Domestic violence shelters strained by demand

A spike in the number of women seeking to escape abusive relationships and a dearth of shelter space so overwhelmed a local domestic violence group that more than 8 in 10 women who sought help last year were turned away because there was no room.

From July 2006 to June 2007, Voices Against Violence Director Mary Gianakis said, 358 women came to the program asking for shelter. Of those, 296, or more than 82 percent, were turned away.

``It's huge,'' Gianakis said, of the lack of shelter space. ``The problem is huge.''

After years of level funding and budget cuts, Gianakis said, domestic violence programs across the state in the last year have been overwhelmed with requests for help. Most simply can't meet the demand.

``I can say pretty confidently that we ... have not seen any real increase in the amount of money coming from the state in the last, say, five, six, seven, eight years,'' she said.

While domestic violence programs scraped by in recent years, others, like batterer-intervention programs, saw their budgets slashed.

``The number of programs in the state has declined,'' she said. ``When those things decline, we see violence increase, and when violence increases, people seek more services.''

With many programs unable to meet the demand, Gianakis said, many victims are forced to look outside the state for help, often traveling to New Hampshire or Rhode Island to find shelter space.

Gianakis isn't the only one struggling to provide services for those asking for help.

``Turning away folks is something that's very hard, but happens every day,'' said Laura Van Zandt, executive director of REACH Domestic Violence Inc. in Waltham.

``Our experience has been that over the course of a year, the numbers are in the hundreds that we have to tell them there's no space,'' she said.

``Sometimes we're able to find room somewhere else in the state or they're able to find a different situation. But many times they're forced to return to a situation, or stay in a situation where they feel unsafe.''

Though the program hopes soon to expand its shelter from four beds to eight, Van Zandt admits they'll only make a small dent in the problem.

``What we need is a really robust, complete set of services for survivors, and we don't have that right now,'' Gianakis said.

Part of the difficulty, she said, comes from the way programs like Voices Against Violence are funded.

Though the bulk of the agency's funding comes in the form of a state contract, the contract's 10-year lifespan means making year-to-year changes in funding is almost impossible.

``Because the bid is so long, there's a lack of flexibility there,'' she said. ``We have a certain amount of money in our shelter contract, and that's what it is, and if we want more, we've got to go someplace else, and that means private money.''

Gianakis and others, though, may this year finally get the support they say they need from the state.

``For the last two years we have had increased funding to support domestic violence programs,'' said Marilyn Anderson Chase, the assistant secretary for children, youth and families in the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. ``That's allowed us to put more money on the street.''

In recent months, Anderson Chase said, the state has expanded the number of housing vouchers available for women in shelters, and is working on ways to connect those women with affordable housing.

The state this year also plans to create 36 community crisis teams to identify and work with families at risk for domestic violence, with the aim of keeping families together, she said.

``In some ways, I think, we were felling (the problem) was already a bit out of control,'' Anderson Chase said, of the increase in women seeking assistance. ``When we understood the number of families seeking shelter ... was increasing, that was alarming.''

Peter Reuell can be reached at 508-626-4428, or at preuell@cnc.com.

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