This kind of funding is important during a time of increased need, said Artemis Center Executive Director Jane Keiffer.
Artemis Center operates Montgomery County’s domestic violence hotline and assists survivors with legal and court processes, children and family therapy and other support services. Office of Criminal Justice funding will support this work.
“This will help us continue serving survivors as they call (and) come through the door,” Keiffer said.
The start of the pandemic saw many people who were experiencing intimate partner violence while they were constantly at home with their abusers, unable to call for help.
Once the order was lifted, the silence was broken, Keiffer said.
In 2022, Dayton’s domestic violence resource center served more than 4,500 survivors and their children.
Some reverberations of the pandemic continue to create obstacles for people who fear for their own safety.
“The economy hasn’t jumped back to where we want it. And so it’s also kept people in difficult situations that they’re unable to leave or unable to make different plans for their safety,” Keiffer said.
According to the Ohio Domestic Violence Network’s 2022 report, the state saw more than 100 domestic violence fatalities last year, including the deaths of 22 youth. This is the highest number of youth fatalities since the coalition began its annual count several years ago.
Representatives of the Family Violence Prevention Center in Greene County did not return a request for comment.
More than $3 million in funding for 24 counties was announced by the Office of Criminal Justice Services a few weeks before the start of Domestic Violence Awareness month, recognized nationally every October.
This federal grant funding was administered through the American Rescue Plan Act, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act and other programs.
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