Feb 12, 2008 By Jennifer Harr 2 min read

Gov. Edward Rendell presented a budget that has no additional funding for domestic violence services, a move that has concerned local and state domestic violence organizations. Jacquie Albert, executive director of Fayette County Domestic Violence Services, said the funding plan would make it increasingly difficult to take care of not only clients, but also and staff.

“People are constantly looking for better opportunities,” Albert said.

“The ones who stay are the ones who really have a commitment to helping domestic violence victims. People shouldn’t have to suffer because of that commitment.”

She said that the agency has to depend on fund raising to keep afloat.

“We’re certainly going to do everything we can to lobby against (Rendell’s budget) being passed the way it is,” she said.

Rendell’s tentative budget also does provide for a cost-of-living allowance.

On Monday, President Bush’s budget request for the 2009 fiscal year proposed a $120 million cut to funding to domestic violence services under the Violence Against Women Act.

The budget also proposed cuts to the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA).

Judy Yupcavage, director of communications Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV), said both funding sources “provide life-saving services in the commonwealth.”

“The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence is deeply dismayed by the government’s failure to prioritize – at both the federal and state levels – the safety and well-being of domestic violence victims and their children,” said Susan Kelly-Dreiss, the coalition’s executive director.

Kelly-Dreiss said that state’s 61 domestic violence programs are “scrambling to keep their doors open and services accessible.”

“The proposed cuts by the president and the freeze by the governor will make for a bleak year ahead for these programs and the victims who turn to them in times of crisis. Inadequate funding means lost opportunities to offer safety and protection and lost opportunities to reduce injury and prevent homicides,” Kelly-Dreiss added.

Kelly-Dreiss said that the coalition and its statewide network of programs will look to Congress and the Pennsylvania Legislature to ensure that adequate funding for domestic violence services is prioritized and appropriated in their final budget documents.

“Without the support of our elected leaders, there’s only so long we can keep extending the lifeline to safety before it snaps,” Kelly-Dreiss said.