Shalom Bayit does not operate a domestic violence shelter.
But all of the shelters to which they refer Jewish women are at risk of reducing their services or closing entirely.
This month, in an effort to reduce spending and balance the budget, Gov. Schwarzenegger eliminated the $16.3 million initiative that funds domestic violence shelters statewide. In total, 94 organizations receive funding, and for some, the state money is more than half of their budget.
"When one shelter suffers, they all suffer," said Naomi Tucker, executive director of Shalom Bayit, a nonprofit that provides counseling, advocacy and education to battered Jewish women.
The elminiation of the state funding "will mean a much bigger strain on Shalom Bayit because we'll have fewer places to refer people to the services we don't provide," Tucker added. "Some battered women will have nowhere to go."
Certainly, Shalom Bayit and domestic violence shelters are not the only victims of California's tremendous budget cuts. Billions of dollars have been slashed from health and human services, education, environment, transportation, etc. Many will suffer: K-12 and higher education institutions, state parks, people who rely on mental health services and who need in-home health care to survive, and so many others.
But the elimination of funding for domestic violence shelters is particularly perilous. Studies indicate that if women cannot access a shelter, they are more likely to remain in their homes, continuing to suffer in the cycle of violence.
The domestic violence prevention network is putting some heavy pressure on the State Assembly to push through an emergency bill that would restore $16.3 million for the program.
If those efforts fail, it could be a horrible situation for women across the state — and Jewish women relying on Shalom Bayit — who risk serious injury or death if they don't have a way to quickly and safely escape their abuser.
Tucker told me the domestic violence prevention community "has never seen cuts of this magnitude," she said.
In Sacramento, Kendra Harris, the policy director for hte California Partnership to End Domestic Violence said, "The whole domestic violence movement is being taken back decades by this elimination" of funds.
It's not just shelters that will feel the pain of their vanished funding. Those shelters often use the state money to contract with other nonprofits — health, counseling and legal agencies — to help battered women access the services they need to stay safe. If the shelters can't pay for those services, both the abused women and the nonprofits who rely on those funds will suffer.
"The Jewish community should absolutely be concerned. Abuse is not exclusive, it's pervasive, and crosses all religious groups," said Rosalyn Swig, a Jewish philanthropist who started the S.F.-based Partners Ending Domestic Abuse in 1992. She's still intimately involved with the organization and has been talking to her Sacramento contacts to push for the funding to be restored.
Agencies such as Shalom Bayit and Partners Ending Domestic Abuse don't receive state funds, so they're not encountering layoffs. But the community is tight-knit, and they've watched as already a number of shelters have had to lay off staff or prepare to close their facility.
"We are talking about life and death matters," Tucker said. "We can't put these women on a waiting list. They need immediate protection so they're not on the streets and stalked by their abuser."
thanks for the important information stacey palevsky
how outrageous that services for women and children in crisis can be left like this. in oakland they say that 2 out of 3 teen relationships involves violence, and youth i work with have agreed with those numbers. those teens are part of families who are also in crisis, and the epidemic is obvious. how can we ignore our own community members in such pain? as with most service initiatives, $16.3 million was established over many years of advocacy and funding efforts. this decision to cut off women and children from support is an immense setback and a regression. i hope this article will garner support for the tucker / swig dynamos in their champion endeavors.
It is the government’s duty to protect citizens and to ensure their well-being. Schwarzenegger is not doing this. The funding priority for battered women’s shelters(BWS) should be the same as for prisons,because human life is at risk. Prisons keep the criminals in, and BWS’s keep the good people in, and the criminals out. The Governor’s illegal veto, budget cuts, with the backing of big oil(Chevron Corp. of San Ramon), are very dangerous for women and children, who are victims of domestic violence and it is sub-human. During a recession, with its higher enemployment, government funding for BWS’s should be increased, not eliminated. Obviously, this budget picks-on the most vulnerable and it endangers children. If a battered wife is murdered in front of a closed-down BWS,then, Schwarzenegger and his oil industry tyrants should be charged with first-degree murder.
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Shalom Bayit does not operate a domestic violence shelter.
08/13/2009 at 11:11 PM
how outrageous that services for women and children in crisis can be left like this. in oakland they say that 2 out of 3 teen relationships involves violence, and youth i work with have agreed with those numbers. those teens are part of families who are also in crisis, and the epidemic is obvious. how can we ignore our own community members in such pain? as with most service initiatives, $16.3 million was established over many years of advocacy and funding efforts. this decision to cut off women and children from support is an immense setback and a regression. i hope this article will garner support for the tucker / swig dynamos in their champion endeavors.
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