Women: Trump budget cuts could victimize us again

View Original Detroit Free Press Article

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Organizations that collect evidence for rape kits and offer crisis counseling to victims of domestic and sexual violence are bracing for the possibility of deep funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s federal budget plan.

The leaders of three of Michigan’s largest victim-advocacy organizations — Wayne County SAFE, Turning Point and HAVEN — say they’re scrambling to figure out how they’ll continue to offer the same services if federal grant funds through the Office on Violence Against Women and the Office on Women’s Health end up on the chopping block.

The White House has outlined reductions of $15.1 billion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Office on Women’s Health, and $1.8 billion from the U.S. Department of Justice, which runs the Office on Violence Against Women and its 25 grant programs. But it’s unclear which programs will be eliminated or tightened under Trump’s 2018 “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make American Great Again”, said Wyn Hornbuckle, deputy director of the Office of Public Affairs for the Department of Justice.

What is clear, however, is that losing that federal grant funding would be catastrophic to organizations like Turning Point, said CEO Sue Coats. The domestic violence shelter does forensic medical exams after sexual assaults, collects every rape kit in Macomb County, supports victims, provides court advocates who testify in court on behalf of victims and offers counseling, education and a 24-hour help line.

“It would be extremely devastating to our program, and all the work that Turning Point has done in creating and strengthening a safety net for survivors of domestic and sexual violence,” said Coats. “About 65% of our budget is federal funds.” If this part of the federal budget is slashed, Coats said, “the message is that it’s not a priority anymore. It’s taken many years to make it a priority and to get the momentum that many of us across the state as well as the nation have done to improve our community’s response to people who report these crimes and seek help.”

More than $1 million of Wayne County SAFE’s $1.8-million annual budget — 55% — comes from these vulnerable federal grants, and another 33% from state grants, said Kimberly Hurst, founder and executive director of the program, which counsels and does a forensic exam for every rape victim in Wayne County, collects evidence for every rape kit, and was instrumental in handling the more than 11,300 rape kits that were found in a Detroit warehouse in 2009.

“We’re the busiest program in the state by far. … Any survivor of any kind of sexual violence, whether it’s child abuse, incest, sex trafficking, what have you, we’ll provide services” for all of Wayne County, she said. “Now our challenge is to diversify our funding, especially in light of some of the budget cuts that are being proposed at the federal level, which may directly impact our dollars.

“We’re mobilizing as a community, as a movement, as a state to get it out there about how these budget cuts will affect programs and affect victims of crime,” Hurst said. “We just had all this outrage about unsubmitted (rape) kits and unfunded programs, and you’re telling me you’re going to take money away from all these programs?”

About 600 of those original kits remain untested, said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. “We are raising the funds for that and not only just for the testing, but for the investigation and prosecution; we will be submitting the rest to be tested,” said Worthy, who called Wayne County SAFE vital to the work of processing those kits, notifying and counseling victims as well as testifying on cases as they were prosecuted.

“There is no way we would be where we are with our project without them,” she said. “It would be impossible. It would be a nightmare.”

Amna Osman, president and CEO of HAVEN, said the Pontiac-based organization is a one-stop shop for victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and assault in Oakland County. It provides services to 20,000 people annually through the its 24-hour crisis help line. It also offers a shelter, which houses up to 60 people at a time,  advocacy, legal support, violence prevention and education efforts.

HAVEN stands to lose 38% of its $3.4-million budget if those federal grant dollars disappear, and is strategizing for potential cuts.

“It’s really important that people know domestic violence and sexual assault is happening in our communities,'” Osman said. “It’s impacting 1 in 3 Michigan households. It’s really important that we build awareness of those issues, and support agencies like HAVEN to be able to continue to provide services in a comprehensive way to survivors.

“There’s a lot of trauma, and I think the important thing is having to relive that trauma over and over again has really negative consequences to the individuals. So It’s really important that they’re able to receive those services, whether it’s support in the courtroom, or being able to receive counseling, being able to come to our residential program that are providing safety to them.”

All three agencies provide their services free to survivors. The question is whether that would be able to continue under heavy cuts to the federal budget.

Nicole Navas, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said more details about the president’s budget plan should be coming later this spring. 

Advocates are concerned the Trump administration will use a budget outline from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank from which Paul Winfree, one of Trump’s top economic advisers, rose.The foundation issued a similarly named 2018 budget proposal, the “Blueprint for Balance” plan, which suggests eliminating federal Violence Against Women Act grants.

Until more details are released, Wayne County SAFE, HAVEN and Turning Point are trying to rally support through fund-raisers, and are encouraging people to call lawmakers to make it clear that they support federal funding for the work they do.

“We’re taking part in some national discussions around how can we mobilize as a movement and be educated and understand what does all this really mean, to not panic, but take action,” said Hurst. “Part of what we’re attempting to do, at least in our community, is to reach out to our representatives, to our senators to let them know that this is who we are. … and share our story, share survivors’ stories, and let them know what our community would look like if we weren’t here.

“Really, it’s on them to make decisions that are going to benefit their constituents, their family, their friends, their daughters, their sons. This is not an issue that’s far away for anybody.”

Contact Kristen Jordan Shamus: 313-222-5997 or kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus. 

How to be heard

To express your views, you can reach out to U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow by calling 202-224-4822 or sending her a message through her website: https://www.stabenow.senate.gov/contact. To reach U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, call 202-224-6221 or send him a message through his website: https://www.peters.senate.gov/contact/email-gary. 

To find contact information for your representative in the U.S. House, go to https://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and enter your zip code. 

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How to get help

If you or someone you know is being abused or the victim of sexual assault, there is help: