By Senator Leland Yee
Last week, I was joined by domestic violence prevention leaders to announce legislation to help save domestic violence programs and shelters statewide.
You might recall two weeks ago, funding for these programs were completely eliminated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in a line-item budget veto of the Department of Public Health’s Domestic Violence Program, which was scheduled to provide $16.3 million (a 20 percent cut from last year) to 94 domestic violence shelters and centers throughout California.
It is absolutely vital that we keep domestic violence shelters open. In last month’s budget vote, I voted against cuts to the domestic violence program. The Governor’s veto increases health care, law enforcement and other costs to the state, but more critically, it puts victims of domestic violence and their children in grave danger.
Tara Shabazz, Executive Director of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (CPEDV) is appalled to see the Governor eliminate funding to vital programs that saves lives. “The Governor is balancing the budget on the backs of our state’s most vulnerable citizens. Funding must be restored by any means necessary; together with Senator Yee, CPEDV has found a potential solution to these disastrous cuts,” she said at a press conference.
My legislation, which is supported by statewide and local domestic violence prevention agencies, will allocate $16.3 million from the victims’ compensation fund (which has a current balance of $136.2 million) to the Domestic Violence Program. I will also be introducing a second bill to allow domestic violence agencies greater flexibility in how they allocate their funds.
“This is a bipartisan issue that Californians care about,” said Beverly Upton, Executive Director of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium and Partners Ending Domestic Abuse. “We must bring these dollars back to the domestic violence shelters and those who work in the trenches everyday to keep California safe.”
The Domestic Violence Program funds allow local agencies to provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, and legal advocacy, as well as assistance with restraining orders, counseling and other vital support services. Domestic violence shelters are often the only thing standing between victims and grave physical danger, and California’s communities cannot sustain their loss.
According to a national census of domestic violence services, in just one day, over 7,700 requests for services went unmet due to a lack of resources. When the resources do not exist for victims to receive domestic violence services, they are often left with no choice but to risk their own lives by returning to their abusers.
* * *
If you are a victim of domestic violence or if you want to report an incident of domestic violence, call the 24-hour-a-day toll-free National Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), 1-800-787-3224 (TDD) or the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence at 1-800-524-4765.
Last week, I was joined by domestic violence prevention leaders to announce legislation to help save domestic violence programs and shelters statewide.
You might recall two weeks ago, funding for these programs were completely eliminated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in a line-item budget veto of the Department of Public Health’s Domestic Violence Program, which was scheduled to provide $16.3 million (a 20 percent cut from last year) to 94 domestic violence shelters and centers throughout California.
It is absolutely vital that we keep domestic violence shelters open. In last month’s budget vote, I voted against cuts to the domestic violence program. The Governor’s veto increases health care, law enforcement and other costs to the state, but more critically, it puts victims of domestic violence and their children in grave danger.
Tara Shabazz, Executive Director of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (CPEDV) is appalled to see the Governor eliminate funding to vital programs that saves lives. “The Governor is balancing the budget on the backs of our state’s most vulnerable citizens. Funding must be restored by any means necessary; together with Senator Yee, CPEDV has found a potential solution to these disastrous cuts,” she said at a press conference.
My legislation, which is supported by statewide and local domestic violence prevention agencies, will allocate $16.3 million from the victims’ compensation fund (which has a current balance of $136.2 million) to the Domestic Violence Program. I will also be introducing a second bill to allow domestic violence agencies greater flexibility in how they allocate their funds.
“This is a bipartisan issue that Californians care about,” said Beverly Upton, Executive Director of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium and Partners Ending Domestic Abuse. “We must bring these dollars back to the domestic violence shelters and those who work in the trenches everyday to keep California safe.”
The Domestic Violence Program funds allow local agencies to provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, and legal advocacy, as well as assistance with restraining orders, counseling and other vital support services. Domestic violence shelters are often the only thing standing between victims and grave physical danger, and California’s communities cannot sustain their loss.
According to a national census of domestic violence services, in just one day, over 7,700 requests for services went unmet due to a lack of resources. When the resources do not exist for victims to receive domestic violence services, they are often left with no choice but to risk their own lives by returning to their abusers.
* * *
If you are a victim of domestic violence or if you want to report an incident of domestic violence, call the 24-hour-a-day toll-free National Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), 1-800-787-3224 (TDD) or the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence at 1-800-524-4765.
No comments:
Post a Comment