Domestic violence organizations will have to cope with a substantial loss in funding.

DeKalb County’s Safe Passage receives a large amount of federal funding from the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA).

Funding for the VAWA has been cut about 20 percent and 20 percent to 25 percent for the VOCA, said Jacqueline Ferguson, associate director of operations for Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV).

Safe Passage could lose as much as $100,000 due to the cuts.

Safe Passage is cutting services and positions, said Pam Wiseman, executive director of Safe Passage.

“It is kind of like a case of abandonment,” Wiseman said. “Communities and families are being neglected and abandoned while this administration pursues other interests.”

Ferguson said the cuts can have severe consequences.

“When we get [funding cuts], we have to turn people away and they die,” Ferguson said.

Safe Passage provides services that prevent crime, homelessness, substance abuse, truancy and a myriad of problems that result from domestic violence, Wiseman said.

“To not provide funding will be a lot more costly in the long run,” Wiseman said.

State Rep. Robert Pritchard is aware of the funding cuts.

“I know things are being cut all over the place,” Pritchard said. “That’s really disheartening.”
The cuts will be announced July 1, at the start of Safe Passage’s fiscal year.

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