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Editorial: The enormous public cost of domestic violence

 
Published Nov. 15, 2018

A new study from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg puts a stunning price tag on the cost of domestic violence in Pinellas County. Accounting for lost wages, police and court resources, health care costs and more, researchers conservatively estimate the total impact at $132 million. That sum underscores the importance of treating domestic violence not as a private family matter but as a public health problem.

The study was conducted by researchers from the Kate Tiedemann College of Business in partnership with Community Action Stops Abuse, the longtime Pinellas domestic violence prevention group commonly known as CASA. They examined 6,228 incidents of domestic violence in 2017 and gathered data from local law enforcement and other community groups. The conclusions are described as "conservative" because domestic violence is chronically under-reported — which is one of the primary challenges of preventing and stopping it.

The single biggest line item — $81 million — is the cost borne by the community, not by the perpetrators of domestic violence or even victims. That includes days missed from work that employers must make up, children placed in foster homes that receive state money, and burdens on police agencies and the courts to investigate and process cases. It adds up to an enormous fiscal impact, on top of the terrible human toll that crimes such as sexual assault, battery, child abuse and stalking exact.

The study calculated the long-term impact from lost lifetime earnings and the value of suffering due to abuse, putting it at $37 million using a formula similar to how juries award damages in civil cases. Health care costs for services such as ambulance rides, ER visits and mental health care totaled $5.5 million; emergency housing and lost belongings totaled $4.5 million and support services such as prevention and intervention programs added up to $3.5 million. That's just one year in one county.

Containing those costs and saving victims will take a holistic response. Affordable mental health services have always been in short supply, and community leaders should continually reassess ways to find resources for expanding mental health care. Like any other health problem, domestic violence is less expensive to address on the front end through counseling and other support services, than on the back end through the court system. The stigma that still lingers around domestic violence should be a thing of the past; instead families should feel encouraged to reach out for help before violence escalates. Teachers and school counselors play a critical role in spotting the signs of abuse. Friends and neighbors also have a responsibility not to draw the curtains but to speak up and intervene.

When a 2-year-old Largo boy was found dead in September and his mother was charged with his murder, that is the toll of domestic violence. When a Tarpon Springs man is shot to death and his adult son is arrested, that is the toll of domestic violence. In countless other homes, in incidents that never make headlines, families and children suffer grave injury at the hands of loved ones. It's a destructive cycle that also carries a huge public cost. Ending it will take a whole-hearted public response.