Erie County Domestic Violence Resources
Picture taken at the Domestice Violence Summit held at Buffalo State University on October 15, 2024.
Domestic Violence Resource Guide
Erie County Domestic Violence Resource Guide
A collaboration between Erie County Commission on the Status of Women, Erie County Central Police Services, and the Family Violence and Women's Rights Clinic, this resource guide provides listings for different resources available in Erie County.
Domestic Violence 24/7 Hotline Numbers
- NYS Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline
- Multi-language Accessibility Deaf or Hard of Hearing Call
- Erie County Domestic Violence Hotline
- Haven House Hotline (For Shelter or Other DV Services)
- Crisis Services Hotline
- Hispanics United of Buffalo Hotline
- Erie County Sheriff's Domestic Violence Hotline
Erie County Organizations
Email: btvbuffalo@gmail.com
Kareema Morris founded Bury The Violence, a nonprofit organization that helps find missing, runaway, and trafficked teenagers and young adults.
Call: 716-831-7000
24/7 Hotline Number: 716-834-3131
Services Offered:
- Erie County Rape Crisis Center: Call with any sexual violence concerns, including presentation at local emergency rooms for rape kits.
- Hospital Presentation: Respond to all Erie County Emergency Rooms when a victim of sexual assault, domestic violence, family violence, or elder abuse presents there.
- Sexual Assault: On staff crisis manager at Buffalo Police Headquarters.
- Elder Abuse: Specific Elder Abuse Case Manager on staff at Buffalo Police Headquarters.
- Located at Police Departments: Staff co-located at Erie County Sheriff's Office, Town of Tonawanda Police, and Buffalo Police Headquarters.
- College Campuses: Connections and questions for campus related DV/SA, as we have staff co-located at campuses in the county.
- Connection to Crisis and Trauma Response Departments: Within Crisis Services.
- Mobile: In many cases, staff have the ability to provide home and/or site visits for face to face meetings at convenient locations for clients.
Call: 716-858-4630 for services
Available Monday - Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm
- Advocacy Services for Clients in the City of Buffalo: Advocates reach out to complainants within 24-hours of arraignment. Provides crisis intervention, information and referrals, supportive counseling to victims of domestic/intimate partner violence and elder abuse. Walk-ins accepted from any jurisdiction.
- Staff Located Within the Erie County District Attorney's Office: Provides victims with real-time access to Assistant District Attorneys, liaison services with law enforcement, court informaiton, and next steps in the ciminal process.
- Staff Co-Located in Buffalo City Court and Erie County Felony Court - Domestic Violence Part(s): Staff provides accompainiment for Buffalo cases - call to coordinate if you are also linked with a particular survivor.
- Court: Specific and general safety planning.
- OVS Assistance: Crime victim assistance with OVS applications for ANY victim of crime.
- Mobile on Request: BE SAFE Advocates provide home/hospital visits and victim accompainiment to police jurisdictions upon request.
- Bi-lingual: Spanish-speaking victim advocate available.
- Community Outreach, Law Enforcement Training, and Education: Post conviction follow-up/advocacy-Victim Impact Statement assistance.
Erie County High Risk Team
Hotline: 716-884-6000
Call High Risk Team Coordinator at 716-277-5003
The Erie County Domestic Violence High Risk Team is an initiative funded through a grant awarded by the NYS Department of Criminal Justice Services through the STOP VAWA funding and led by Child + Family Services - Haven House. The Team Coordinator is based out of Haven House and works with an entire mult-disciplinary team to address the domestic violence cases most at risk of lethality.
- Monitors DV cases referred to the team that may present high risk indicators: This multi-disciplinary team consists of the Coordinator, the Erie Counrt District Attorney's Office, BE SAFE Program, Erie County Child Protective Services, Erie County Department of Social Services Legal Department, Erie County Probation, New York State Parole, Volunteer Lawyer's Project, and various police jurisdictions including Buffalo, Amherst, Cheektowaga, Tonawanda, Orchard Park, Lancaster, and Lackawanna.
- Formally meets once a month to discuss: Individualized intervention plans for cases that have gone through the formal referral process.
- High Risk Team Coordinator and High Risk Team Advocate provide training and education: On domestic violence homicide, the Danger Assessment and high risk factors to law enforcement, attorneys, judges, domestic violence advocates, and community agencies.
Call: 716-858-2523 to speak with an advocate
Available Monday-Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm
- Assistance with writing and submitting victim impact statements on criminal cases (call to coordinate if working with a survivor), including home calls in needed (limited mobility, illness, hospitalization, nursing home, etc.).
- Advocating with probation department on behalf of survivor whose abuser is on probation.
- Provide general information about probation as well as discuss an offender's specific probation conditions.
- OVS application assistance, court accompaniment, safety planning.
Erie County Sheriff's Office DV Unit Cell: 716-858-7999.
Available Monday - Friday 8:00am to 4:00pm.
ECSO 24/7 Hotline is the same number.
Confidential Support:
For victims of domestic violence, family violence, elder abuse, rape, and sexual assault.
- Assistance with safety planning, crisis intervention, appropriate agency referrals, court advocacy.
- Assistance with Orders of Protection.
- Educational presentations and trainings to law enforcement agencies, the general public, schools, and community-based organizations.
- Part of a county-wide police agency - Unit Coordinator is a police officer.
- Advocates are available at the Main Domestic Violence Office in Buffalo, Sheriff's substantions, and courts throughout Erie County.
- Liaison and advocate for Tribal Courts - Seneca speaking advocate on staff.
- Team Leader for Veteran's Court.
- Spanish speaking advocate on staff.
Call: 716-558-7233 for SAFE services
Email: safe@fjcsafe.org
Available:
- Buffalo - Monday - Friday: 8:30am to 4:00pm
- Amherst - By appointment only.
- Grand Island - By appointment only.
- Harvest House - By appointment only.
- Orchard Park - By appointment only.
- Online Chat Services - available at www.fjcsafe.org weekdays from 9:00am to 5:00pm
- Web Conferencing with Family Court: Clients can obtain emergency orders of protection from Family Court via web-conferencing at the FJC.
- Buffalo Police On-Site: Buffalo Police are on-site at the Downtown location for clients to file a report and/or press charges.
- Forensic Medical Unit: Clients can have their injuries assessed and documented and, if appropriate, have them provided to the DA's office for criminal prosecution purposes.
- Patient Navigator/Health Home Worker: Both a patient navigator and health home worker are on-site and can provide medical case management services.
- Connection to Legal Services: Clients can meet with a Neighborhood Legal Services representative or get connected with the University at Buffalo School of Law Family Violence and Women's Rights Clinic if not eligible for NLS.
- Pet Therapy: SPCA Paws for Love Pet Therapy available.
- Bi-lingual: Spanish-speaking victim advocate available.
- Non-Denomination Spiritual Support.
- OVS Assistance: OVS application assistance for victim compensation.
- Advocate Co-Located in Erie County Family Court: Provides accompaniment for Erie County Family Court Cases.
- Educational and Training Presentations: Area businesses, agencies, the general public, schools, and community-based organizations. Advocate is able to provide offsite services for students.
- Counseling: Safety planning, crisis intervention, danger assessment, case management, groups, trauma assessments for children and adults, linkage to additional services.
Call: 716-884-6000
Available as a 24/7 Hotline
- Shelter: 36 bed shelter for victims of DV and their dependent children.
- DV Counseling: Individual and group counseling
- Groups:
- Support Groups
- Art Empowerment Groups (for adults and children, based on A Window Between Worlds Curriculum)
- Domestice Violence Education and Parenting After Violence (a six week curriculum, which may fulfill court requirements for clients mandated into DV education and parenting services).
- Economic Empowerment Program
- Parenting After Violence (PAV): Individual counseling for parent support.
- Advocacy:
- Court Advocacy
- CPS Advocacy
- APS Advocacy
Call: 716-895-3123
Email: admin@hsagency.org or brownkathy545@gmail.com
Mission: To provide support to those who have been directly impacted by domestic violence (DV) to discoverm renew, and H.E.A.L. (holistic health, empower, accomplish, accentuate, love, and live) and become survivors of DV.
Services: Training/Employment, Housing, Mental/Emotional Health, Spiritual, Legal Justice/Safety, Education.
Call: 716-856-7110
Available Monday-Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm
Hotline: 716-481-8867
- Domestic Violence Core Services: Multicultural agency uniquely equipped to serve Hispanic survivors and provide intensive case management, non-clinical counseling, and advocacy.
- Parenting Classes: In English and Spanish.
- Assistance with petition writing.
- Domestic Violence one-on-one support.
*Helping Others Through Protection and Empowerment
The HOPE of WNY is a formal collaboration between the Family Justice Center and Community Services for Every1 whose mission is to improve access to domestice violence services and prevention education for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
For Services: 716-558-7233 or 716-949-6678
For Training Info Contact: Stephanie Saunders at Saunders@csevery1.com or 716-883-8002.
Domestic Violence Services:
Accessible, intesive case management sevices for survivors of domestic violence with an intellectual or cognitive disability, including advocacy, linkages to other accessible services, court accompainiment, and support groups.
Training & Technical Assistance:
Provides training on accessible services and the intersection of domestic violence and disabilities in partnership with Niagara University's First Responders Disability Awareness Training Program. Also provides technical assistance to agencies on making services accessible to survivors with an intellectual or cognitive disability.
Call: 716-768-0064
Email: Info@karenbuffalo.org
Briana Neale, LMSW - Domestic Violence Supervisor
Karen Society of Buffalo (KSB) is a community-based organization seeking to enhance the quality of life and to cultivate the self-sufficiency of immigrants from Burma, while preserving and sharing our cultural heritage.
Call: 716-777-3468
Email: info@rahama.org (General Inquireies) or
Nancy Abdelhaq, Executive Director, nancy@rahama.org
RAHAMA: (Resources and Help Against Marital Abuse) is the only female-and Muslim-led nonprofir organization in Western New York that specializes in underserved immigrant, refugee, and Muslim women facing domestic violence.
Mission: Founded on Islamic principles, RAHAMA supports women experiencing domestic abuse through advocacy, counseling, education, and housing.