Chicago had zero DV shelter beds for 130 days in 2024

On a single day in 2023 across the US, 7,143 requests for DV shelter went unmet — and 54% of all unmet survivor requests were specifically for housing. In Chicago, there were zero beds or cribs available in domestic violence shelters for 130 days in 2024 (more than a third of the year). The surrounding suburbs were worse: 173 days with no availability. Illinois's DV hotline received a record 18,940 shelter requests in 2024, up from 17,972 in 2023 (itself a 45% increase over 2022). In Utah, 96% of shelter requests go unmet; in Indiana, 95%. When a survivor calls a hotline in crisis and is told there is no bed, the most common outcome is returning to the abuser — the single most dangerous period in the abuse cycle, when homicide risk is highest. This capacity crisis persists because the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), the primary federal funding source for DV shelters, has been flat-funded for years relative to demand, and local governments treat shelter capacity as a charitable rather than public safety infrastructure expense.