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922 Chapter 5:Temporary Assistance for Domestic Violence Survivors (TA-DVS) Program • Section 9: Co-located domestic violence advocates (07/2026) • Survivors may disclose the true nature of abuse or assault to allow effective safety planning and responses. What does advocate privilege mean? Advocate privilege is legal protection that protects all communication between a certified advocate from a qualified victim services program and a survivor. This means the survivor gets to decide whether any communication shared with the advocate is shared with a third party. Without the survivor’s approval, the information cannot be disclosed. Advocate privilege also means the co-located DV advocates are not mandatory reporters. This allows open and honest communication for effective safety planning and support. For more information on advocate confidentiality and privilege, see the Working Together guide on ODHS SSP Staff Tools. How is the advocate plan different from the ODHS safety plan? There are differences in safety plans between Self-Sufficiency, Child Welfare and the co-located DV advocate. For example, when someone is approved for TA-DVS, ODHS reviews what the survivor intends to do with their TA-DVS grant: how they intend to spend the funds, what other agencies they are working with and what next steps they plan. The plans are based around actionable items, what resources are available to them and what support they need. When a co-located DV advocate creates a safety plan with the survivor, the plan addresses but is not limited to: • Survivor’s physical and emotional safety • Helping survivor plan how to get safe and stay safe • Each plan being specific to the survivor’s needs and their situation • Identifying which community resources are available: food, financial assistance, housing, child care, parenting classes, DV support groups, etc. • Addressing the current physical safety threat, including lethality assessment. An advocate safety plan may not include protection orders because they are not always an effective tool for keeping people safe. Sometimes protection orders could put the survivor in more danger. Safety plans may be more complex depending on the survivor and their needs. Safety plans from both co-located DV advocates and ODHS Self-Sufficiency staff are fluid. They may stay the same or change over time. It is normal for safety plans to change frequently. Release of information (ROI) Self-Sufficiency needs a completed and signed (hardcopy signature or verbal authorization only) Authorization for Disclosure, Sharing and Use of Individual Information (MSC 3010) before ODHS can share any DV information with advocates or anyone else. This includes identifying information with the co-located DV advocates including referrals, names, phone numbers, etc. It is recommended that the ROI is completed for the shortest time needed and no longer than the 90-day