New York

State Overview - State Summary - State Projects
Available Reports - Sample Data Collection Forms - Available Data - Links

State Overview

Domestic Violence Legislation:	Yes (SOS Article 6-A, 459-a)
NIBRS Status:	Testing
Additional Data Elements	Yes
Law Enforcement DV System:	Incident-based
Service Provider DV System:	Summary
Service Provider SA System:	Summary - Hotline Only

State Summary

The state statute defining domestic violence includes incidents between same-sex partners. The New York State's Division of Criminal Justice Services maintains the NYS Incident-Based Reporting Program; currently, 155 law enforcement agencies submit incident-based data and an additional 50 agencies are testing the system. The New York incident-based program does include elements in addition to what is required by NIBRS; these include:

location (city, town, village) code of incident
station/division/precinct identifier
offense number
incident larceny type
source of drug data
offender ethnic origin
level of injury
victim medical treatment
Offender-Based Tracking System number
NYS ID Number
arrest status
arrestee/charge link
arrest larceny type

The Division provides optional incident and arrest reports for agencies submitting incident-based data. Agencies may use their own forms but must collect all of the required information. In addition to submitting crime reports, agencies are required to submit separate Domestic Incident Reports. Data are published in annual reports and are available upon request.

The New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence keeps tracks of the number of hotline calls received but does not collect individual statistics. The information that is collected is shared with the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, which provides resources to the public but does not collect statistics. The New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault provides technical assistance to local sexual assault service providers but does not collect victim or service data. The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault does not routinely collect sexual assault data but is involved in several related research projects, detailed below. All final project reports and data are available upon request.

The New York State Office of Children and Family Services collects aggregate data monthly from all domestic violence service providers in the state. Data are published in its annual report. The New York State Crime Victims Board tracks the number of claims paid during the reporting period by type of crime, including domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and sexual assault examination claims. The information is used only for grant purposes and is not provided in reports.

State Projects

Testing the Efficacy of Judicial Monitoring: A Randomized Trial at the Rochester Domestic Violence Courts.
While judicial monitoring has been shown to be effective with other criminal justice populations, few studies, and none involving a randomized control design, have been conducted with domestic violence offenders. This study will fill this gap through a randomized trial to determine the efficacy of a carefully designed, robust model of judicial monitoring. In addition to examining the impact of monitoring on official recidivism and victim reports of re-abuse, the impact on intervening offender perceptions regarding the swiftness, certainty, and severity of further sanctions in response to violations of the court's orders will also be examined.

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in NYC: A Population Assessment and Participatory Project Evaluation.
The Center for Court Innovation and John Jay College of Criminal Justice will conduct a population assessment and formative evaluation to provide information and a model to respond effectively to the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). The goals of the research are to: (1) develop a better understanding of the CSEC population, (2) assist the Coalition to Address the Sexual Exploitation of Children (CASEC) in assessing, monitoring, and improving capacity and performance, and (3) institutionalizing and disseminating lessons and best practices. The applicant will conduct a multi-method study that will estimate the size, characteristics and needs of the CSEC population through the use of respondent-driven sampling, Geographical Information System Technology, and direct observation in the field. Two hundred youth who engage in child prostitution will be recruited and interviewed over a 9-month period. The applicant will use action-research methods to conduct a formative evaluation of the New York City CSEC demonstration program. Action-research methods will be used to engage the CASEC collaboration partners in establishing criteria and systems for ongoing self-evaluation and improvement. The applicant will work closely with the CASEC to document the program's implementation and operational processes, and to identify, define, disseminate, and institutionalize best practices. This will include review of program documentation; interviews with staff, partners, and the CASEC residential clients; assessment of data and information-sharing needs; identification of performance measures; and establishment of mechanisms for feedback on performance to the program.

Domestic Violence in the African American Community
As part of the Safe Havens initiative funded through the Department of Justice’s Office of Violence Against Women, Rainbow Research is working with the Institute for Domestic Violence in the African American Community to explore the extent to which African Americans, Native Americans and other people of color utilize supervised visitation programs in four distinct communities — Anadarko, OK; New Orleans, LA; Queens, NY; and Zuni, NM — as well as review the culturally appropriate practices of these programs.

Improving Services for Women with Disabilities Who Are Abused: A Collaborative Project
The New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence is partnering with the Center for Disability Rights and the Empire Justice Center (formerly known as the Greater Upstate Law Project) to improve services for women with disabilities who are abused. The Grant to End Violence Against Women with Disabilities is an exciting and unique statewide initiative that allows the three organizations to help create an informed, educated, and interconnected community of domestic violence and disability rights advocates in New York State who provide services to women with disabilities who are abused. The overall goal of the project is to reduce or eliminate the physical, programmatic, and attitudinal barriers that hinder women with disabilities' access to, and utilization of, essential crisis and support services. With this in mind, this collaborative project will:

provide technical assistance and education
develop a series of cross-trainings for domestic violence and disability advocates
create a comprehensive training curriculum and resource materials
develop a comprehensive self-assessment tool to assist domestic violence shelters and programs in evaluating their architectural and programmatic accessibility
establish a Listserv for the exchange of information, ideas, and resources among domestic violence program advocates, disability-related service organizations, and service providers for the deaf.

New York State Probation Domestic Violence Intervention Project
In 1998, the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, and the New York State Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives received a grant to assist local probation departments in their development of local domestic violence policies, procedures, and protocols, and in their efforts to implement probation-related provisions of the NYS Model Domestic Violence Policy for Counties within the criminal justice and Family Court systems. Specifically, local probation departments are being asked to provide a more consistent legal system response to abused women and domestic violence offenders, promote collaboration within communities and across agencies, and foster relationships with local domestic violence advocates.

New York State Victim Assistance Academy
The New York State Victim Assistance Academy is an interdisciplinary, academically based learning experience for crime victim service providers, advocates, and allied professionals. It provides a foundation in the principles and policies of victims’ rights work and a comprehensive set of skills, knowledge, and resources to enable service providers to better meet the short- and long-term needs of crime victims in New York State.

Spas for Survivors
The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault is partnering with The Enterprising Kitchen to allow the public to donate spa baskets to survivors of sexual assault.

Review of Services to Adolescents
The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault analyzed the type and range of services offered by city hospital, community, child and adolescent, and criminal justice programs. Emergency departments in 39 of the 63 hospitals participated.

Survivor Study
The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault will identify the adequacy of services available to sexual assault victims from the survivors' perspective. Staff are using a standard survey administered through three channels: rape crisis programs, hospital-based sexual assault programs, and online from the Alliance's Web site. Researchers will ask survivors to reflect on the medical, mental health, law enforcement and criminal justice services made available to them after their assault. The overarching purpose is to: 1) inform each of the service sectors involved in the care of rape survivors on how their current services either fulfill or do not fulfill needs of rape victims; and 2) provide these service sectors with guidelines on how to better the care they provide to rape survivors in New York City.

Dating Violence Experiences of High School Students
The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault is also planning a research project in conjunction with the Columbia Center for Youth Violence Prevention to survey youths in four high schools on data violence. Data collection will begin in the fall of 2006.

Age-Specific Approaches to Intimate Partner Violence
The broad aim of this research project is to develop youth-focused approaches to the identification, management, and referral for intimate partner violence within health care settings. Although numerous private, professional, and governmental health care organizations recommend screening and intervention programs for all women, almost no information specific to the expectations and needs of adolescent and young adult women exists. As a first step toward this goal, the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University and Planned Parenthood New York City will collaborate to develop and test the feasibility of a comprehensive intimate partner violence screening and referral program, including a provider-training component, directed specifically toward young women.

President's Family Justice Center Initiative
The PFJCI is a pilot program administered by the Office on Violence Against Women that has awarded more than $20 million to 15 communities across the country for the planning, development, and establishment of comprehensive domestic violence victim service and support centers. The goal of the PFJCI is to make a victim's search for help and justice more efficient and effective by bringing professionals who provide an array of services together under one roof. Two of the first centers, the Family Justice Center of Erie County and the New York City Family Justice Center provide services from a variety of on-site partners.

Available Reports

General Crime

Division of Criminal Justice Services. (Annual). Crime and justice annual report.
New York State Crime Victims Board. (2005). Annual reports 2001 - 2004.
New York State Crime Victims Board. (2002). Annual report 2000 - 2001.

Domestic Violence

New York State Office of Children and Family Services. (Annual). The Domestic Violence Prevention Act: Annual report to the Governor and Legislature.
New York State Committee for the Coordination of Police Services to the Elderly. (2008). 2008 annual report. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Chard-Wierschem, D. J. and Mackey, M. (2006). Domestic violence in serious incident/fatality reviews in New York State. Division of Criminal Justice Services Office of Strategic Planning.
O'Sullivan, C. S., King, L. A., Levin-Russell, K., and Horowitz, E. (2006). Supervised and unsupervised parental access in domestic violence cases: Court orders and consequences. NCJ 213712. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

Davis, R. C. and Maxwell, C. D. (2003). Preventing repeat incidents of family violence: A reanalysis of data from three field tests. NCJ 200608. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

Hale, M. M. (2003). Clinton County Domestic Abuse Reduction Team (DART). NCJ 201880. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.
Miller, N. (2003). Queens County, New York, arrest policies project: A process evaluation. NCJ 201886. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.
Fernandez-Lanier, A., Chard-Wierschem, D. J., and Hall, D. (2002). Comparison of domestic violence reporting and arrest rates in New York State: Analysis of the 1997 and 2000 domestic incident statistical databases. Division of Criminal Justice Services Office of Strategic Planning.
Miller, N. (2002). The evaluation of the Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies Program: Grant impact in Queens County, New York. Institute for Law and Justice.
Newmark, L., Rempel, M., Diffily, K., and Kane, K. M. (2002). Specialized felony domestic violence courts: Lessons on implementation and impacts from the Kings County experience. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. NCJ 191861.
O'Sullivan, C. (2002). Domestic violence, visitations and custody decisions in New York family courts. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. NCJ 195792.
Universal Response to Domestic Violence. (2002). Duchess County domestic violence bench manual.
New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence. (2001). Family Protection and Domestic Violence Intervention Act of 1994: Evaluation of the mandatory arrest provisions.
Plattsburgh State University. (2001). Domestic Abuse Reduction Team: Clinton County, New York, final report. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. NCJ 190990.
Taylor, B. G., Davis, R. C., and Maxwell, C. D. (2001). The effects of a group batterer treatment program: A randomized experiment in Brooklyn. Justice Quarterly, 18 (1): 171 - 201.
Davis, R. C., Taylor, B. G., and Maxwell, C. D. (2000). Does batterer treatment reduce violence? A randomized experiment in Brooklyn. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. NCJ 180772.
New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence. (1998). Model domestic violence policy for counties.
Commission on Domestic Violence Fatalities. (1997). Report to the Governor. New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence.

Sexual Assault

Davis, R., Guthrie, P., Ross, T., O'Sullivan, C. (2006). Reducing sexual revictimization: A field test with an urban sample. NCJ 216002. US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

Department of Health. (2004). Protocol for the acute care of the adult patient reporting sexual assault.
New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault. (2001). The Police Interaction Research Project: A study of the interactions that occur between the police and survivors following a sexual assault.

Sample Data Collection Forms

These are the required domestic and optional incident and arrest forms provided by the Division of Criminal Justice Services to law enforcement agencies in the state:

The Office of Children and Family Services uses a variety of forms to collect summary information from domestic violence service providers, depending on the types of services provided:

The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault uses this survey to evaluate the services available to sexual assault victims:

Emergency Department Enhancement Survey

The Crime Victims Board collects information from victims applying for compensation using this online form:

Claim Application and Instructions

Available Data