Legislation and
public policy
Our Public Policy Advocacy
UDVC’s advocacy role is to work with service providers, people impacted by domestic violence, and other Coalition members and stakeholders to develop and implement a statewide public policy strategy that:
- Advances safety and stability for those who experience domestic violence
- Improves treatment and accountability systems for those who cause harm
- Promotes the prevention of intimate partner violence before it happens
2023 Bill Trackers
2023 First Tier Legislative Priorities
Strengthen the Statewide System of Core Services through Appropriations Request of $20M ongoing and $30M one-time
Policy Goal: Invest $50 million in core victim services funding statewide needed to meet increasing demand and stabilize state support for ensuring these services are available.
HB 244: Utah Victim Services Commission and Victim Services
Policy Goal: Create the Utah Victim Services Commission to establish a statewide strategy to assess and address victim needs, leverage expertise from community partners and state and local agencies to better coordinate services, and provide a collective voice for victims of crime.
HB 314: Remedies for Victims of Domestic Violence Amendments
Policy Goal: Improve Utah’s current lease termination protections statute so that domestic violence survivors can more easily access its benefits—including expanding eligibility criteria, decreasing cost barriers, and clarifying time frame requirements.
SB 117: Domestic Violence Amendments
Policy Goal: Expand the use of lethality assessments among law enforcement agencies statewide, identify domestic violence victims who are at high lethality risk, and directly connect them with shelter services and other support.
HB 43: Domestic Violence Modifications
Policy Goal: Work in conjunction with SB 117 to expand lethality assessments statewide, and create a task force with all relevant statewide stakeholders to assess and create a plan for addressing domestic violence data gaps, access, and coordination issues.
Public Policy Committee
UDVC’s membership-based Public Policy Committee is charged with advocating for the needs of domestic violence survivors and service providers, one of the four essential areas of the coalition’s mission to end domestic violence in Utah through advocacy, education, collaboration, and leadership. The Committee guides UDVC’s advocacy for public policy-making that enhances victim/survivor safety and empowerment, strengthens accountability, promotes prevention efforts, and ensures the prompt availability and accessibility of services for victims of domestic violence across the state of Utah. The Public Policy Committee also supports UDVC and domestic violence service providers’ advocacy for state and federal appropriations to ensure that services that are delivered appropriately, in line with best practices on trauma-informed care, and in a manner that preserves human dignity and overcomes cultural, linguistic, and economic barriers to the receipt of such services.
Public Policy Members
Committee membership is open to all UDVC Members but must be proportionately representative of the primary purpose domestic violence service providers, as licensed by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. Other stakeholders who support UDVC’s mission and purpose may also be approved to join the Committee through a simple majority vote of Committee Members present. Committee votes are restricted to UDVC Members.