Local advocates for victims of domestic violence are bracing for potential federal budget cuts based on the Trump Administration's proposed spending plan for next year.
The preliminary 2018 budget proposal calls for a 4-percent reduction in spending for the Department of Justice, which funds programs under the Violence Against Women Act.
"The elimination or reduction of those services or those funds would be catastrophic,” said Jaime Saunders, executive director at Willow Domestic Violence Center. “We know lives are at risk."
It’s not yet clear what cuts could be made, but Saunders says if the spending blueprint follows the recommendations of the Heritage Foundation Blueprint for Change, some crucial support services could be at stake, including staffing of probation officers and advocates who work at the court system to help victims obtain orders of protection as well as supervised visitation under the Society of Protection and Care of Children.
Saunders says Monroe County agencies get more than $700,000 in funding each year under the Violence Against Women Act.
She says since that bi-partisan legislation was passed in 1994, the rate of intimate partner violence decreased 72 percent for female victims and 64 percent for male victims.
"This is back to the O.J. Simpson time. If you think back to when we actually, for the first time in this country, established federal laws and protections about sexual assault and domestic violence, this has been the backbone of our community ever since."
Advocates are urging those who are concerned about the potential of funding elimination for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Family Violence Protection Services Act (FVPSA) to contact their Congressional representatives.
