Family violence homicides in Bexar County declined in 2025, while the number of incidents reported to law enforcement was relatively unchanged and more people sought assistance through community resources, according to a new report from the Collaborative Commission on Domestic Violence.

The commission is a joint city-county initiative established in 2019 that brings together law enforcement, courts, healthcare providers and community organizations to improve the region’s response to domestic violence. Its annual statistical report, released earlier this month, examines family violence across Bexar County, including abuse between intimate partners and violence involving children and other family or household members.

The report recorded 28 family violence homicide victims in 2025, down from 32 in 2024 and remaining below a recent peak of 36 in 2020.

More than half those deaths were connected to intimate partner violence, including 13 people killed by a current or former partner, along with three bystanders. Five children were among the 28 victims, and firearms were used in 15 of the homicides.

Despite the decline in deaths, the San Antonio Police Department and Bexar County Sheriff’s Office responded to a combined 58,446 calls related to family violence last year, averaging nearly seven calls every hour and virtually unchanged from 58,554 in 2024.

The two agencies also filed 22,229 family violence offense reports, a 2% decrease from the 22,682 reports filed in 2024. 

While family violence reports to law enforcement remained steady, the commission found a significant increase in the number of people connecting with community resources for assistance.

Domestic violence-related connections to the United Way’s 211 helpline increased nearly 86%, from 1,027 in 2024 to 1,907 in 2025, averaging about five connections each day.

Visits to a domestic violence resource webpage accessible through QR codes posted in public restrooms also increased by 34%, from 10,045 to 13,500 during the same period.

Judge Monique Diaz, co-chair of the commission, said the trends suggest that while the problem persists, more people are becoming comfortable seeking help, something she attributes in part to the commission’s efforts to raise awareness about available resources.

“Overall, we are obviously recognizing that domestic violence is still a need in our community as it is across the world,” Judge Diaz said. ”While we saw a reduction in homicides, we also saw an increase in some aspects with individuals coming out and asking for help.” 

Erica Haller-Stevenson, a violence prevention administrator for Metro Health who compiled the report, said the increase in connections to 211 and visits to the resource webpage suggests information about available services is reaching people who need it. 

“This means that we, as a community, are providing information and the resources where they need to be,” Haller-Stevenson said. “That’s the first step, right? Is getting those connections made.”

While the increase in people seeking resources is encouraging, Haller-Stevenson said, the relatively unchanged number of incidents reported to law enforcement reflects the complexity of addressing domestic violence, where progress depends on multiple approaches and may take time to become apparent. 

“This is a multidimensional problem, so it requires a multidimensional approach,” Haller-Stevenson said. “We won’t see changes across the board all at once. We’re going to see it in phases.” 

She pointed to family violence offense reports in individual ZIP codes as an example. While reports remained relatively steady countywide, some areas that have historically experienced higher rates of reported family violence saw notable declines in 2025. 

That approach includes programs like the county’s Civil Family Violence Prevention Program that connects families involved in domestic violence cases, including counseling for survivors and children and intervention programs for those responsible for abuse. 

The goal of the program, Diaz said, is not only to stop violence between adults but also to address its effects on children, with wraparound services for the whole family, before those experiences contribute to further abuse. 

“So that’s counseling for the survivor. That is a batterer’s intervention and prevention program for the person who used harm,” she said. “We’re first trying to break the cycles of abuse.”

Haller-Stevenson said that effort also extends to parenting education, including the Positive Parenting Program, which teaches parents strategies for managing difficult situations and creating healthier environments for their children. 

“Parenting is really hard, and everybody is a human being. The goal in the Triple P curriculum is to help parents learn when they’re not under stress how to provide the most positive method of parenting,” Haller-Stevenson said. “This particular curriculum is proven to reduce child abuse and maltreatment, and that’s why we use it.”

In 2025, 1,950 people participated in parenting education programs, according to the report.

Beyond educating parents, the commission is also working to reach children directly, connecting organizations that provide youth education with resources to teach young people about healthy relationships and recognizing abuse.

Diaz said the effort is part of the commission’s five-year plan to prevent domestic violence before it begins, although state laws limit opportunities to bring that education into schools.

The report also underscores the importance of those efforts. Of approximately 1,300 children assessed in 2025 by the Center for Health Care Services, Bexar County’s local mental health authority, nearly 42% reported witnessing family violence.

Diaz said children who witness or experience family violence are at greater risk of becoming victims of violence or committing abuse themselves later in life, making early intervention critical to preventing those patterns from continuing across generations. 

“When the children are exposed to that, that is where those cycles of abuse begin and continue and are perpetuated,” Diaz said.

While the report shows signs of progress, Diaz said the persistence of family violence and its effects across generations demonstrate why the community must continue investing in prevention and support services.

“It’s an intergenerational problem. It requires a public health approach to it, which takes time to see major movement,” Diaz said. “I perceive the data in the report as supporting that the need is ongoing, supporting that need for investment and continued collaboration is ongoing.”