October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Purple is its color. Free, confidential help in Niagara County
Niagara County help
Lockport, Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda and everywhere in between. Local programs with 24 hour lines, confidential shelter and advocates who will come to court with you.
Or email pgw@weinrieblaw.com · 5555 Main Street, Suite 5, Williamsville · Monday to Friday, 9 to 5
You do not need a lawyer to reach any of these, and none of them charge.
Live in Erie County instead? See Erie County help.
A note on confidential communication
Communication between a domestic violence victim and a DV advocate is privileged. That is a different and in some ways broader protection than talking to a friend or a family member. An advocate can help with safety planning, benefits, housing and court accompaniment, and it costs nothing.
Before you click or email
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YWCA of the Niagara Frontier
(716) 433-6716Niagara County's domestic violence and rape crisis program. Safety planning, counseling, and an advocate who explains family and criminal court and can come to court with you. For sexual assault, an advocate can meet you at the emergency room for a forensic exam. Safe Dwelling, the YWCA's confidential crisis housing for domestic violence victims and their children, has nine beds and stays of up to 30 days; the hotline does the screening. Offices in Lockport, Niagara Falls and North Tonawanda.
Pinnacle Community Services
(716) 299-0909Runs Passage House, a free 15 bed emergency shelter at a confidential location in Niagara County, staffed around the clock and open to people from outside the county. Free one on one counseling at home, at the office or somewhere else that feels safe, the Community Advocacy Project, which pairs you with an advocate for up to ten weeks, and support groups for adults and for children who have seen abuse at home. Main office 1522 Main Street, Niagara Falls.
Niagara County Sheriff's Office Victim Services
(716) 438-3301The Domestic Violence Intervention Program serves domestic violence victims across Niagara County: safety planning, advocacy and help through court, including orders of protection. Its Victim Assistance Unit helps victims of every kind of crime, including sexual assault. Advocates are on call around the clock to respond with police.
Niagara County Crisis Services
(716) 285-3515The county's free, confidential crisis line, run by the Department of Mental Health. Counselors offer support, help you think through what to do next, and connect you with housing, counseling and other services. Mobile crisis outreach is available.
Child Advocacy Center of Niagara
(716) 285-0045For children who may have been abused, referred through the county's team of police, prosecutors, child protective services and medical providers. Child friendly interviews, medical evaluations, counseling and family advocacy in one place. Its Family Violence Intervention Project works where child abuse and domestic violence overlap.
Neighborhood Legal Services, Niagara County
(716) 284-8831Free civil legal services for people who qualify. If you need help filing for an order of protection, NLS may be able to help you draft the petition.
New York State Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline
1-800-942-6906Confidential, free, available in many languages. Text 844-997-2121 or chat at opdv.ny.gov.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-7233For when you want someone with no connection to any local agency. Deaf callers can reach the hotline by video phone at 1-855-812-1001.
Niagara County Family Court
Niagara County Family Court sits in two buildings. To ask for an order of protection you file a family offense petition with the Family Court clerk. There is no filing fee, and you do not need a lawyer to file. If you are not sure which building handles your case, call either clerk before you go.
Family Court, Niagara Falls
(716) 371-4050Angelo DelSignore Civic Building, 775 Third Street, Niagara Falls. The Family Court clerk is on the first floor.
Family Court, Lockport
(716) 280-6500Niagara County Courthouse, 175 Hawley Street, Lockport. The Family Court clerk is on the second floor.
Get there early in the day
The Family Courts in this part of the state ask that emergency family offense and custody petitions be filed at least 30 minutes before the courthouse closes to be considered that same day. A petition filed later generally moves to the next business day unless the circumstances are extraordinary. The court's notice also points out that you can ask a criminal court for a temporary order of protection. If you are in danger, call 911. (Read the court's notice)
After you file, the case follows the same basic path it does anywhere in New York: a judge the same day, service on the other person, a return date and a hearing. What happens after you file walks through it step by step. A few details on that page, like the Petition Processing Unit on the 4th floor, are specific to Erie County Family Court.
If you cannot afford a lawyer, ask the judge about one when you are in front of them. In Niagara County that request usually goes to the Public Defender's Office. An advocate from the YWCA or the Sheriff's Office program can also come to court with you.
Everything else on these pages applies in Niagara County too: which court and which order, Melanie's Law, and the address and name privacy options, which are statewide.
Free help with forms and court questions
None of these can give you legal advice, but all of them are free and none of them depend on where you live in New York.
Ask a Law Librarian
Text (518) 282-0175Court system law librarians answer short factual questions about the law and court process by text, web form or chat. They are not lawyers and cannot give legal advice. askalawlibrarian.nycourts.gov
LawHelpNY
lawhelpny.orgA nonprofit directory of free legal help, searchable by county, with plain-language guides on safety and orders of protection.
NYS Office of Victim Services
ovs.ny.govHelp with costs you cannot recover elsewhere, such as medical bills and counseling. For a family offense, a Family Court petition can count as the required report.
What these pages are
General legal information about New York law, published by Weinrieb Law, a family law firm in Williamsville, New York. This is attorney advertising. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney client relationship, and it is not a risk assessment of any individual situation. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
These pages set no advertising or analytics cookies and keep nothing you click, mark or type. Like the rest of this site, they note how you arrived (from a search, for example) for this browser tab only, and that note is erased when the tab closes. They cannot erase the visit from your browsing history.
Statutory references are to the New York Family Court Act, Domestic Relations Law, Penal Law and Real Property Law. Statutes change. Confirm current law before relying on any of it.
Sources
- Identifying Risk and Lethality Factors in Domestic Violence Cases, Erie Institute of Law and Bar Association of Erie County, presented by Hon. Sheila Schwanekamp (Ret.), December 10, 2025.
- Domestic Violence Risk Factor Guide for Civil Legal Attorneys, January 20, 2024, adapted from the New York State guide for Family Court judges. Center for Court Innovation.
- Lawyer's Manual on Domestic Violence: Representing the Victim, 6th Edition, New York State Unified Court System.
- Domestic Violence, Developing Brains, and the Lifespan, Lynn Hecht Schafran, The Judges' Journal 53(3), Summer 2014.
Sources, continued
- Working with Survivors of Abuse: A Trauma Informed Approach, Public Interest Pro Bono Association.
- Laws of New York 1996, Chapter 85, and Laws of 2009, Chapter 476.
- Campbell et al., Risk Factors for Femicide in Abusive Relationships, American Journal of Public Health 93(7):1089 (2003).
- Campbell, Helping Women Understand Their Risk in Situations of Intimate Partner Violence, Journal of Interpersonal Violence 19(12):1464 (2004).
- 2025 Domestic Violence Court Advocate List for Erie County, last updated January 31, 2024.