DRIVEN is a community-led initiative to provide victims of intimate-relationship violence with an efficient and effective system of co-located services and collaborating partners to facilitate the individual’s access to needed supports and to enhance service quality.

In the fall of 2005 a new model of service provision was introduced to the Durham Region by a group of dedicated individuals who believed that support to victims of intimate-relationship violence could be enhanced. The new model provides support through a system of co-located and collaborating services.

It was developed by the Family Justice Centre in San Diego. As a result of the implementation of this model of service, San Diego now has the lowest domestic violence homicide rate of any major city in the United States. The first use of this model in Canada was by the Family Violence Project, Waterloo Region. The individuals initiating Durham’s project named it DRIVEN (Durham Region’s Intimate-relationship Violence Empowerment Network). The goal of DRIVEN is to have a similar system actively up and running in Durham Region.

Purpose
DRIVEN is a community-led initiative to provide victims of intimate-relationship violence with an efficient and effective system of co-located services to facilitate the individual’s access to needed supports and to enhance service quality.The agencies involved in DRIVEN have been working together since the fall of 2005 with the ultimate goal of acquiring a building in which to house an even larger group of agencies.

Vision
“A centralized place in Durham Region where people affected by intimate-relationship violence can access a range of services that empowers clients and holds abusers accountable.”

Principles
Collaboration
No one agency can meet all the needs of a person dealing with intimate relationship violence. It takes a community to maximize the welfare and safety of each member.
Choices and Options
A client’s right to direct their service and choose which agencies will and will not be involved, will be respected.
Confidentiality
Information will not be shared amongst collocated agencies without the specific consent of the individual client.