Forthcoming from the University of California Press in June 2027

Emergency domestic violence shelters are the frontline service providers for many high-risk survivors, yet many of these organizations struggle to stay afloat. This book uncovers the forces making shelter work untenable—vague and ever-expanding mandates, political pressures to operate in ways counter to survivors’ needs, and unstable funding mechanisms—and describes what this means for the survivors who rely on these nonprofit organizations. Using novel interview data alongside a wide body of qualitative and quantitative evidence, the book centers the experiences and expertise of shelter providers, oft-overlooked middlemen (or, more accurately, middlewomen) serving survivors. We find ourselves in a moment of converging crises pressing many shelters to adapt or close, risking leaving the most vulnerable survivors with nowhere left to turn. This book asks how we can convince policymakers of the importance of shelter programs when the analytic and evaluation tools we prioritize fail to recognize their value, and who can or will pick up the pieces as shelters become unfunded.