Privacy Protections for Victims Using Local Domestic Violence Shelters and Rape Crisis Programs RE: HMIS

U.S. Congress has reaffirmed that domestic violence programs should continue to put victims' confidentiality first.  In 2005, when the Congress reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), they included a provision prohibiting local domestic violence and rape crisis programs from sharing personally identifying victim information in third-party databases, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).

U.S. Congress clarified and reaffirmed the importance of victim confidentiality in two sections of VAWA 2005:

• In Section 3, Congress addresses "Universal Grant Conditions: Nondisclosure of Confidential or Private Information"
• In Section 605, Congress clarifies their directive regarding HMIS with their "Amendment to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.".

Read our Q&A about VAWA 2005 Confidentiality Provisions that were signed into law on January 5, 2006.