Advocacy success for state budget

July 06, 2011

Please contact your legislators and THANK them for their ongoing support for sexual and domestic violence services.  We want them to know that we appreciate their commitment to the needs of survivors, victims, and communities. 

Here are the details on the Conference Committee budget line items for sexual and domestic violence services:

4513-1130 = $5,507,970
For domestic violence and sexual assault prevention and victim services, including batterers' intervention and services for immigrants and refugees; provided, that funds shall be expended for rape prevention and victim services, including the statewide Spanish language hotline; provided further, that funds shall be expended for the public health model of community engagement and intervention services for crisis housing for sexual violence and intimate partner violence in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities; and provided further, that funds may be expended for classroom-based domestic violence prevention education programs administered in item 0340-0900 in fiscal year 2009 

This is not level to FY11 but is still $600,000 higher than the starting point for this year's budget.

4800-1400 = $20,725,062
For shelters and support services for people at risk of domestic violence; provided, that the department shall pursue the establishment of public-private partnership agreements established for family stabilization services funded from sources other than the commonwealth; provided further, that services shall include supervised visitation programs, and scattered site transitional housing programs, including programs to assist victims of domestic violence in finding and maintaining permanent housing; provided further, that participants in battered women's programs shall be provided with information regarding local transitional housing resources; provided further, that funding shall be made available to enhance counseling services for children who have witnessed domestic violence; provided further, that funding shall be made available for emergency shelters for substance abusing battered women; provided further, that funding shall be made available for a statewide domestic violence hotline; provided further, that the department shall continue to provide any match funding required by federal program regulations; provided further, that domestic violence prevention specialists shall be funded from this item

This amount is $630,604 OVER FY11 figures.

4400-1025 =$748,734
For domestic violence specialists at local area offices of the Department of Transitional Assistance.

This funding was in jeopardy but was secured in the final version.

4510-0810 = $3,160,740

For a statewide sexual assault nurse examiner program and pediatric sexual assault nurse examiner program for the care of victims of sexual assault; provided, that funds shall be expended to support Children?s advocacy centers; and provided further, that the program shall operate under specific statewide protocols and by an on-call system of nurse examiners.

This amount is from the Governor and the House versions. The Senate had added about $36,000 to the line item, which was not agreed to in the final Conference budget. It represents a $36,000 decrease to this line.

0840-0101 = $741,199
For the salaries and administration of the SAFEPLAN advocacy program, to be administered by the Massachusetts office of victim assistance; provided, that the office shall submit to the house and senate committees on ways and means, not later than February 1, 2012, a report detailing the effectiveness of contracting for the program including, but not limited to, the number and type of incidents to which the advocates responded, the type of services and service referrals provided by the domestic violence advocates, the cost of providing such services and the extent of coordination with other service providers and state agencies.

This amount is from the Governor and the Senate version. An amendment had passed the House to bring this up to $772,500 from their original amount of $728,000.