Cindy Lyons, an advocate for the Domestic Abuse Project in Minneapolis, says her job was one of several that were saved by federal stimulus money.
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS -- The government's economic stimulus money isn't just for hard hats, contractors and teachers. It's also keeping battered women's advocates on the job and compensating crime victims for lost wages and uncovered medical costs.
The government is spending $225 million in stimulus money on programs that deal with violence against women, and $100 million more to help victims of crime. This comes amid a general decline in private and state funding for such programs. The money is spread among states, territories, American Indian tribes and nonprofit social service providers.
"This is critical survival money to keep emergency crisis shelters open," said Rita Smith, head of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Domestic violence and other programs have been laying off workers as private donations shrink and states including California and Illinois cut their domestic violence budgets.
Advocates are reporting more violence in crimes -- even as the FBI says the number of violent crimes declined slightly in 2008 for the second year -- and needier victims as support systems fray in the bad economy, said Susan Howley at the National Center for Victims of Crime.
A little over $76,000 in stimulus money helped save the job of Cindy Lyons, an advocate for the Domestic Abuse Project in Minneapolis.
She helps victims get their locks changed, handles paperwork for protective orders against their abusers and sometimes gets them out of town. She befriends more than 300 victims a year with a bubbly manner that belies the seriousness of their problems.
"Hopefully I can stop somebody from going to the hospital," Lyons said. "Maybe they don't have insurance and then there's more money. And you know, maybe the guy's going to go to jail, and he'll get treatment from Domestic Abuse Project. He won't go back to jail."
