NORWICH – Catholic Charities of Chenango County has announced it will close its Crime Victims Program by the end of the month, pointing to a cessation of federal and state funds that make it impossible to keep up with costs.
Due to statewide changes in the funding formula, Catholic Charities of Chenango County saw a $160,000 reduction in its annual contract with the New York State Office of Victim Services (OVS) in 2015 – money that was used primarily to hire staff for the Crime Victims Program. Additionally, since funding from the state Department of Health is contingent on appropriate levels of staffing, Catholic Charities fronted another $40,000 cut from DOH.
All this means dramatic overhead costs for Catholic Charities that are forcing the organization to run the Crime Victims Program in the red, explained Catholic Charities Executive Director Robin Beckwith.
The loss of funding from OVS creates a chain reaction of sorts. A loss of funds means a reduction of staff, and a reduction of staff means Catholic Charities is no longer eligible for assistance from a number of other funding sources. And it simply can't run the program on its own, Beckwith said.
Catholic Charities saw a $30,000 deficit reflected in its first quarter statement of revenues and expenditures. If it were to continue the Crime Victims Program, that loss is projected to increase to approximately $100,000 by the end of the year.
“We are looking at a huge deficit in the Crime Victims Program. We can't continue to run the program at those kinds of losses,” said Beckwith. “This program is difficult because it is funded by so many different agencies. So when we lose this amount of dollars, it's very difficult to piece it back together. We were hoping for other grants to come along that would help us deal with the loss, but there just aren't any available.”
“What we're struggling with more than anything is that deficit is created by meeting the obligations of all the other contracts that we can no longer meet,” said Jeff Chesebro, Operations Director at Catholic Charities. “We have to meet a level of staffing that we don't have the funding to support in order to maintain other commitments … The minimal staffing requirement to operate a licensed safe dwelling is a three-to-one ratio on a 9-bed facility, so we need to maintain three staff. That level of staffing comes to us with a $30,000 per quarter loss.”
Under state law, individual counties are required to assist victims of domestic violence with both residential and non-residential domestic violence services. In Chenango County, the Department of Social Services has contracted that obligation to Catholic Charities which has provided 24-hour a day services to women and children through its Crime Victims Program for more than 30 years. The program's mission: to provide a safe haven for the most vulnerable, support to move victims from harm to healing, and intervention in the cycle of violence to promote an individual's right to live without abuse.
Catholic Charities is currently exploring options for the future of the domestic violence safe dwelling. The safe dwelling is a refuge for individuals seeking safety and shelter in an undisclosed location and was formally matched with staffing dollars through OVS.
