Legislature snubs funding for domestic violence health care service, forcing nonprofit to fundraise

Yahoo

20-03-2025

The Capitol in Salt Lake City is pictured at dusk on the last night of the legislative session, Friday, March 7, 2025. (Photo by Alex Goodlett for Utah News Dispatch)
After its funding request was snubbed by the Legislature this year, the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition will try to fundraise nearly $400,000 so police departments around the state can continue to administer a critical health care service for victims of domestic violence.
Funds were already running thin for the program, which allows police departments to contract with forensic nurses and experts, who then administer strangulation exams for victims of intimate partner violence — advocates say the funding allocated last year is already mostly used up.
Help for people in abusive relationships is available in Utah:
Utah Domestic Violence Coalition: A confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline can be reached at 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
YWCA Women in Jeopardy program: 801-537-8600
Utah child abuse and neglect hotline: [phone]-DCFS (3237)
National Domestic Violence Hotline: [phone]
Now, if the nonprofit Domestic Violence Coalition can't secure the funding, police departments around the state won't have enough money to routinely carry out exams that experts say are critical to identifying and prosecuting the most serious cases of intimate partner violence.
Although it's estimated to cost about $400,000 each year, the coalition originally asked for $260,000 in annual funding, planning to fundraise for the remaining $140,000. Now, the coalition will have to shoulder the entire cost.
It was a relatively small ask, considering the state's roughly $30 billion budget, which included $40 million in ongoing funds for the Utah Fits All Scholarship voucher program, $20 million in one-time funding for the state's first-time home buyer program, and dozens of other programs and allocations that dwarf what the Domestic Violence Coalition was asking for.
'It's a drop in the bucket, in terms of the amount of funding that was allocated this year at the legislative session,' said Max Pierce, community health specialist for the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition. 'But what that drop in the bucket is going towards is this critically important service.'
Victims of intimate partner violence that have been strangled are often at a higher risk of homicide, according to several studies. A 2009 study published in the National Library of Medicine found that non-fatal strangulation was present in 43% of intimate partner homicides, and 45% of attempted intimate partner homicides. Another study showed that being strangled by an intimate partner heightened the chances of homicide by 600%.
But advocates say law enforcement isn't always best equipped to handle these cases, sometimes lacking the resources or funding to conduct a comprehensive strangulation exam. Instead, for the last several years, departments in Utah have contracted with specialized forensic experts who conduct a strangulation exam, while also providing health care to the victim.
State funds could help prosecutors identify the most serious domestic violence cases
The forensic nurses can provide a more comforting, trauma-informed environment for the victim, while looking out for signs of stroke or other complications that come from oxygen loss, said Pierce. Plus, they can act as expert witnesses during a trial, or assist in the prosecution by giving an added layer of credibility to the victim's testimony.
The Legislature allocated $200,000 for the program in 2022, following up with another $200,000 in 2024 — that was supposed to carry the program through this year, but Pierce said it's likely the funds will dry up before the end of March.
Since 2023, funding for the program has resulted in nearly 280 exams. And lawmakers say the state has seen three times the number of perpetrators charged and four times as many successful prosecutions since funding the program.
But now, the coalition will have to solicit donations and grants from different sources, while hoping other state agencies will come to its aid. During funding shortages, Pierce said the coalition has to essentially give each department or agency a budget for how much they can be reimbursed for the exams.
'We're chasing down funding, either through private entities and organizations, or through other state agencies, in order to fund something that is essentially covering the charge for law enforcement,' said Pierce. 'It is a really unfortunate and terrible situation we're in now, where I can't say that we'll be able to cover every single exam.'
If funding runs out, the cost will then fall to each law enforcement agency, whose budgets are already tight, Pierce said. Already, departments around the state tell the coalition that they only conduct the exams in the most serious cases over funding concerns.
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