ONE IN FOUR — “One in 4 women and 1 in 10 men will experience sexual violence, physical violence or stalking during their lifetime, and they have all reported some form of impact to their health.” That’s what Shawndell Dawson, director of the new Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services, told Krista on Monday, the day HHS announced the office's formation. Krista spoke to Dawson, who previously served as head of the HHS' Division of Family Violence Prevention and Services, about the long-term health impacts of domestic violence and how the new office can improve services to survivors. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Why is domestic violence a public health problem? Our National Domestic Violence Hotline did a survey of over 9,000 survivors last year, and 62.2 percent of them reported health needs related to their experiences of abuse. Often experiences of both physical and mental health trauma can have lifelong health consequences from chronic pain, to traumatic brain injury, to barriers to treating chronic health conditions like diabetes. … There's research that has shown that experiences of violence and trauma can change your DNA and be passed from parent to child. Why did HHS decide it was necessary to create this dedicated office? This office will enable the government to serve as advisers to HHS leaders on more integrated service models around violence and abuse. That means engaging with child support agencies to facilitate safe access to child support for domestic violence survivors and their children, working with Headstart programs that are serving young children experiencing and witnessing violence, trauma and abuse at home and continuing to work with HRSA health centers around screening and assessment of domestic violence. What’s the out-of-the-gate priority for you as the new director? The first priority is to release a HHS-ACF [Administration for Children and Families] strategy on preventing and responding to domestic violence across health and social services. Now is the time to ensure that each agency within ACF and HHS has the resources to be able to recognize domestic violence, partner with domestic violence programs, and respond in ways that are trauma informed and help facilitate safe access to services. WELCOME TO TUESDAY PULSE — Turns out all those cringey dad jokes we’ve endured may better prepare us for awkward social situations for the rest of our lives, a British study found. Insert appropriate dad joke here, and send your news and tips to kmahr@politco.com and dpayne@politico.com. TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, host Ben Leonard talks with reporter Rachel Bluth about California's plan to partner with Civica, a Utah-based generic pharmaceutical company, to start producing California-branded insulin in a bid to make the drug more affordable. The new insulin, which will cost $30 for a 10 mL vial, is awaiting FDA approval.
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