Ohio lawmakers added a record-breaking $30 million for crisis rape centers in the state budget for 2024 and 2025, which was officially enacted on Wednesday.
A new Minnesota law has gone into effect this week involving a program that keeps address information confidential for victims of domestic abuse. Minnesota s Safe at Home initiative assigns participants a post office box to use as their legal address, to help as they escape an abusive situation or a stalker. It also details how state and local agencies have to respond to data requests without disclosing the person s location. .
New work is being done in Ohio to help free people who are caught in the complex web of domestic violence, addiction and mental health. Cheryl Stahl, who is heading the Ohio Domestic Violence Network s new Substance Use Mental Health Project, said most survivors who seek services are facing multiple traumas and concerns. "You re working with women who - say, from childhood - have had sexual-abuse experiences and then date people who are abusive," she said "Those people perhaps are using drugs. " .
Non-profits assisting North Dakota crime victims are trying to maintain services they ve been building in recent years. As demand reaches pre-pandemic levels, leaders hope to avoid clients falling off their radar. Legal Services of North Dakota is in its third year of using a state grant through the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). .
Ohioans who work, day in and day out, with some of the most vulnerable populations are struggling with major burnout, according to new data. Program directors and staff in the Ohio Victim Services Compensation 2022 survey reported they don t earn what they see as a living wage, and 45% of staff said their salaries don t cover their basic needs. Rosa Beltre, president and chief executive of the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence, explained that these workers are first responders for survivors of violence and sexual assault. .