The Impact of the COVID-19-Related Stay-at-Home Order on Domestic Violence Protective Orders in North Carolina

Domestic violence protective orders (DVPOs) are the most used legal intervention for secondary prevention of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted DVPO access and outcomes as IPV incidence increased and stay-at-home order (SAHO) closures decreased access to civil proceedings. In North Carolina (NC), e-filing was designed to expedite the DVPO process and reduce barriers to filing for IPV survivors. E-filing may have further modified the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on DVPO access and outcomes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19-related SAHO on the DVPO filing rates and outcomes over time in 2020 compared to previous years (2017-2019) and examine effect modification by DVPO e-filing. We conducted controlled interrupted time series (CITS) analyses to examine if COVID-19-related SAHO and the second wave of COVID cases in October 2020, using administrative court data from 2017 to 2020. We measured DVPO filing rates and outcomes (grants, denials, involuntary and voluntary dismissals) for all e-filing and non-e-filing counties. The outcome time series from 2020 was compared to that from 2017 to 2019. We observed reductions in DVPO filings and granted orders and increases in denials, voluntary and involuntary dismissals during the COVID-19-related SAHO in NC. E-filing counties had fewer granted orders and involuntary dismissals and more denials and voluntary dismissals than non-e-filing counties during the SAHO period. Higher denials and voluntary dismissals in e-filing counties may be attributed to stricter standards for granting protective orders, as well as assessment of the severity of cases filed during the COVID-19-related SAHO. In addition, variations in support services by county could influence these outcomes. We recommend future research measure staff advocacy using a quantitative scale to assess its impacts for survivors throughout the DVPO filing to outcome process.