencies to ensure funding is getting to each and every community, despite the progress brought by fipsa, programs are underfunded and the struggle to keep up demand and -- we struggle to keep up with demand for services. according to national network to end of domestic violence is forthcoming -- in 2020, domestic violence programs across the country served more than 76,000 victims just in one day. sadly in that same day, over 11,000 requests for services went unmet, due to a lack of resources. approximately 57% of these unmet requests or fair housing an emergency shelter. for those individuals who were

not able to find safety that day, the consequences could be dire. the covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected victims of domestic violence, and exacerbated the urgent needs. stay-at-home orders, quarantines and the lack of privacy there is a nimbus of home has created additional barriers to safety and access to services. black, indigenous and other survivors of color have always faced increased barriers to 7gi■ racism and historical trauma. the pandemic has heightened the need for culturally specific organizations or that are better equipped to address the complex colleges foods russia let the minority demographics. the reauthorization of fipsa provides an important

opportunity to continue the process to alleviate the needs for domestic violence victims and breaking that terrible cycle of abuse. victims needs are greats, and there is much to do to end domestic violence in our country. in order to move closer to this goal, i urge the committee to prioritize the swift reauthorization of the family violence prevention and services act. i thank you for your time. and i look forward to hearing -- answering your questions. >> thank you miss timmins for your testimony and now i recognize miss slater for five minutes for your testimony. >> hello, and thank you chairwoman, ranking members and committee members. my name is wendy and i'm the vice chairwoman for the lawyer them in the indians, the family prevention of services act has made a difference in the lives of victims of domestic violence. fipsa but the enhancements will ensure that door to a lifesaving services for all victims remains. i urge this committee to

support reauthorization with the proposed announcements. the 2018 commissions found that the federal government failure to fulfill its trust responsibility is at the root of an equities facing native americans in health, public, safety and housing, i'm also the director of the safety for women's program funded by forbes, responding to violence against women. we provide 24/7 shelter -- one of those gaps is the justice system which often fails victims. for these victims fipsa resources is all that's preventing them from going missing or being murdered. your support for fipsa is key to telling these problems. only threw fipsa funding can we provide money for shelters, which is often fall, we also help children who are removed from their homes, pushing them with other family. without these resources

children are placed at a local children resource enter because they have been further victimized. -- appropriators have set aside increased funds from 2020 to 2021 for a alaska resource center to increase -- for eight native american hotline. -- if thorization for unalaska a native resource center and indian domestic violence hotline increased authorizations and adjustments of the formula increased wet primes route received. i know firsthand how fipsa made a difference. one morning i was in my office and a woman with her children had been parked their. -- one had been autistic and had to own syndrome. she left with nothing because her husband had been abusive and burned their clothes. --

through fipsa we found her a shelter and a home of her own. the national violence hotline launched strong, hearts native advocates helped navigate the barriers facing native american women, where the national hotline has more than 4000 resources in the database strong carts has fewer than 300 native resources. there are more than 1500 shelters nationwide compared to fewer than 16 need of shelters. hence the proposed authorization for a national indian hotline. -- key to educating policy makers. examples of the resulting changes include the shelter that we have opened, and the task force is -- the technical assistance by coalitions has been at the heart of these changes. unfortunately, tribal coalitions are not authorized to receive funding, this

exclusion reflects a disparity experienced by fipsa and the clients they serve. authorizing funding for trouble coalitions. in 2013, the national indigenous resource entered develop the elastic in need of resource center which helped raise challenges facing alaskan natives as a issue of national concern. congress appropriated funding for the resources enter which has been a invaluable resource. preventing domestic violence like never before. in addition we have coordinated with the need of hawaiians to help build a grassroots organization with over 50 years of advocacy experience. i winds recognize the economic and social changes over the centuries have been devastating to the health and well-being of the people. authorizing native resource centers including native hawaiian center which could help and promote healthier

communities. in closing, the federal government must fulfill its trust responsibility to safeguard women, failing to do so, results in native women experiencing disproportionate rates of violence. i urge the committee to reauthorize fipsa with the proposed amendments. my heart is good. thank you. >> thank you for your testimony. i recognize miss -- for five minutes for your testimony. >> ranking member. members of the subcommittee. thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify on the catholic charities of the archie dice of chicago try to promote how the community. -- one of the largest social providers in the midwest. i am here today as the charity chief program officer. 404 years, catholic charities

has served at accompanied anyone in need any greater chicago. every year charities help nearly 200 survivors of domestic violence, and those at high risk through emergency shelter, safety planning, canceling, legal services, and transitional housing. a wraparound services and our partnership help survivors and in many cases their children and prove stability and restore security. the survivors that we serve in chicago face staggering challenges. 100% was below the federal poverty line. they come to us as survivors of intergenerational trauma. they fear losing their children. they often have prolonged exposure to substance abuse and are experiencing homelessness, or unstable housed. almost universally, they are in poor emotional and physical health. survivors are often isolated due to cultural factors,

language barriers, and lack of awareness of their loss of protection. moreover, they have inadequate support once they leave the abuse of situation. it's often the church and catholic charities to which survivors turn. the role of trusted, faith-based providers in this arena is profound. we are finding that covid only compounds the struggles faced by the survivors we serve. since the pandemic began, the illinois domestic violence hotline reports that 15% of increase in calls, and a 2000% increase in text messages requesting help. additional burdens include financial stress, unemployment, isolation, increased family conflict, and deepening mental health issues. for persons experiencing domestic abuse, lockdowns and other covid restrictions have forced them to spend more time with their survivors. more time with their abuser,

and less time with their support network, increasing survivors difficulty. a grim reality is that fights in a abusive situation often leaves survivors without a place to call home. in response, catholic charities operate to transitional home programs for domestic abuse -- charities supports them on their journey of healing and recovery with a long term goal of securing housing, and unemployment. -- and court representation. although survivors may reside with us for up to two years, families typically transition after 12 to 14 months. once a one-year housing agreement is secured, charities arranges for the family to move into its new home. with our support, survivors arrive with a truckload of furniture, household supplies and furniture, and often with savings of two to 3000 dollars.

most important is their increased self sufficiency, and a deep connection to a supportive, faith based community. our presence continues and many survivors lives until after care programming, including access to clothing, school supplies and other necessities. even through, covid 100 percent of survivors that we have served remain in stable, permanent housing. prior to covid 15% have seen -- today employment as a ongoing struggle. this, winter we began offering new services for survivors of domestic violence, were latinx communities have been hardest hit by covid. our staff offer trauma informed counseling, we are collaborating with churches, hospitals, and others to expand access to, free confidential services for survivors.

together we are helping people regain control of their lives and continue their healing process. our shelters and our healing recovery program helps survivors to rebuild their life with hope and dignity. thank you for this opportunity to lift up our work before you today. >> thank you for your testimony. and finally we will hear from doctor miller. i recognize you for five minutes for your testimony. >> thank you chairwoman, ranking member, and members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today on the importance of preventing domestic violence and child abuse, and re-uprising the family child services -- act. i'm at the university of pittsburgh. i also direct adolescent and community health at the hospital. i'm here today to share with you some of my personal reflections over the last 20 years working as a pediatrician and researcher. and i begin with a story from

two decades ago while i was still a physician in training. i was volunteering one night a week and a clinic for young people who were on stately housed. a 15-year-old came in for a pregnancy test. she didn't want to be pregnant and was not using any contraception. her pregnancies test was negative. i offered her education. along the way i asked her the usual domestic violence screening questions i've been taught. ask do you feel safe in your elation? ship to which he not a quick. yes i finished her, exam and encouraged her to come back and she want to help preventing pregnancy. two weeks later she was in a emergency room have to having been pushed on the stairs by her boyfriend. that experience fundamentally shift in my career. i dedicate myself to understanding more about the impact of violence on young people, with opportunities created by fipsa i have been able to provide some of the evidence that we can indeed prevent violence. for this testimony i'm going to

focus on to evidence based programs. one in partnership with the national health resource enter on domestic violence run by -- without violence. i cooperated a intervention for health care settings, this organization -- has been shown in several randomized trials to be effective. a second program i would like to lift up is coaching voicing to men. this violence prevention program inspires athletic coaches to teach their young athletes about healthy and respectful relationships. in randomized trials, with both high school and middle school athletes the program has found dramatic reductions in relationship abuse and sexual violence when year later. in fact, our team recently published an estimate that for every 1000 boys exposed to this program, 20 cases of sexual assault are prevented.

given that the center for disease control and prevention, the cdc, estimates one sexual assault costs our society 123,000 dollars, the return on investment in a program like this is immense. i strongly recommend that reauthorization of fipsa. while the program is administered by a youth services bureau within the large administration of children and families, it's the delta program administered by the cdc and authorized as part of fipsa that focuses on prevention. the coaching boys to men program as i mentioned has been implemented across the country using delta funding. and delta extends only to about ten states each year. so i recommend that we continue to fund state and local -- to test new and innovative ideas for -- so all of our states and

territories will have funding for prevention. and designated funding for violence prevention and services program with in the family and services youth barrasso that are victims service agencies can also support prevention activities. i also want to go back for a moment to the story that i mentioned at the outset. although my patient was not pregnant that, she could have been among our young people who are pregnant and parroting. that previously played a vital role in helping this most vulnerable group. young people who are pregnant and parenting need extra help to succeed. high quality, childcare housing, food security, transportation, and certainly comrades of health care. so i will leave you with three thoughts. violence is preventable. second. to prevent domestic violence and child abuse we must take a holistic approach. finally, fipsa is a excellent federal program. we know it. works rarely have so few

dollars accomplished so much to help people. and we can do more to support prevention. first by expanding the program so that funding could reach all. states and second by -- funding out of the violence and services office. thank you for the honor and privilege of sharing these thoughts with you today, and for your consideration. i'm now ready to take your questions as well. >> thank you so much each of you for your testimony. under committee rules will 9a we will question witnesses under the five minute rule. after the chair and ranking member i will recognize members in order of their seniority on the full committee. to adhere to the committees five minute rule we will keep track of time and a timer will sound, when your time is over please renewed your microphone. as a chair, i recognize myself for five minutes. missed him and thank you so much for your work and commitment to helping survivors in oregon. i'm impressed by everything that you accomplished over the

years. i learned a lot from our conversation last week. recently congress provided 515 million dollars to support survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault during the covid-19 pandemic. i want to ask you, could you please tell us more about the operational challenges that programs in oregon have experienced during the pandemic, and during prior disasters that have made supplemental funds still critical. >> thank you. yeah, when i was in oregon, i really struggled early on to get the proper ppe or proper equipment to keep our shelters open and keep survivor safe while they were in shelter. we struggle to be significantly with getting masks and cleaning supplies and shelters and our state are small, they're primarily homes that have been transferred into shelters and so, this was a significant

barrier to safety. we also had fires that raged through our community, which caused some shelters to have to close and move survivors into hotels. we were struggling with really basic needs at that point from food to water to clothing and some of the really basic things that were needed. one of the things i also want to catch on in terms of covid is the disproportionate impact that covid has had on tribal and bipoc it, black indigenous people of color in oregon. i think there's been a significant impact advocates in those communities that are doing that work. we saw reductions and volunteers, we saw reductions in advocates being able to do the work that they need to do as their kick taken care of their elders, taking care of the children while also trying

to keep survivors safe. we also had to pull all of our sexual assault advocates that we're doing a company meant to hospitals, out of the hospitals and find alternative methods to do sexual assault advocacy. so, the covid-19 impact it has just been incredibly broad. >> i don't want to cut you off, but i want to get a couple more questions in. it's very helpful. he mentioned some of the same things in your testimony, about the challenges during covid. i want to ask of vice chair women, we know that the family violent prevention services act administered, as we know by department of health and human services approaches from a public health perspective, why is the public health approach so important for native survivors and what are some of the barriers that native survivors face getting assistance from places, for example, the criminal justice

system? >> thank you chairman. i'll get back with you more in detail and writing on that question, but, you know, the answer that comes off the top of my head right now is jurisdictional issues and who has jurisdiction over the incident, especially in the public law to abc. it's really hard sometimes to even get a response from the justice system. >> thank, you i look forward to finding out more about that and doctor miller, i'm concerned because during the pandemic, pregnant women of color, for example, have sometimes delayed a reduced prenatal care visit and that is exacerbated complications. we already have the complexities of the national maternal mortality crisis. so why is it so important, especially for survivors of color to continue to receive

health care and service social services that are provided by the pregnancy assistance funds? >> turn you chairwoman for that question. the internal mortality is something that is deeply personal for me, here in pittsburgh, we recently did a study where we rank in the third percentile, so 97% of other comparable cities across the country look better than us at mortality. so we have been deeply engaged in this issue. and it is certainly complex, but the solutions ally and having's really consistent and trustworthy health and social services. and the pregnancy assisting fund is absolutely vital to, that is terms of providing the social services and support needed. and getting to those who are experiencing the marginalization. >> thank you very much. and i'm going to set a good example because the clock is now at zero, i'm going to yield back and recognize ranking member -- for five minutes.

>> thank you madam chair, and you do set a good example, i've got my stop clock going. this question is for -- i got your name correct, i think this time. forgive me. but i appreciate that you share the value of face based organizations and serving survivors in this issue. any objective review of history reveals a fate was a critical part of our founders and fundamentally important part of life in america. i know i've seen firsthand in my own life the importance of the church and helping them meet the needs of the local community. can you share a little bit more about why it's important for the faith community to be involved with this issue? >> thank you. to do that trust factor, many people go to their minister, clergy, is that if that -- like catholic charities and others when they need help, whether it be for domestic violence,. similarly, what we're finding is that providing services at

or in connection with temple, parish, help the survivors feel safe. ads have been shared today, isolation and control are very common in domestic violence relationship and often, the church or another faith-based institution is a place that our usual allow their partner to go alone. i think it's important, for many faith, the levers may feel that they do not need an abusive relationship because that i have to keep it a religious vow or sacrament. it is empowering for them to hear from the minister, clergy her counselor connected to the faith that they are not expected to say and enter the abuse. >> if i could just do a follow-up to that. personally, i'm not catholic, i'm even light gel local christian, so i don't necessarily understand the inner workings of catholic charities.

i do know the positive impact that you have had, and those appear to be undeniable, so this question is basically, all you do it in the sense that you must do some partnering in local communities and how do you do it? how does it work? >> survivors are often dependent on our users in multiple ways. financially, emotionally, socially as rachel least neither shared in her 2019 book, no visible bruises, domestic violence is related to so many other problems that society grapples with. education, economics, mental and physical health, crime, gender and racial equality and gender. as what we know is the protection of survivors requires those policies and systems and partnerships that recognize that domestic maligned is a public health crisis but the no -- with enormous -- and economic insecurity.

hard work with survivors, we know that and array of services and a coordinated approach is necessary, we partner with other local, trusted service providers and local hospitals. the women's mental health program at cook county jail, a network advocating against domestic violence and others for job development, housing and legal services, will we do know is none of us can do this work alone and so, together we wrap services around the survivor so they can both become more self sufficient and also feel a part of a broader supportive network. >> thank you for that and we've only got a little bit over a minute. so this will be a little bit quicker. how are you funded? how do you keep the lights on and the services going? >> everybody else has shared funding from the government for domestic violence services which is limited, so we combine both a combination of federal

and state funding as well as significant private donations from the local community. >> thank you for what you do in your testimony and to the rest of our panel as well, thank you so much. madam chair, i yield my time. >> thank you ranking member, i now recognize representative adams from north carolina for five minutes for your questions. >> thank you madam chair. i'm going to pull over. thank you to all of the witnesses for your testimony. african american women into experience intimate partner violence at a rate of about 35% higher than their white counterparts. however, they are less likely to use social services and seek out benefit treatment from timid partner violence. miss timmins, but is something -- woman in for a lack communities face and accessing support

services? >> african american survivors are definitely faced significant barriers to accessing surfaces. i think the most significant barrier i have personally noticed when working with black women is the barrier around finding services that they can trust and that they feel are responsive to this unique uncalled specific needs of their children and of their families. so that's the biggest barriers, looking for that culturally specific response that they feel they can really trust and get the unique needs met. >> okay, what role does the national on violence based women in the communities play in ensuring that victims in the community are connected with the appropriate resources? >> pretty significant role. the biggest role i think they play for us in oregon is making sure we have access to adequate information about the disparities in the black

community, allowing us to understand where those gaps really are and what are the best practices in responding to those gaps and those needs? >> thank you very much. so, we know that many people in our country do not feel comfortable following the police when they need help. miss timmins, can you talk more about what happens when victims don't feel safe calling the police and what other services can they turn to and why do these funding services are so important in these cases? that's for vice chairwoman and miss timmins. >> thank you congresswoman adams. so, basically, without our program here, it was very -- before these types of funds came into our community, it was very unsafe on our reservations

because there was no accountability for offenders and there was somewhat hopelessness with tribal governments hands tied by jurisdiction issues, it was like if you call the sheriff's for a domestic violence call, you've got an eight-hour response or no response at all. and that in turn led to more abuse for the victim who made the call for help, right? and so, there have been incidences in our community where families try to intervene with, you know, meeting up with the victims perpetrator. but that hasn't resulted in anything healthy that wasn't a good solution for them. so, with our program and our services, we've been able to build relationships to local law enforcement, build our own try belong enforcement program as well and then really establish the life saving link

between the victim when they pick up the call for help there. miss demands? >> thank you. i think that one of the things we've absolutely learned about domestic violence is one size does not fit, all right? we can build wonderful vigorous cultural responses to the multiple conflicts complicated issue of domestic and sexual violence. this is not something that we can create simple answers to and i think that when it comes to law enforcement, there is absolutely a role that they play, an important role in keeping us all safe from domestic and sexual violence but it's everyone's issue. our whole community has to respond to it and responsive ways, from educating family went members and how to respond, and educating health care

workers, to well-educated clergy, educating our communities and neighbors and, so i think that when i think about that law enforcement response, i think it's been a wonderful tool for many survivors that when people are afraid to call all law enforcement, they have to have just a strong interest as wonderful tool in their tool box as well. so we have to move beyond one size fits all and really respond to the needs of survivors are bringing us each and every day. >> thank you very much. i yield back madam chairman. >> thank you representative, i now recognize representative fitzgerald from wisconsin for five minutes for questions. >> thank you thank you. thank you. i wanted to go back to one of the things that the ranking member had mentioned, and i think it's because of my knowledge of what goes on in

milwaukee, catholic charities i know, i am just wondering over all the financial picture, because i know that many individual parishes that work with some of the nondenominational outlets that many women can reach out to and one that i'm very familiar with is in my congressional district, it's called people against a violent environment. it's called pay. i know that there are issues kind of across the spectrum on funding as a result of some of the parishes struggling, who sometimes set aside dollars for many of the problems related to the archdiocese, and charities, whether it's -- or chicago charities, i am just wondering if you can kind of comment on that, miss novel rita. i hope i said that right.

>> it's novoryta, to build on what has been shared on the comments, for survivors of domestic violence who are 90% of survivors of domestic violence in illinois are in remission. that is true at catholic charities of chicago as well, that speaks to both the need for federal dollars to come in to local jurisdictions more frequently, and at a more significant level, how we have in chicago, how we have been able to continue these programs in two ways. first is on leaning on folks in our community to support the work that we are doing. financially. and second, as i spoke to

earlier, we have significant partnerships outside catholic charities. i think the other thing that might be important to mention is that within catholic charities of chicago, so as a large organization, we've served about 400,000 people every year across a variety of services, and particularly through federal funding and other resources we have housing programs, including transitional housing, permanent housing, other wraparound services as it relates to counseling, trying to inform therapy, so on and so forth. our staff have become very solutions oriented, and kind of bringing the public -- puzzle pieces they need together from different funding sources and other parts of the organization in order to provide services.

>> thank you very. much i know there are a series of challenges obviously, appreciate your testimony and you being here today. and i would yield back, madam chair. >> thank you mr. fitzgerald. i now recognize representative hayes for five minutes for your questions. >> thank you madam chair, thank you to our witnesses for joining us on this important hearing. in my state of connecticut i have seen them struggle to combat the threat of domestic bounced during this pandemic. we have seen at our domestic violence shelters entrepreneur percent increase in capacity and calls for help have increased by 71%. but even before we reached this point, i saw my students in the classroom who were suffering with the long term ripple effect of family violence. in congress i have -- to address the growing mental health crisis that they face.

i actually have a bill the informed trauma practices act that i have been working to get support on because i know how critically important it is. family violence prevention and support funds would also be good and support on the national -- and trauma and mental health is important, especially. now my question today is for miss timmins. could you please speak to the importance of incorporating trauma informed care into our response to victims of intimate partner violence? >> thank you. trauma informed care and trauma informed responses are really how we are going to see ourselves through the domestic violence crisis and to the other side. i feel without trauma informed responses, it is very difficult to break the cycle of violence. trauma affects us in our whole bodies.

it affects how we parent. it affects how we navigate our own healing. how we are able to access our own resources. so i really do feel like trump informed care is central to the work we are doing. everything we have learned about trauma and how to apply to our healing, healing our families, our organizations and communities has brought us closer and closer to really ending this terrible epidemic of violence that we have been faced with. >> thank you. there is another component of that. like i said, i was a classroom teacher for many, many years, and i saw family violence up, the impact of family violence up close, but also dating violence, many young people get involved with dating violence very early on, and in turn they are dealt with the highest rates of interpersonal violence. can you speak to what schools

can do to reduce domestic and family violence, and promote safe and healthy relationships? >> yes. education. education, education, education. i think prevention is key to breaking the cycle of violence. we have to be able to teach our young people would consent is. what violence is. and what's healthy relationships are. so i think that's really, really important. >> my last question. nearly 20 years ago congress authorized special grants under the family violence prevention and support act. doctor miller, can you speak to the importance of a multi generational approach, particularly as it relates to these types of relationships that we have seen as we have heard before, were multi generations to with this kind of violence. what can we do in congress? >> absolutely. thank you for bringing the

focus back to prevention as well. so while fvpsa is about services and supporting our victims service agencies to do the work of supporting our survivors with the trauma sensitive advisers that miss timmins was speaking to it's also critical that we invest in prevention. and prevention includes recognizing that we need to support more adult allies and peers. so to her point, education, integrating dating violence prevention, but more broadly trauma sensitive school practices as you are talking about congresswoman haze into our k-12 schools. that also includes however from the zero to five kindergarten readiness, that thinking about positive parenting strategies, creating this sort of audacious hope. that positive parenting is possible in that context. recognizing the healing and

recovery is possible. our families are not broken. our communities are not broken. we need to come together. as the representative was saying, it is local, indeed it is a local response of creating a collective from our faith-based collaborative, our schools, our community organizations and the vital importance of our victims service advocates who create a community of care. >> thank you so much. chair i yield back. >> thank you so. much we have the ranking member of the full committee. ranking member fox i recognize you for five minutes for your questions. >> thank you very much madam chairman. my question is for miss novoryta. what has been the biggest impact of covid on your programs that work to address the problems of domestic violence? have you seen any change in outreach through your parish as society has started to open more recently?

>> yes. we are finding that many victims of domestic violence are reaching out to catholic charities for other immediate needs because they've lost their jobs, they might need financial assistance to stay in their homes, they might need food, when our staff are able to meet that need, and begin building a relationship with that individual we begin to learn more about other struggles, including with domestic violence. in many other communities that we serve stores are closed. houses of worship are not open. schools, community centers are closed, and we are finding that we really need to meet people where they are, and over the last year that has been impossible. similar to what mr. miller has been sharing, we've been working with local hospitals to train their positions, their physicians, their local case managers, and also for domestic

violence. they then are referring their patients to catholic charities. we are also finding that we need to be more flexible. and i think that this is one of those millions of trends that started during covid and are going to continue. lack of privacy is a huge barrier to counseling. the 45-minute sessions that have been our standard of care is rare. instead, our trauma informed councilors are connecting with survivors more frequently, often via text messages and phone calls, we are responding to spontaneous calls and we are doing more regular safety checks. it's more difficult for survivors to get time alone so we are coaching them on ways to do that. sometimes that means looking yourself in the bathroom. that means going for a walk with your phone. that means sitting in your car. i think another thing to note in this conversation is that

the survivors that we work with who again are 100 percent below the federal poverty line do not always have access to zoom which has brought us here today. this is particularly challenging because during covid survivors have been affected to be participating in court via zoom. we have -- a cross greater chicago so survivors have a safe, private place to access, on behalf of themselves and often their children as well. >> thank you. thank you that was such a thoroughly good answer. i have a bit of a follow-up to that. but you have done such a fantastic job of answering the question. my follow-up is related to it, it's as you described, how here

able to work with other groups through your provisional services like legal services in-house, which has allowed you as you have described to be more effective at identifying the people who need services for domestic violence. i think you've done a very, very good job of that. i want to thank you and everyone involved with catholic charities for stepping up to do what you do. but you have done for generations of people. it's fantastic. because i have had to split. i've gone from one hearing to another today, i don't know if there was any opportunity or if you are denied any opportunity to make comments on something that someone else said or to finish up eight answer.

i think up a little bit of time left. is there anything else you wish to add to the discussion? >> i would like to build on what vanessa mentioned about the importance of trauma -- last august we began working with a mother and her five-year-old daughter. our trauma informed therapist worked with this child after she spent the morning clinching the hand of her -- after her husband nearly beat her to death. and that little girl spent the night crying mommy, mommy, mommy. she told our therapist that she wanted her mom to hear her voice before god took her away from her. the survivors and the families that we serve -- i will be brief continue to suffer from trauma and professional counselors with the credential experts we experience are essential to our work. not only with adults but the children.

>> thank you very much. i appreciate that. i yield back. >> thank you ranking member fox. no worries about going over on that. i think that was a very compelling story that we all benefit from hearing. tragic us it may be. next i recognize ranking member fernández. >> thank you chair and two over witnesses for joining us today, and for evoking the response of meteor in the eye over these stories. but i think that we need to make sure that we take these stories, heartbreaking as the, are and take them as our call to action. i will say that i worked with catholic charities over many decades, and their excellent work with immigrants who have welcomed catholic charities regardless of their status. i've always appreciated that. miss novoryta thank you for

detailing the work you've done with survivors and bringing it home. thank you for your audacious hope that it is possible to prevent a violence and break the cycle. >> i want to address my first questions to bowman, your testimony highlighted that american indian and alaskan native indian women experience higher rates of violence than any other race or ethnicity, close to 50%. then there's the fact that there are fewer shelters and programs that we need to support coalitions, especially given this jurisdictional issue, i completely agree with you that we are failing our trust obligations and must do more. so, vice chairwoman, can you please chair share what you believe congress should focus on to better protect native women? both in the reauthorization to put decked the services act, and if you believe we should do more in some other areas as well for protecting our sisters? >> thank you congresswoman.

yeah, the enhancements that were proposing in this reauthorization of -- our very critical for the tribal program increase, trouble grants increase from ten to 12.5%. the funding, the dedicated funding for national indigenous indian domestic violence hotline, the direct funding for the alaska native resource center and lastly, for our hawaiian native sisters as well, they've been neglected over the decades by the federal government as well, so further resource center as well. on congresswoman hazes comments on informed trauma care, we need more funding dedicated towards that as well because we know that the solutions lie within the tribal teachings of our people and our language and when we do cultural activities

with our youth and then when we do peer counseling with the women and the men that we service and we go back to our stories and our teachings, it gives great comfort and it also gives an example on how to be a good worker, right? so for our young boys group that we work with, we talk about prevention. we teach our boys rattling, and to hold a rattle is sacred for our songs. so, if you are holding a rattle that is sacred, then you don't hurt anybody with your hands and if you are singing those songs, you don't hurt anybody with your words, right? and so, there's old teaching that goes into the rattle as well and it deals with consent and asking for the rattle to be put together and, you know, representing the seas representing the family. so those are beautiful

teachings that we work with our youth and for the young girls group, we do singing and dancing as well and so, we talk about the wood to win, and the honor what their families make peace with. so they in return or to take care of themselves first because they are sacred lifegiver's. and then, if women are given everything that they need to be taken care of, they in return will take care of the whole village. that includes the men and the elders and everyone else. so those are beautiful teachings and that can come with cultural specific care and al and there but thank you. >> thank you very much and that highlights the need for flexibility. and i don't know if we have enough time, misstatements, but

i wanted for you to address the issue of rural addressing violence and rural areas, much of my constituents he, can you speak to that real quickly? >> yes. the needs of rural survivors are quite unique and complicated. and i will try to get some information out to you. i think iran out of time, thank you so much. >> pleased to send that information. >> i apologize. >> i know it's an important issue, we look forward to receiving that information and next, i recognize representative thompson from pennsylvania for five minutes for questions. >> madam chair, thank you so much. thank you for having this incredibly important hearing and thank you for the witnesses to have taken time over their busy schedules and the great work that you do each and every day, serving and protecting

vulnerable individuals to be here. thank you for being here today miss, and to discuss an issue that affects one third of all men and women throughout their lives. their domestic violence. this violence has been cast into the background throughout most of our history, sadly, keeping it a hidden problem. survivors of domestic violence have often tolerated physical, mental emotional abuse and silence out of fear over spouses or partners or retaliating. former battered women, service organizations and professionals. provide services, we opened shelters, two women and children. after seeing the great results from these efforts, congress have had hearings from the early 1980s and understand the scope of this violence and explore impossible responses. now, congress passed legislation that test on all

facets of domestic of use, legislation will very familiar with. it was passed in 1984, the family violence prevention and services act or fvpsa, it's a primary source to provide financial assistance for domestic violence. and their families. since then fvpsa has addressed domestic violence to community driven solutions on a network of programs and services dedicated to domestic violence across the united states, including our u.s. territories. further, funds nearly 15 community based four grams, including nearly 60 programs allocated throughout the commonwealth of pennsylvania, my home state, these programs provide necessary resources to local communities and help educated individuals unhealthy relationships, as well as offer legal assistance, crises intervention. this critical legislation has been authorized seven times

since since in that comment, most recently in 2010 for five years for fiscal year 2015. now, i've always supported this program, including introducing legislation in previous years that would offer a clean reauthorization of fvpsa for five years. additionally, i supported the cares act which supplied 45 million dollars for fvpsa, former grand t's and 2 million dollars in supplemental funding for the national domestic violence hotline. and congress should now focus on ways to support continue -- continued support pathways to strengthen families to prevent domestic violence and continuing to support survivors despite the added challenges that covid has posed. you mentioned in your testimony that covid-19 compounds the struggles faced by survivors of domestic violence and the illinois domestic violence hotline, of course a 15%

increase in calls, 2000% increase in text messages requesting help. can you elaborate on how catholic charities aided survivors and those seeking help during the pandemic? >> absolutely. so, most of our referrals come from parishes, local hospitals and community partners for other programs and services. a client might come to us as a regular foods, and would respond to that, need our relationship start to take more serious and choosing, including often domestic violence. we also receive to florals through our domestic violence help align and immediately work with the victim on the phone or subsequently, in text messages to identify their needs and their actions and work with them in the moment to create a

safety plan with them. the greatest emergency need that people who call our help line bring to us it's for safe housing, away from their abusers. we first see if we can bring them into one of our conditional housing programs. we also are integrated into chicagoland greater networks of service providers. we have an agreement that did not exist years ago, to transport survivors in crisis to safety, 24/7 when they're ready to leave. those are some of the ways that survivors come to us and our work with them forget immediately on that first call. >> let me just call by saying, congratulations. i understand that 100 percent of the survivor family served by catholic charities they in permanent housing, and currently -- including during covid. that is quite an accomplishment. and thank you for all that, and thank you for all the witnesses

for the work that you do serving -- working to prevent domestic violence and serving the survivors. thank you madam chair. >> thank you representative and i now recognize representative marvin from indiana for five minutes for questions. >> thank you chairwoman. my question is for -- how are you? i'm from gary, indiana. so when you speak to the chicago land greater area, you're speaking to me because we fall into that category, it's wonderful to have you here. first, i want to mention to you that as a north town trustee, i represented 180,000 people and i work very closely with catholic charities, specifically on in immigration who came over from puerto rico, a work hand in hand with her, i know she's familiar with what you guys do. and we work with domestic violence individuals and i personally have sent through

dr. miller, we do intake for people who need assistance and we use the a study and we worked with people and every case is a snowflake, as you're talking about, right? so my question to you directly is can you give an example with the collective impact, so all of you witnesses know what i'm talking about. the collective impact of federal and state government agencies working with you to better a survivor's chances of having a quality of life and better outcomes? just give me one example where federal and state agencies came together and work together in a collective effort to help a survivor? >> i think that would i'd like to highlight as in my response here is the transitional housing program that representative thompson just mentioned. and housing is i think one of the most complex interventions to put into place and to

sustain overtime and it's absolutely requires one thing in private and funding as well as a wide partner of partnership. this is a staffer this program that we founded a catholic charities is threefold. first, we provide transitional housing for up to two years. the feeling does not happen overnight and securing the fills and then securing the jobs, they have stable employment, that takes time and they are going to be challenges along the way. second, we know that housing alone is insufficient and so, in addition to women, to our inner transitional housing program would mean intensive case management services, access the benefits, this includes maps, this includes wakes, this includes medicaid and they commit to actively participating in a healing and recovery programming, including weekly classes, some of which

are led by the catholic charities of chicago and some of which are partner organization. these range from addiction from anger management, financial literacy, budgeting, mindfulness, journalism reflection, trauma informed counseling, english as a second language if needed, particularly with the immigrant community and job readiness. we are also able to provide on site child care if needed. and finally, it's the last piece that cannot cohen faded is survivors actively participate and our aftercare program that provides an ongoing support system. they know they can reach out, especially when they're struggling and you need extra support. our support doesn't have an end date, we continue to provide counseling, small group sessions and food pantry, clothing to help our survivors over the long haul as they hit those bumps on the road. >> i just want to say, the partnership that i have is an

elective official in my agency to collaborate with those collective impacts and those services such as section eight housing and access to housing. those are all things that we work together to make sure that people have access to federal programs, i thank you very much and in closing, i have a question for miss timmins, very quickly missed timmins, we have seen an increase in the rates of physical intimate partner violence and sexual assault and this covid-19 pandemic, what characteristics do you think the covid-19 pandemic has a lent, other than isolation, to this increase in violence among domestic partners? >> i think isolation plays a key role, i think that shows the inherent luck of privacy and lack of support that happens with this kind of isolation a significant, also

the stress, there's a coworker in incidents of stress, addiction, alcohol use and those kinds of things definitely increase instances of domestic and sexual violence in the family. and i think that has played a significant role. appthank you tell the witnesse. i appreciate your answers and what you do for victims and survivors. >> thank you. i now recognize representative poem from new york for five minutes for your question. >> thank you madam chair. thank you all of the witnesses for being here. and thank you for highlighting the need for trauma informed schools, and trauma informed education. a big shout out to my colleagues who are bringing up that particular issue. my background is education. i worked 20 years as a

counselor, middle school principal, and trauma informed approaches to work. having more counselors in our schools. having more music programs and having direct destruction in those areas worked very strongly. so thank you all for highlighting. that doctor miller, i want to ask you, one of the main prevention strategies in the delta program is engaging influential adult and peers. in your testimony you mentioned the -- program at the success that the program has had, at increasing positive bystander behaviors among middle and high school athletes. can you please elaborate of the successes of the program? especially around creating a culture of respect and -- and assault. >> thank you so much for asking about this program. coaching boys into men is just one example of the kind of prevention programs that we coke react with communities. and you know, the history of

this work was recognizing that we need more adult allies involved in this work. victim advocate services to phenomenal work in our communities, more -- need to do prevention, coaches are amazing because they are role models, mentors, in some instances serve as a adult caregiver goal for many of our young people, especially young people in minority communities as well. what is amazing about the coaching boys into men program is we ask coaches to spend ten to 15 minutes a week talking about respect language, talking about leadership, talking about consent. right, very basic, healthy relationship skills, and that is part of being a leader in the school community and on the team. and what is really quite wild is that as athletes here and discuss amongst themselves, they develop a code word of like the see appear engaging in

despair respectful behavior and they go boyz ii men, and it interrupts that behavior. but we have seen with both middle school and high school, in very rigorous randomized trials is that at the end of a sports season these athletes that get exposed to the program about we're likely to speak up and stand up, when they see disrespectful behavior. and in fact, one of our local school districts that has probably turned out more nfl players in the country, is you know they were early adopters of coaching boys into men, and this is like the one school district where they say the football players are the most respectful in the entire school community. and so it is a joyful program, it is one that very easily atletico trees are able to adopt. and this is really, you know the difference between the cost of prevention, which is training victims service advocates training coaches to do this program that is otherwise free, and compared to

the cost of one sexual assault, the cdc estimating 123,000 dollars to usaid for one sexual assault. the cost for one instance of intimate partner violence, over 100,000 or women, about 23,004 men is with the cdc estimates. and, so we cannot do the math very quickly, prevention is a great return on investment. >> thank you for that. mrs. timmins, research shows that trauma is intergenerational. with a mother transmitting trauma into her children. children also bear a significant burden in a household where there is intimate violence and they suffer significant trump in their own right. if we don't break the cycle of violence and trauma how much to children stand to lose from the proliferation of domestic violence? >> that is an awesome question. thank you. i think that one of the most

devastating impacts of a 30 year career in domestic violence is seeing the impact on kids of domestic and sexual violence. and sheltering stands to lose a significant portion of their future when they're impacted by this. her whole selves as i have said earlier is impacted. i can't overemphasize how holistic and inclusive and complicated trauma impact us as humans. i would just say that children have a significant amount to lose, if we don't intervene, and and the cycle of violence. >> so when we talk about a public health, holistic approach, we are talking about education, housing, we are talking about health care system, preventative measures in the community, and measures to support those who have been victims through emergency

housing and other services. thank you all for that. i yield back my time. >> thank, you know i recognize the chair of the full committee, representative scott from virginia for five minutes for any questions. thank you madam chair. miss novoryta, you mentioned positive parenting. exactly what does that mean? and why is it important? >> thank you for your question. my father is going to be grateful that the name novoryta is getting so much play today. i think that positive parenting, is a very critical and important aspect of the work that we're discussing today was brought by mr. miller. i would actually love to ask doctor miller to comment further on that. >> okay. >> thank you very much.

so the term positive parenting encompasses a number of different support for parents. and i want to begin by one the first part is recognizing that for many parents, including adolescents who are pregnant in parenting that they may not have always been exposed to healthy and respectful environments. in fact, we know for adolescents that are pregnant and parenting that far too often, it was also in the context of unhealthy environments. so exposure to violence is part of the story, we earlier heard about the aces study, the average childhood experiences study as well, so we all recognize as she was saying the intergenerational impact of exposure to violence, it can impact the way in which one parents. what is so vital however, is that as we approach and work

sometimes parenting is hard and extra hard for parents whom they may have had prior exposure and third is to say that they are not alone. i'm offering information to all of the parents because i recognize that sometimes it is hard and here are opportunities. >> using positive reinforcement rather than slapping the positive reinforcement as a strategy to change behavior rather than slapping the child. >> absolutely. also recognizing that parents as well need to port. so they need to be given the supports around mindfulness and wellness, and recognizing that parents mental health is vitally important to the health

and wellness of their children as well. so it's absolutely around identify strategies to support your child's developing behaviors. that does not involve corporal punishment, while simultaneously recognizing that parents often need more support and services. >> thank you. vice chair -- , are there complications in the criminal justice system that make it difficult to hold native americans who are guilty of violence accountable in the criminal justice system? >> yes, currently there are many challenges congressman scott. you know, one of them is non native perpetrators on indian lands. and i will send you something in writing. i will answer that in writing. thank you. >> does this bill do anything

about it? >> but this bill will do, if the proposed enhancements are granted, it will give survivors, victims, and access to hill and get those resources. in regards to holding perpetrators accountable on our land for their actions, that i think falls outside fvpsa's funding, goes into the department of justice. but if there are some considerations at measures and additional fund we would gladly take it. >> it probably wouldn't be within our jurisdiction. it would be in the committee but i remember when i was on the judiciary committee we had some problems. you mentioned hotlines. how effective are they? >> they are actually a lifeline. we have noticed an uptick in calls to the native hotline.

we have also noticed on the national hotline, as they are parenting the strong hurts currently, that a lot of native colors will call in, but if they don't get connected to the native hotline prior to them going 24/7, they would wait until they could talk to a needed advocate on the hotline. >> so the needed hotline is gathering a lot of trouble, resources, and that other specific to the survivors that can get connected to their lifelines. >> thank you, madam chair, i yield back. >> thank you chairman scott. i now recognize representative -- for five minutes. >> thank you madam chair and to all of this subcommittee members. thank you for having this important hearing today and allowing me to take part in it. i want to thank all of our witnesses today for sharing their expertise and insight,

and thank you so much for the preventive measures you take to protect women and families. as it was burst authorized in 1984, i'm so sorry, i just lost my remarks for a second. hold on. oh goodness. i knew it was going to happen. it has been happening all day. since it was first authorized in 1980, for the family violence prevention and services act was provided the resources and funding necessary to help survivors of domestic and dating violence. in that time, however we have learned there are far better methods for prevention and support. and that is why last congress, i introduced the family services improvement act, fvpsa, with representatives glenn moore, john katko, and i look forward to reintroducing this legislation again, this week in order to provide more equitable

resources and access to funding for all communities. madam chair, i think we have already done so. we would like to enter into the record illiterates apart that we've already provided that has been signed by 19 organizations, stating their support for the fvpsa act of 2019 and their desire for the passage of the comprehensive fvpsa passage for this congress. >> thank you. >> as the new methods of prevention have been discovered over the years so has the link between intimate partner violence and gun violence. according to the fund to stop gun violence, about 4.2 million people in the united states have been threatened with a gun, and nearly 1 million people have been shot or shot at by a intimate partner. women are also five times more likely to be murdered when their abuser has access to firearms. in my home state of georgia,

73% of reported domestic violence related deaths were committed by firearms in 2019 alone. doctor miller, my questions are for you. could you please speak to how these efforts to reduce gun violence and murder or such a intrinsic part of a intrinsic plan to prevent intimate partner violence? >> absolutely. i want to begin by saying representative mcbath, thank you for your involvement in this issue knowing how personal it is for you and i am just incredibly grateful for your lifting up intersections of different forms of violence. so we know that intimate partner violence is inextricably linked with gun violence and violence loss in our communities. when we talk provence prevented we were talking about trauma sensitive school and practices, for example positive parenting strategy, ways to create safe

and supportive environment. those kinds of cross cutting violence prevention strategies where we bring in our faith-based organizations, health care systems, community organizations, those cross cutting prevention's will also produce gave out a murder. and that is why the cdc has invested so much and prevention around influential adults and peers, a safe and supportive environments as well as economic support for our families because we know that's what is needed to create safe for communities. but certainly, as a pediatrician and somebody currently working in schools, i also want to lift up wet representative bowman was identifying as a former middle school teacher. we currently are in the midst of this pandemic doing work virtually with young people who had been exposed to violence and are middle schools here in pittsburgh. over 60% of the young people in our research study have experienced violent and loss.

that means losing a friend or a loved one to murder. it is extraordinary exposure to violence that our young people are phasing and those of us who are on this call together have an obligation to work together to end gun violence and so i'm grateful for you for that question. >> absolutely, thank you so much. doctor miller, i also know that you've done some research on the impact of covid-19 pandemic on intimate partner violence. can you share of some of what you learned about how prepared service providers were for the pandemic and what needs to be done moving forward to ensure that intimate partner violence providers are prepared for any future emergencies such as covid-19? >> absolutely, thank you. so, i've had the immense privilege of working with the cdc and the american academy of pediatrics in futures about violence on a project interviewing intimate partner

violence, they can serve as advocates as well as child welfare workers and administrators, domestic violence, coalitions across the country to understand how they have responded to this pandemic. and i have to say, he advocates where i heroes long before the pandemic, they certainly taught me everything i know about how to manage and support survivors. the they have been way up there in triple gold stars and now because what they have accomplished with almost nothing, in terms of resources has been extraordinary. incredibly nimble ways of supporting survivors. we are talking about the importance of privacy, we had heard from advocates who had figured out all kinds of clever solutions for interacting with survivors and ways that support their privacy and safety. and, what we are learning is that we were woefully unprepared for this and we can do so much better because it turns out that even in my --

intimate partner violence, child abuse was not part of our emergency preparedness plan. that's changing, right? because moving and coming out of this pandemic, we recognize that victims services have to be much more robust, and we have to be able to be much more nimbly respond because suddenly, in a congregant living in shelter was not a safe option. >> thank you so much for your answers. >> i yield back. thank you. we do have another member joining, us representative from indiana, i recognize you for five minutes for your questions. >> thank you very much. i appreciate, this important conversation. and i think it's, the pandemic puts a lot of different things to would different perspective and really kind of brought to our attention. what i wanted to ask, what do

you believe how we can do a better job to individualize services to meet family needs and survivors where they are to make sure that we have more on the ground, tailor services. if you have any ideas and you if you could share with us? >> absolutely. so this healing journey is a very long process, there's many upton downs. every survivors experience has been different but everybody's journey is going to be different as well. many victims who come to us or not yet prepared to safely advocate for their situation. we do know that on average, the average survivor leaves their abuser seven times before they safely fully leave. so the work we do and so many of the other organizations that are being lifted up today help teach people to create a plan, to stay safe, to understand their actions and know that

they are not alone. that may take years, but we are right there with survivors, accompanying them in their journey. meeting these victims of divide last violence where they are can mean meeting them and houses of worship, and preparation for today's discussion, one of our counselors shared with me the experience of a woman who had been experiencing domestic violence for many years. she and her ten-year-old came to church regularly and one sunday and, a seeker who was there on behalf of catholic charity gave a sermon about domestic violence, stating that the church does not conduct staying in a violent marriage and those should seek help. this woman reached out to charities and she shared with her counselor, who i spoke with in preparation for today that her ten-year-old son sparked that outreach. he told his mom as they left service that day, a, he was

talking about you. he was talking about us. we have so many different clients who come to us and so many different situations and at different points in their journey, we had one client recently who called because her physically abusive boyfriend is being released from jail. she has no support, she is unemployed and he is returning home. she single, so her options currently for shelter are quite limited. we stayed on the phone with her and helped her create a safety plan in that moment and worked with her to secure transportation and placement at an emergency shelter the next day. another client called for counseling, she has an order of protection and two children. she is employed and wants to remain in her apartment and we are providing counseling for her and her children and helping her to go to the court to amend the order of protection, creating that

safety plan and providing her with a links that she needs, the food to legal services, the kind of the whole nine yards. so i think, to your question and kind of a need to tailor services, there are three specific examples of women who have come to us at different points of the journey and very different life situations and really, the expertise of the help on the ground that we get to lift up today it's essential to provide that trauma informed and clients entered support in accompaniment with a long journey. >> just quickly, could you share some best practices, it seems to me that it takes collaboration of a lot of different groups and entities and sometimes, it's very fragmented in different places and services. can you share some best practices that you've seen a great collaboration of different organizations around?

>> absolutely. you know, i think one of the things that's happening in illinois right now, which is really exciting is a new alliance which began in the midst of covid and it's called the alliance for shared safety. and this alliance is bringing together advocates and and organizations in different spaces. bringing together folks from gun violence, from domestic violence. and so, and we're kind of experiencing community violence. i think one of the things that's really powerful with that collaboration is that intersectionality of the issue and they were successful, we were successful in illinois earlier in 2020 in bringing federal dollars of so -- unemployed integrated fashion directly to the organizations. i think that's a really exciting collaboration to keep

an eye on. >> thank you madam chair, i yield back. >> thank you very much. that was a very meaningful testimony from all our witnesses today. now, we're going to get materials submitted to the hearing record. i remind my colleagues that pursuing to committee practice, materials for submission for the hearing record must be submitted to the committee clerk within 14 days following the last day of the hearings so, by closing of business on april 5th of 2021. preferably in microsoft word format. only a member of the subcommittee or uninvited witness may submit materials for inclusion in the hearing record. documents are limited to 50 pages each. documents a lot longer than 50 pages will be incorporated into the record via internet link that you must provide to the committee clerk with the required timeframe the police recognize in the future, that link me no longer work. and at this time, because the

representative make that is on the full committee but not on this subcommittee, i offer for inclusion into the record, the materials that represented in support of the policy we're discussing today. those will be admitted without objection. pursuant to house rules and regulations, items for the record should be submitted to the clerk electronically by emailing submissions to labor dot hearings at email mail dot house .gov. member offices are encouraged to submit their materials to the inbox before the hearing or trying to hear your at the time the member makes the request. again, i want to thank each of our witnesses for your participation today. members of the subcommittee may have additional questions for you, we ask you to please respond to those questions in writing. the hearing record will be held open for 14 days in order to receive those responses. and i remind my colleagues that

pursuing to committee practice with questions for the hearing record must be submitted to the majority can maybe staff or committee clerk within seven days. the question submitted must address the subject matter of the hearing. and i now recognize the distinguished ranking member, ranking member -- for a closing statement. >> thank you madam chair. to those who provide a testimony today. this is one of those topics that is extremely necessary to have a conversation on, but i'll just say, personally for me, it's almost difficult. let me down in front of a tax policy-year infrastructure of foreign policy or resources and i'm good to go. this one, it hits you where you live really quick. so thank you for what you do. you've got a skill set, knowledge base that i'm not as blessed with but i know how important it is. and madam chair, we probably agree on more of these things and then we do on some of these other their meetings but we know this is a problem, we know it's a significant problem, we know that women are extremely

vulnerable with this, multiple approaches are very necessary and notably, since 1984, the family violence prevention services act provided some support for survivors and families to state local providers, most recently congress has gotten additional support over the past year to respond to problems in due to covid. but just the high points that i want to reiterate was the local involvement. it is so important and i heard that those who provided testimony affirmed that again, in areas i don't have high expertise, but i have really suspect that there's a lot of things in the common denominators that have to be addressed in a very similar across the board. there's also things that are going to be different from place to place and my hometown it's probably a bit little different than our chicago. i can tell you it's a lot different than chicago. but in terms of these issues, there's probably some different approaches that are needed in the local and personal touch that you can do locally that has got to be supported. i am a huge fan of faith-based

involvement with this issue, with civic groups and adds to that local side and i think you articulated why that is very well positioned to deal with these types of things. there's just some things that we can't do in government. there are some things we can't do. madam chair, that's my closing comment. thank you to all of you for who you are, what you do, you're appreciated. madam chair, i yield back. >> thank you very much and i now recognize myself for the purpose of making a closing statement. i want to again thank my witnesses for guiding us through today's hearing. you've each brought a particular expertise and answered our questions in a very meaningful way. and the partner violence is a public health threat that we cannot ignore. i'm glad this has been a bipartisan conversation and i look forward to working with my

colleagues on both sides of the aisle and to address this issue. and i specially, of course we need the investment and we also need to have an investment in prevention. the increased rates of domestic violence during the pandemic have brought renewed attention to the urgent need to expand equitable strategy that prevent intimate partner violence and save lives, but let's be clear. this crisis is about much more than what's happened over just the past year. it's about the countless survivors across the country who for years, have lived each day with the trauma of intimate partner violence. for the health of our constituents and our communities, we must do everything we can to support survivors and eradicate intimate partner violence whenever and wherever it occurs. i am again committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to take meaningful evidence based action to provide survivors

with the support they need and to prevent intimate partner violence from happening in the first place. i want to close by again encouraging anyone who need support or help to visit w. topped a hotline .org or call one 879 as a fcc, safe. if there's no for their business, without objection, the subcommittee stands adjourned, thank you again. next american history tv normally seen over the weekend here on c-span 3. tonight a look at american life and how it has evolved.

we begin with the personal motivations and objectives of living history professionals and hobbyists like civil war reactors. then historical interpreters portraying presidents washington, lincoln, coolidge and both roosevelts. fouled by a visit to a civil war reenactment to talk about victorian arab marriage expectations and civil war camp life. on thursday facebook ceo mark zuckerberg, google, ceo and twitter ceo, jack dorsey testify on combatting online misinformation before a joint energy and commerce subcommittee virtual hearing. watch live on c-span 3. online at c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. >> pravina shukla author of, costume performing identities through, dress discusses the living professionals and hobbyists, using examples from clonye