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Tuesday, June 9, 2009
News / 24-Hour Blog-o-thon Cuts expected to hurt domestic violence programs
Posted By Cheris Hodges on Tue, Jun 9, 2009 at 3:18 PM
An e-mail from the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence is asking for people call their state representative about cuts that are expected to be made to the programs designed to help protect victims of domestic violence.
The House still has not finalized recommendations for the budget so there is still time to contact House members TODAY! Please ask the House members listed below to restore the cuts that the Senate made to domestic violence funding. Thank you!UPDATE: Your calls and e-mails are working! The House is under pressure to START with the cuts included in the Senate Budget which is a 6.4% cut to the domestic violence grants (as originally included in last year’s budget before cuts). However, they have expressed concerns about cutting our line item because of your calls. We expect a final recommendation from the General Government sub-committee today or tomorrow.
It is not too late to contact the members listed in this e-mail. Please keep up the pressure NOT TO CUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STATE GRANT FUNDING! We need to maintain last year’s funding level (before cuts) as included in Governor Perdue’s budget. Thank you for your help!
NCCADV BUDGET ACTION ALERT
The Senate budget proposes devastating cuts to domestic violence programs by reducing all grants administered by the Council for Women/DV Commission by 6.4% (from the original amount in last year’s budget). At a time when the demand for services is steadily increasing due to the economic downtown, we cannot afford to make these cuts.
The House members are in the process of preparing their budget. We must contact key members of the House and ask them to restore these cuts so that essential services can be provided to domestic violence victims and their children.
Please contact the Chairs of the Appropriations Committee and the members of the General Government sub-committee (list below) and ask them to restore funding to domestic violence programs in the House budget. Let them know how cuts in funding will affect your program.
Talking Points
Approximately 90 local domestic violence programs in the state provide crisis intervention services for all 100 counties, including emergency shelter, crisis counseling, court advocacy and support groups.
At least 576 women, children, and men have been murdered as a result of domestic violence in NC from January 1, 2002 – April 19, 2009, according to information collected by NCCADV.
Attorney General Roy Cooper released a report in March 2009 stating that 131 domestic violence related homicides were committed in calendar year 2008. http://www.ncdoj.com/getdoc/b3b17042-810c-4cf6-9756-f33c6d13b227/2009-DV-Homicide-Report-Final.aspx
In FY 2007, local domestic violence programs served over 41,000 victims and responded to over 101,000 crisis line calls, according to the Council for Women/ Domestic Violence Commission.
The demand for services increases during an economic downturn. As financial stress increases for families, violence in the home often escalates.
Children who witness violence in the home are much more likely to continue the cycle of violence in the next generation.
Nationally, the cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year. Investing in services saves money.
Investing in critical life-saving services is a smart choice for North Carolina because this will not only save lives, but will also save money.
House Appropriations Chairs (click on name for contact information):
Senior Chairman Rep. Michaux
Chairman Rep. M. Alexander
Chairman Rep. Crawford
Chairman Rep. Haire
Chairman Rep. Jeffus
Chairman Rep. Tolson
Chairman Rep. Yongue
General Government Appropriations Committee (click on name for contact information):
Chairman Rep. Fisher
Chairman Rep. Underhill
Vice Chairman Rep. Steen
Vice Chairman Rep. Tucker
Members Rep. Brown , Rep. Cleveland, Rep. E. Floyd, Rep. Mills, Rep. Whilden
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