Background

Beginning with unit-level commanders and enlisted leaders, all levels of leadership play a vital role in the coordinated community response to domestic abuse, not only in holding offenders accountable but also in ensuring victims are protected and afforded available services. Leaders should respond to reports of domestic abuse as they would to a credible report of any other crime and ensure that the report is forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement and/or criminal investigative organization for investigation. The DoD offers programs to assist family members who are victims of domestic abuse.  These programs include the Family Advocacy Program (FAP), the Victim Advocacy Program, and the Transitional Compensation Program.  DoD also provides reporting options for victims of domestic abuse.

Key Points

• Family Advocacy Program. FAP is a command support program with responsibility for addressing family violence - both domestic abuse and child abuse - in military families, through prevention efforts, early identification and intervention, support for victims, and treatment for abusers. FAP works with offices and agencies both on the installation and in the civilian community to provide a coordinated community response to domestic abuse incidents.
• Victim Advocacy Program. Victim advocates provide a broad range of services to military affiliated victims of domestic abuse including safety planning, referral to resources both on the installation and in the civilian community, helping victims to better understand the military response to domestic violence, and helping victims request military or civilian protection orders.
• Reporting Options. DoD policy provides two options for reporting domestic abuse – restricted and unrestricted reporting. Under restricted reporting, a victim of domestic abuse has the option of reporting an incident of domestic abuse to a victim advocate, supervisor of a victim advocate, or health care provider and receiving confidential victim advocacy services and medical care without starting a law enforcement investigation or having the victim's or alleged offender's commander notified. The unrestricted report option provides victims of domestic abuse with an official investigation of an incident. Victims can contact the service member's command, FAP, or law enforcement to initiate the investigation.
• Transitional Compensation Program.  The Transitional Compensation Program provides for financial, health, and commissary and exchange benefits for family members who are being abused by a service member.

Eligibility

Active duty, activated National Guard and Reserve Component members, and their families are eligible.

Program Availability

The programs are available at military installations supporting families worldwide.

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