Flexible Funds

Flexible funding is financial support provided to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault (DV/SA) to address whatever barrier exists between the survivor and safe housing stability. This document addresses frequently asked questions about flexible funding, including why it is an important housing strategy for survivors, what flexible funding can be used for, and more.

An estimated 15.5 million American children are exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) every year. Such exposure negatively impacts children’s health, development and academic performance and may also be accompanied by housing instability or homelessness. Children growing up with periods of homelessness or housing instability are at risk for many of the same detrimental outcomes as children exposed to IPV. This brief highlights key findings from a qualitative, longitudinal study examining mothers’ perceptions of how receipt of flexible funding designed to increase their housing stability may have also impacted their children’s safety, stress, mood and behavior.

Describes results of an evaluation of DASH's Survivor Resilience Fund, a low-barrier and trauma informed approach to homelessness prevention for survivors.

WSCADV's Domestic Violence Housing First (DVHF) program was designed to eliminate housing as a reason for survivors to stay in abusive relationships by providing flexible advocacy. This approach gave survivors of domestic violence the ability to establish a home and the freedom to choose how best to rebuild their lives. Permanent housing was the beginning of their new journey. The first phase of the DVHF program began with a cohort of four domestic violence agencies. The second phase, known as Cohort 2, expanded the program to nine additional agencies. Cohort 2 agencies served survivors with higher barriers to housing, including those living in rural, tribal, immigrant, and culturally specific communities.

The LGBT Center of Central Pennsylvania (PA) received funding from the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV) to pilot a flexible financial assistance model. This process evaluation was undertaken to document the organization's background and service model, what it takes for the organization to implement the flexible financial assistance model, and to provide preliminary evidence for its impact on the lives of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ survivors. This report summarizes the findings from this evaluation to offer guidance to other organizations. This includes the challenges encountered and lessons learned in the implementation process along with preliminary evidence of the success of the flexible financial assistance model. 

This infograph highlights the information presented within the report titled "Process Evaluation of a Flexible Funding Pilot Program to Prevent Homelessness among BIPOC and LGBTQ+ Survivors". It identifies what the guiding principles of flexible funding are, how funds were distributed, outcomes, and lessons learned from the evaluation. 

Este informe es una construcción colectiva de conocimiento en la que articulamos la sabiduría de un grupo de mujeres sobrevivientes de violencia de género de una organización de base comunitaria desde sus propias vivencias junto con los conocimientos metodológicos de un equipo de investigación académico. Es nuestra intención reconocer la capacidad y el poder profundo de los grupos comunitarios de crear conocimiento, como también resaltar nuestro compromiso con estudios de investigación que no son extractivistas del conocimiento y el saber de las comunidades de la mayoría global a través de procesos de investigación participativa. Nuestra colaboración es entre Madre Tierra, una organización Latina de base comunitaria que provee servicios de apoyo a sobrevivientes de violencia de género en Virginia, Maryland y Washington DC y la División de Justicia Lingüística del Consorcio de Investigación en Violencia de Género de la Universidad Estatal de Michigan.

Lecciones aprendidas de una investigación participativa de base comunitaria. El equipo de investigación fue formado por personas de una organización de base comunitaria y otras personas de una institución académica.Todos los procedimientos del estudio, incluyendo la recopilación de datos, análisis e interpretación de datos se realizaron en español.

This infograph highlights the lessons learned from the community-based participatory research study Viviendo Con Dignidad: Las Experiencias de Sobrevivientes Latinas Inmigrantes" (Translation: Living with Dignity: Lived Experiences of Latina Immigrant Survivors). The research team was made up of people from community-based organizations and others from academic institutions. All study procedures, including data collection, data analysis, and interpretation were conducted in Spanish. The study and infograph were then translated into English. 

This report is a collective construction of knowledge in which we articulate the wisdom of a group of survivors of gender-based violence from a community-based organization based on their own experiences along with the methodological knowledge of an academic research team. It is our intention to recognize the capacity and profound power of community-based groups’ knowledge creation, as well as to highlight our commitment to investigations that are not extractive of the wisdom of communities from the global majority through participatory research methods. Our collaboration is between Madre Tierra, a Latinx community-based organization that provides supportive services to survivors of gender-based violence in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC, and the Linguistic Justice Division within the Research Consortium on Gender-based Violence at Michigan State University.

This is the English translation of the "Viviendo Con Dignidad: Las Experiencias de Sobrevivientes Latinas Inmigrantes" infograph. The infograph identifies lessons learned from the community-based participatory investigation. This study included a research team made up of academic and community members. All data collection, analytic, and interpretation procedures were conducted in Spanish. They have been translated into English.