Seeking Safe Harbor

Seeking Safe Harbor uncovers the forces making emergency domestic violence shelter work untenable—vague and ever-expanding mandates, political pressures to operate in ways counter to survivors’ needs, and unstable funding mechanisms—and describes what this means for the survivors who rely on these nonprofit organizations. Using novel interview data alongside a wide body of qualitative and quantitative evidence, this book centers the experiences and expertise of the oft-overlooked middlemen (or, more accurately, middlewomen) serving survivors: shelter providers. Sims spotlights how we can convince policymakers of the importance of shelter programs when the analytic and evaluation tools we prioritize fail to recognize their value and who can or will pick up the pieces as shelters become unfunded.