HHS awards $3.7M to Prevent Violence against Women

As part of the administration’s efforts to create a health system that better addresses the needs of victims of interpersonal violence (IPV), the Office on Women’s Health (OWH) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today announced cooperative agreement awards totaling more than $3.7 million.  The IPV Provider Network program requires collaboration between health care providers and IPV service programs to evaluate systems for integrating IPV intervention into basic clinical care.  Five sites were selected to develop policies and standard procedures that provide comprehensive responses to victims of violence in health care settings.

“Confronting interpersonal violence, which has plagued our communities for far too long, needs to be on our public health agenda,” said Karen B. DeSalvo, M.D., acting assistant secretary for health.  “The IPV Provider Network program provides an opportunity to assist healthcare systems that respond to women and girls who are affected by violence.”

The awards will support strategies to improve the basic care provided by health care providers and IPV service programs, such as integrating IPV screening and brief counseling into routine clinical practice.
“These awards demonstrate our commitment to ensuring that women and girls affected by violence receive the best possible care,” said Nancy C. Lee, M.D., deputy assistant secretary for health-women’s health and director of OWH. “The work that this program will produce is critical to identifying evidence-based strategies to strengthen the nation’s response to violence against women.”

The organizations selected to participate and award totals are:

• The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco - $526,509
• University of North Texas Health Science Center - $733,333
• Johns Hopkins University - $1,216,199
• The Regents of the University of Minnesota - $477,357
• North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Inc. - $750,000

For additional information on OWH’s programs and initiatives visit: www.womenshealth.gov.

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