‘Get it done': Advocates push Oregon lawmakers to fund services for victims of abuse
Nonprofits that help survivors of sexual assault, and other crimes are urging Oregon lawmakers to maintain state funding for their jobs and the services they provide.
As the Oregon Legislature juggles lower-than-anticipated revenue and the possibility of further reductions from federal funding cuts and decreased tax revenue related to tariffs and economic instability, advocacy workers and abuse survivors rallied at a park next to the Oregon Capitol on Wednesday to urge lawmakers to keep funding services for children and adult victims.
Anything short of current funding would result in fewer staff members, fewer shelter beds, longer wait times and less support for survivors facing a crisis, Melissa Erlbaum, the executive director of Clackamas Women's Services, told the crowd.
'The private sector can't make up the gap,' said Allison Kelly, the CEO of Liberty House, a children's advocacy group based in Marion and Polk counties.
The Oregon Department of Justice receives state and federal funding to facilitate grants to nonprofits to help survivors find safety, shelter, clothing and other resources needed in an emergency situation. This funding also goes toward hiring advocates at Oregon's colleges and universities who help students experiencing abuse, stalking or other crimes.
'It funds our jobs and it funds the people we help whether it's emergency housing or transportation, clothing vouchers, gas vouchers or relocation support,' Zoey Reyes, an advocate working at Haven from Domestic and Sexual Violence based in The Dalles told the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
Advocates want lawmakers to pass two bills and one budget proposal. The latter is the Oregon Department of Justice's Policy Option Package 327, which would provide $22 million to tribal and local programs providing emergency shelter and safety services to abuse victims. This is the funding needed to maintain these services as its current capacity.
Additionally, House Bill 3196 would appropriate $18.5 million from the state's general fund to the Oregon Department of Justice to give grants to the hundreds of Oregon nonprofits helping abuse victims find safety.
These grants are usually federally funded through the Victims of Crime Act, a federal law enacted by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 to provide federal support for direct services to crime victims. However, this federal funding is being reduced by 42%, according to the Oregon Law Center.
The bill would also distribute $3 million from the general fund to the Oregon CASA Network to make up for cuts in federal CASA funds, which abruptly had funding cancelled in April.
Lastly, advocates are urging the passage of House Bill 3070, which would appropriate $400,000 from the state's general fund to the Attorney General's Sexual Assault Task Force, a statewide agency that certifies sexual assault nurse examiners.
Both bills have yet to receive a vote in either chamber.
'It is absolutely important that we recognize that our legislators have a very difficult task of balancing this budget,' said Libra Forde, the executive director of the Women's Foundation of Oregon. 'But you were put there to do that. Get it done.'
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