Military Personnel: Sustained Leadership and Oversight Needed to Improve DoD's Prevention and Treatment of Domestic Abuse
Abstract
In 2001, the Deputy Secretary of Defense stated that domestic violence will not be tolerated in the Department of Defense (DoD). Despite this posture, DoD's clinical database indicates that 8,223 incidents met criteria for domestic abuse in fiscal year 2009. However, because this database includes only cases reported to military clinical offices, it does not represent all cases. In response to a congressional request, GAO evaluated whether DoD is able to determine the effectiveness of its domestic abuse efforts. To conduct this review, GAO reviewed legislative requirements and DoD guidance, analyzed domestic abuse data, and interviewed officials involved in domestic abuse prevention and treatment and persons eligible to receive services at five military bases. GAO recommends that DoD finalize guidance on how the services are to comply with DoD policies and develop an oversight framework to guide its efforts to prevent and treat domestic abuse that includes collecting data on contributing factors and establishing metrics to determine the effectiveness of DoD's awareness campaigns. In commenting on a draft of this report, DoD generally concurred with GAO's recommendations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA530591
Entities
People
- Alberto Leff
- Ann Rivlin
- Brenda S. Farrell
- Cynthia Grant
- Cynthia Saunders
- Eli Lewine
- Elizabeth Kowalewski
- Joanne Landesman
- Marilyn Wasleski
- Nicole Harms
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office