Objective

To determine whether the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence provided effective awareness, assistance, response to, and prevention of domestic violence. The audit covered the period from January 2019 through June 2025.

About the Program

Domestic violence is a pervasive public health and safety issue in New York and affects individuals of all ages, genders, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2023/2024 Sexual Violence Data Brief, about 45% of women and 17% of men in the U.S. experienced some sort of contact sexual violence in their lifetime. In addition, over 61 million women and 53 million men have experienced forms of psychological aggression, such as intimidation and verbal abuse or humiliation.

While domestic violence can affect anyone, historically marginalized groups—including minorities, women, and those living in poverty—experience higher rates of domestic violence. Older adults and those who rely on others for care or daily support are also particularly vulnerable, as they may face additional barriers to reporting abuse or accessing services.

Established under Section 575 of the Executive Law (Law), the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (OPDV) was created to improve the State’s response to and prevention of domestic violence with the goal of enhancing the safety of all New Yorkers in their intimate and family relationships. In recent years, OPDV has expanded its work beyond domestic violence to include other forms of gender-based violence, which is harm (or threats of harm) based on actual or perceived sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or other such sex/gender-related characteristics. Under the Law, OPDV is responsible for advising the Executive and Legislature on the most effective ways for the State to respond to domestic violence. To this end, OPDV must consult with experts, service providers, and advocacy organizations and act as an advocate for domestic violence victims and survivors and related programs. OPDV is also required to coordinate State agency efforts related to domestic violence prevention and response, and to promote policies and practices intended to improve victim safety and access to services. The Law is broad and directs OPDV to carry out certain activities, including:

• Developing and coordinating community outreach and public education throughout the State.
• Administering certain grant funds, such as those awarded for efforts established under Education Law Article 129-B, commonly known as Enough is Enough (EiE), designed to address sexual assault and dating violence for college students.
• Making periodic reports to the Executive and Legislature recommending policy and program direction.
• Developing and promoting senior center-based domestic violence prevention programs as required under the Executive Law amended in 2011.

To carry out its responsibilities, OPDV’s work has included establishing a Domestic Violence Hotline (Hotline) in 1981 to provide confidential access to domestic violence resources and support for victims, professionals, and concerned individuals; implementing certain statewide policies, including those contained in Executive Order 17 (EO 17) to address the impact of gender-based violence on the State workforce; and publishing the State’s Gender-Based Violence Dashboard (Dashboard) with the primary goal of reporting relevant data elements collected by State and select local and national entities to inform policy and decision-making. Additionally, OPDV serves as the chair of the Domestic Violence Advisory Council (DVAC) established under the Law. The Law requires the council to meet as often as necessary, but at least twice a year.

Domestic violence is a complicated and multifaceted issue with multiple agencies administering programs and services focused on awareness and prevention, as well as assisting and responding to victims. For the purposes of this report, we audited OPDV’s role in administering certain services, programs, and requirements to provide effective awareness, assistance, response to, and prevention of domestic violence. This report is one in a series of audits of State agencies with a role in providing awareness, assistance, response, and prevention of domestic violence and overseeing providers of certain services.

Key Findings

To provide the most effective response to and prevention of domestic violence, the entities involved in providing services, promoting awareness, and implementing prevention and assistance efforts need to act cohesively and collaboratively. As the State’s lead agency for this effort, OPDV could strengthen its efforts in key areas, as follows:

• We found significant issues that limit the Hotline’s effectiveness in aiding callers, specifically with response time and accuracy of translation services, which are crucial to ensuring that victims of domestic violence receive assistance when they need it. From December 2024 through June 2025, we made 25 phone calls and sent 20 text messages and 20 web-based chat messages to the Hotline and found the following:
  • Of the 25 test phone calls, five (20%) were never connected to a representative. Instead, after an automated greeting, for most of these (three of five), we heard continuous beeping, indicating the call failed to connect to a live representative. A review of 60 days of call logs showed similar problems: of the 2,814 calls made to the Hotline during the 60 days, 170 (6%) were not connected, which included our five unconnected test calls.
  • Of the 20 text messages we sent, three (15%) were unanswered and six (30%) took longer than the 30 seconds required by contract to receive a response.
  • Of 12 texts and eight web-based chats sent in six non-English languages, our testing identified translation issues in five of the 20 (25%) messages that were either not translated (one) or mistranslated (four).
• As of May 2024, OPDV had approved gender-based violence policies for 72 State entities; however, we identified more than 500 additional entities that may fall under the scope of EO 17 but do not have such policies.
• Little has been done statewide to address domestic violence specifically affecting older adults. As of June 2025, OPDV had not implemented its statutory mandate to develop or implement senior center-based prevention programs with defined goals or objectives. The prolonged failure to implement senior center-based prevention programs increases the risk that this particularly vulnerable population will not have access to domestic violence survivor resources.
• Between 2018 and 2023, DVAC met a total of 11 times. However, only four of the 17 members representing key State agencies and advocacy organizations attended all meetings, with three members attending fewer than half. Although DVAC generally met its statutory obligation to meet twice annually, member participation was limited. Limited attendance reduces continuity and statewide collaboration, further constraining DVAC’s ability to effectively fulfill its advisory and coordination responsibilities.

OPDV officials were responsive to issues identified during the audit and began taking action to address our findings while the audit was ongoing.

Key Recommendations

• Develop or revise existing policies and procedures to include written guidance for following up on deficiencies identified during monitoring reviews, including but not limited to, steps for providing assurance that issues are corrected in a timely manner including deficiencies with response times and language translation services.
• Take steps to provide assurance that covered State entities comply with EO 17 requirements.
• Enhance oversight of grant recipients to provide assurance that they are effectively meeting program objectives and contract deliverables.
• Develop and promote senior center-based domestic violence prevention programs that include documented program goals and objectives and establish ongoing evaluation of the programs’ effectiveness.
• Take steps to strengthen DVAC’s role in addressing domestic violence issues, including:
  • Making recommendations to the Executive or Legislature on domestic violence-related issues, including strategies for responses and prevention of domestic violence to the Executive.
  • Increasing participation in DVAC meetings.