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These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

Criminal protection orders are a critical tool to enhance the safety and protection of victims of domestic violence (DV). However, limited research exists to elucidate the process and outcomes of these orders. The purposes of the study were to (a) elucidate the process of criminal orders as a critical strategy to reduce domestic violence, (b) increase knowledge about how criminal orders influence the daily lives of women, and children, and how they are associated with offender behavior, (c) disseminate findings to practitioners, policy makers, and academics to inform practice, policy, and future research; and (d) document in detail the relevant accounts of the collaboration to inform best practices for collaborations that lead to better policy, practice, and research. The sample is comprised of 298 female victims of DV by a male, intimate partner. Participants were recruited from two geographical area courthouses in an urban and a suburban New England community.

Information was collected in personal interviews and augmented with information from court records. Separate data files contain information about housing events as well as substance use. Qualitative data collected as part of this study are not included in this fast track release.

The collection contains 3 SPSS data files, NIJ-PO-Full-Dataset.sav (n=298; 1299 variables), NIJ-PO-Housing-TLFB-Dataset.sav (n=577; 29 variables) and NIJ-PO-Substance-Use-Dataset.sav (n=8940; 24 variables) and 1 Excel data file Living-Together-Data.xlsx (n=298; 3 variables). The collection also contains transcripts of qualitative interviews with 294 of the 298 respondents, which are not included in this release.

An increasing number of states, like New York, are expanding order of protection (OP) laws to allow juveniles and teens to secure orders for dating violence without parental involvement. New York amended its protective order law to cover victims of dating violence eighteen years and younger effective July 2008. While there has been extensive research in regard to civil OPs involving adults for intimate partner violence, this study of all OPs taken out by juvenile and teen victims of dating violence across New York State in 2009 and 2010 represents a first-of-its-kind examination of protective orders involving juveniles for dating violence. The goal of this research is to increase understanding of OPs taken out by juveniles and teens as a remedy for dating violence by developing a comprehensive portrait of their use in New York State, documenting the extent and patterns of re-abuse in cases when they are used, and exploring with the potential consumers, teens themselves, how they perceive these orders and the barriers they face in utilizing them. The specific aims of the study are:

1. To provide a detailed description of the use of protective orders by juveniles and teens for dating violence, including who is securing them, against whom and for what, and whether petitioners (victims) return to court for permanent orders after securing temporary orders.
2. To determine the courts' response to these orders, including the specific stipulations imposed.
3. To determine the rate of order violations and other re-abuse reported to police in cases where orders have been obtained, as well as the victim, offender, incident, and order characteristics that ae associated with re-abuse up to two years after the order was first obtained.
4. To explore in-depth with young people across the state their perspective about the use of civil protective orders among teens, including why these orders are underutilized and how to improve them to meet their unique needs.

The purposes of this study were (1) to examine factors associated with New York City Family Courts' visitation decisions and conformity to the provisions of the Model Code of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges when there was a history of abuse of the mother by the father, (2) to compare the different visitation conditions in regard to reabuse -- both psychological and physical, and (3) to examine children's psychological well-being as measured by maternal report on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), given their exposure to abuse.

Two hundred forty-two participants were recruited from the Family Courts and supervised visitation centers in the five counties in New York City. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. There were two interviews with the mother, with an average interval of six months between interviews. Baseline interviews were conducted in person, at the court, or visitation center from 2002 to 2004. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 168 of the participants from 2003 to 2005 and were conducted over the phone, except on the rare occasions when a participant requested an in-person interview.

Information in the the baseline interview included demographic information on the participant as well as on the father of the child(ren), information on the level of physical violence and the children's exposure, how often particular acts of violence took place, threats and coercion, an injury index, information regarding court orders, information regarding custody petitions, information regarding visitation orders, and visitation experience. The follow-up interview asked about abuse since the previous interview and included updates, changes, and modifications to the information provided in the baseline interview.