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Advocates and city officials back training on domestic violence–related traumatic brain injury at council hearing
Summary
Witnesses and City offices urged the Council to pass Intro. 29 to require training for first responders and an awareness campaign about traumatic brain injury (TBI) resulting from domestic and gender‑based violence, citing strangulation and other head injuries as under‑recognized drivers of long‑term harm.
The Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender‑Based Violence (NGBV), survivors and front‑line providers told the City Council Committee on Health that Intro. 29 — which would establish a training program for first responders and a public awareness campaign about domestic violence‑related traumatic brain injury — should be adopted to improve identification and care for survivors.
Jennifer DeCarli, deputy commissioner at the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender‑Based Violence, told the committee that near‑fatal strangulation is a leading driver of TBI in domestic violence cases and that survivors may have confusion, memory loss and other neurological symptoms "often without realizing these may be signs of a traumatic brain injury." She said NGBV’s strangulation response roundtable (launched in 2019) and subsequent trainings across boroughs involving hospitals, prosecutors, FDNY EMS and NYPD have helped to coordinate a response.
"Traumatic brain injury is a very serious yet often invisible consequence of domestic and gender‑based violence," DeCarli said, noting that strangulation occurs in nearly 38 percent of domestic violence cases and is a strong predictor of lethal outcomes. The office has delivered multidisciplinary trainings between 2023 and early 2024 and is collaborating on protocols and educational tools for survivors and clinicians.
Volunteers of America Greater New York described a local screening model that assesses shelter residents for TBI symptoms and connects those with positive screens to specialized hospital services. Catherine Giapani, assistant vice president for public policy at VOA‑Greater New York, said over half of the shelter survivors they see report histories or symptoms consistent with TBI. Denise Carter Pruden, a shelter manager, gave examples of survivors who were dismissed as "crazy" by abusers but who benefited when staff screened for possible brain injury.
Supporters argued that routine training for first responders, shelter staff and medical personnel would help identify survivors who need medical, psychological and legal help and could improve referrals to specialist care.
The hearing included a coalition of service providers, victim advocates and survivor witnesses asking the council to adopt Intro. 29 to standardize training and public awareness and to strengthen cross‑agency protocols.
No formal vote was taken at the hearing. Multiple witnesses and city agency representatives said they would continue coordination across sister agencies to expand training and translate protocols into survivor‑centered practice.
