Domestic Violence Narratives

Overview

Clients may disclose to staff that they are experiencing domestic violence (DV) at any point in time while interacting with the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA). Staff are required to refer clients to a Domestic Violence Specialist (DV Specialist) when they disclose a history of DV, express that they have current safety concerns, are struggling to meet certain program requirements including the work program, are in need of resources, or are claiming good cause for child support. DV Specialists work with a client regardless of their eligibility for DTA services.

While detail and documentation are important in most narratives, the sensitive nature of DV situations requires that narratives limit the information included to protect clients’ safety and privacy. It can be retraumatizing for clients to discuss their circumstances several times with multiple staff members and inputting more information than necessary into BEACON can be a safety risk for the client.

Any relevant DV information or details that staff needs to send to the DV Specialist must be relayed via email in the DV Referral (please see Domestic Violence Referrals page), which is sent to the applicable regional distribution list. Additional documentation in the narrative is not needed.

Domestic Violence Narratives

When staff make a DV Referral, they must input the following narrative into BEACON:

  • “Referred to Specialist.”

This narrative must be a free-standing narrative separate and apart from any other more detailed narratives around program eligibility, case management or follow-up actions.

If a client declines a referral to a DV Specialist, staff must input the following narrative into BEACON:

  • “Referred to Specialist. Client declined to speak/meet with Specialist at this time.”

Domestic Violence Specialist Narratives

Whenever a DVS interacts with a client, they must input the following narratives into BEACON, depending on what is applicable:

  • “Received referral, spoke/met with client.”
  • “HLC assessment completed.”
  • “Received referral. Attempted to contact client, left voicemail with my contact information.”
  • “Received referral. Client declined to speak/meet to Specialist at this time.”
  • “Received referral, spoke to client about child support.  Verifications submitted and provided resources and my contact information.  Contacted DOR.”
  • “Received referral, spoke to client.  Not NCP and provided resources and my contact information.”
  • “Received referral, spoke to client about child support.  Verifications reviewed and emailed CM.”
  • “Received referral, spoke to client and contacted HLC.”
  • “HLC referral and spoke to client.”
  • “HLC referral, attempted to contact client and left generic message.”
  • “Received referral.  History, no contact with client attempted.  Worked with Specialist in the past.”
  • “Received referral.  Unable to contact client because voicemail is full. (not set up or number is disconnected or wrong number)”
  • “Client in office.  Spoke/met with client & discussed child support and provided resources and my contact number.”

The DV Specialist must not narrate specifics of conversations that they had with a client. Any information that the DV Specialist needs to record will be contained in the DV Log.  The DV Log is only accessible by DV staff and designated managers. The simplified narratives above serve to confirm to staff and supervisors that the referral process was attempted and/or completed. Staff and supervisors will be able to scan for these narratives to confirm that a conversation was had with a DV Specialist.

Note: The DV Specialist will share information that is pertinent to a client’s DTA benefits with staff. Not all information that is shared by a client with a DV Specialist will be available to staff. They will use their discretion as to what information needs to be disclosed. If a case manager has questions about the DV and it is impacting a client’s case, they may reach out to the DV Specialist with the understanding that they may not get a detailed response.

Last Update: May 6, 2026