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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowFour dozen shelters around the state will receive an additional $1.2 million to provide immediate assistance and short-term support for victims of domestic violence, a roughly 43 percent increase compared with state funding allocated last year.
More money was available though, and the director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute wants to know why those funds also weren’t disbursed to advocates who a month earlier pleaded for help.
An ICJI board recently approved funding for 48 shelters, including five receiving money for the first time. All but two of the 50 shelters requesting additional aid received it, according to ICJI. A list of shelters and funding they received can be viewed here.
“ICJI is moving quickly to ensure the domestic violence shelters receive these additional monies as soon as possible,” said ICJI Executive Director Mary L. Allen.
Programs receiving first-time awards from the Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Fund are:
- Elijah Haven Crisis Intervention Center, LaGrange County, $17,160
- Beacon of Hope Center for Women, Marion County, $8,834
- Center for Victim and Human Rights, Marion County, $36,530
- Heminger House Shelter for Women and Children, Marshall County, $16,915
- Sanctuary of Shelbyville, Shelby County, $15,000
For fiscal year 2014-2015, shelters will receive $3,935,990 from the Domestic Violence Treatment and Prevention Fund, according to data provided by ICJI. More money could have been distributed, but $285,628 was held back, Allen said.
“Victim Services Subcommittee members questioned why funds were not recommended for distribution to domestic violence shelters,” Allen said in a statement. “I’ve written a letter to Laura Berry (DVPT Council chair) and asked her to explain the DVPT Council’s decision to hold back funding from the shelters.”
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