As domestic violence incidents rise, two DFW agencies are getting $1.7 million
Two Tarrant County agencies that help women who are experiencing domestic violence will get more than $1.7 million from the U.S. Justice Department, as federal and local officials respond to data showing increased instances of intimate partner violence during the coronavirus pandemic.
The funding is part of more than $18 million the Justice Department’s Office of Violence Against Women is giving to organizations across Texas, the state’s four U.S. attorneys announced during a telephone news conference on Friday. SafeHaven of Tarrant County and the Women’s Center of Tarrant County are both receiving $600,000 to go toward providing legal services to victims of domestic violence.
SafeHaven of Tarrant County is additionally receiving $515,000 to support its transitional housing for women fleeing violence as well as its therapy services.
As more Texans have been quarantining at home or working from home, several cities — including Fort Worth and Dallas — have seen a corresponding surge in domestic violence incidents, officials said during the conference. The grants are supporting everything from local healthcare professionals to academic researchers, in cities from Houston to Austin.
Kathryn Jacob, the president and CEO of SafeHaven of Tarrant County, said over the phone on Friday this grant really represents more of a “renewal” of a three-year federal grant they’ve been receiving for several rounds. As the organization has struggled with private donations during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jacob said, it was a relief this funding would come through. It also represents about $55,000 more per year than last time, she said.
The $600,000 grant will help SafeHaven offer its pro-bono legal assistance to survivors of domestic violence, who often face divorce or custody issues, according to Jacob. The other grant, she said, will allow the organization to continue leasing out units, scattered across Tarrant County, to women fleeing intimate violence. It will fund the paychecks of the staff who organize these arrangements.
Women in bad relationships often can stay with their abusers due to their access to housing, Jacob said. Abusers, she said, can exert power by isolating the person from friends, family and outside support — which has been made easier as people spend more time around the home.
Since March, calls to SafeHaven’s emergency line for people fleeing domestic violence have increased by about 30 percent, Jacob said. They have had multiple reports of situations where women were tied up in their homes, or an abuser left a weapon like a knife near a door, she said.
“Abusers are kind of reigning over their own domain, uninterrupted, during this time,” she said. “They’re able to get away with more things because of their partner not having support accessible.”
Laura Hilgart, the president and CEO of the Women’s Center, said in a phone interview that her organization specifically deals with survivors of sexual assault, and this continuing grant from the U.S. Justice Department goes to counseling for these people of all ages. But the agency, too, has seen an increase in reported incidents of violence, with more than 200 people waiting for the counseling service.
“People who have trauma in their histories are really vulnerable during a pandemic, because they are isolated,” she said. “The funding enables us to continue to provide really critical therapy services to sexual assault survivors ... at a time when we are seeing more and more people needing those services.”
Friday’s announcement of grants for agencies like SafeHaven and the Women’s Center, though it may have represented a continuation of regular funding, highlighted the need for services for women who feel trapped in abusive relationships when they’re spending more time at home.
Erin Nealy Cox, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, told the Star-Telegram during the telephone news conference on Friday she’s spoken to several people — from shelters, to police, to community leaders — who have indicated calls to domestic violence hotlines are “way up.” People are worried, she said, about the implications the coronavirus is having on the victims of domestic and family violence.
“We want people to know where to go,” Cox said. “I had a conversation with somebody just last week, she was helping a victim who, at the height of her victimization by her abuser, didn’t have any awareness of certain shelters that were available to her.”
The $515,000 grant to SafeHaven will allow the organization to fund apartments for victims of domestic violence, which are part of “scattered site housing” in which women receive some assistance renting a unit in an area that’s safe, Jacob said. They bought more units the last time they received this federal funding, she said, and with this money they can maintain them. That’s especially important as the agency has been using more units with the need for social distance.
One of the “biggest things that this grant did for us,” Jacob said, is strengthen the partnership with the Women’s Center, and specially its employment program. As a result of the funding, a Women’s Center employee will spend about half of her time recruiting SafeHaven housing clients into the employment program, she said.
“I can’t explain what a breath of fresh air that is,” she said of the continued funding, “in just a really, really difficult year not just for domestic violence services, but really any non-profit.”
SafeHaven’s 24-hour hotline is 1-877-701-7233.
The Women’s Center’s 24-hour rape crisis and victim services hotline is 817-927-2737.
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 4:45 PM.
