The Department of Children’s Services and family violence shelters bear a large portion of the cost of domestic violence. Although domestic violence is highly detrimental to the physical and psychological well being of a child, the Department of Children’s Services removes a child from the home only if he or she is in imminent risk of harm. The minimum cost to place a child in state custody and to provide counseling and testing is $5,000 per month. This includes $600 for parental assessment, $300 for psychiatric testing, and $210 for family counseling twice a month for each case. This increases to a cost of $25,000 to $44,000 per month for each child requiring extra counseling, health and/or education specialists, or foster care placement.

Also, domestic violence seriously affects a child’s educational development. Maltreated children are 2 ½ times more likely to repeat a grade in school. Also, studies show increased school dropout rates and low performance on standardized tests. The state assists children with these detrimental effects through educational assessments. The average costs of educational assessments for maltreated children, when available, are between $1,500 and $2,500 per student. In 2002, the state of Tennessee only spent between $4,350 and $8,502 on educational assessments for maltreated children due to budget constraints.

The cost of services provided by domestic violence shelters further demonstrates the economic impact of domestic violence. A case study of the Chattanooga Family Violence Shelter showed that the shelter spent $1.4 million dollars to care for women and families victimized by domestic violence in one fiscal year. This included expenditures for sexual assault treatment, counseling, provisions, housing, and around the clock shelter staff. Although this study reflects only a small fragment of the total expenses incurred at shelters throughout the state, it demonstrates the enormous cost of providing needed services to victims of domestic violence.

The growing number of women and families affected by domestic violence shows that more must be done to put a stop to this costly epidemic. A 2000 study showed that the state only provided 16 percent of all funding for domestic violence services and prevention. Inadequate funding causes space limitations that often force shelters to turn away women in desperate need of help and protection. Also, the Department of Children’s services must have the necessary resources to provide victimized children with adequate intervention and care. The economic impact of domestic violence far outweighs the cost of prevention through increased funding for domestic violence service and prevention programs.