With law enforcement sparse, Alaska villages build safety network for domestic violence survivors adn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from adn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Paula A. (Ahles) George, 78, Cresson, passed away peacefully Sunday at UPMC Altoona. She was born in Steubenville, Ohio, daughter of the late Pollard J. and Lue
Federal funding for domestic violence and women’s shelters from the Victims of Crimes Act, or VOCA, has been decreasing in recent years. The Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, or CDVSA, is an organization within the Alaska Department of Public Safety that directs federal funding to victim services programs within the state.
In a letter sent on April 1, CDVSA Executive Director Diane Casto wrote that VOCA funding would decrease by 34.6% from the previous year. This would affect shelters like Tundra Women’s Coalition and Emmonak Women’s Shelter in Fiscal Year 2022, which begins in July.
“Everyone was like ‘what is everybody going to do? What are the shelter programs going to do?’ It was devastating news,” said JoAnn Horn, director of Emmonak Women’s Shelter.