Alaska adds millions to address domestic violence and sexual assault; advocates say more is needed

The Alaska Legislature recently increased state funding for domestic violence and sexual assault efforts, but a leading advocate says the effort doesn’t go far enough to meet the need.

One of the main federal funding sources for Alaska’ domestic violence and sexual assault prevention efforts and programs has dropped over the years, creating a hole in service providers’ budgets as state funding has remained the same for seven years.

Lawmakers plugged that hole with a $3.7 million budget boost for the state’s Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, the body that distributes state grants to local agencies, this year. Previously, CDVSA filled the gap with one-time funding and COVID relief dollars, said MaryBeth Gagnon, the council’s director.

The increase is intended to stabilize the nonprofits that run victim’s services and prevention programs throughout the state. It is the first increase to CDVSA’s state funding since 2017, but some program managers say it doesn’t go far enough to keep one of the state’s most vulnerable populations safe.

Brenda Stanfill, director of the state’s network of service providers, the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, told the council that the nonprofits that administer the state’s response need a $20 million investment to make inroads on addressing and preventing domestic and sexual violence.

“It is the only part of the criminal justice system not fully funded by the State of Alaska or a local community government. They are still expected to host galas and do bake sales,” she said.

“This is concerning, with the high rates of domestic and sexual violence in our state, and distracts from the core mission of these agencies, which is to provide safety and support for victims of crime.”

Stanfill said the state needs to invest in its core programs and prevention efforts to reduce the growing need for services. She said funding has not kept pace with inflation and wage increases — and the result is affecting what shelters can provide.

“They are having to reduce services. Some have had to limit how many people they can help come into shelter at a time. Some have had to cut their outreach services,” she said.

Stanfill said she appreciates the recent budget increase, which means programs are less likely to have to cut services in the future, and points to data to show that increases to funding for treatment and prevention are good investments for the state.

The rate of domestic violence in Alaska fell between 2010 and 2015, and Stanfill credits former Gov. Sean Parnell’s Choose Respect campaign and his investment in domestic violence prevention programs for the drop.

But since then, as investment has waned, the rate of domestic violence and sexual assault has crept back up, according to the the Alaska Victimization Survey, a comprehensive statewide survey conducted by the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Justice Center, which measures domestic and sexual violence.

$20 million

Twenty million dollars is a lot of money. It would roughly double the amount of money the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault works with.

CDVSA distributes money that comes from multiple state departments, so to get the funding increase Stanfill said the state needs, several commissioners would have to advocate for funding increases, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy would have to agree.

Stanfill said most of her proposed increase — nearly $14 million — is necessary to maintain agencies operating at the necessary level by adjusting for inflation and offsetting funds that will expire or be lost next year. Of that, $4 million would be to offset the end of a federal appropriation secured this year by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. Roughly $3.5 million would adjust for inflation for current programs and it would take another $1.25 million to make up for continued decreases in federal funds. Just under $2 million would bolster child advocacy centers as the Department of Justice ceases funding them, and another $3.3 million to adjust their cost for inflation.

More than $6 million would go towards prevention and rehabilitation. Stanfill hopes the Department of Health will put $4.25 million towards prevention efforts. “Batterer intervention” programs need $2 million, she said, and suggested it come from the Department of Corrections. Batterer interventions are programs aimed at teaching nonviolent alternatives to people who have used violence.

CDVSA is a part of the Department of Public Safety. Commissioner James Cockrell has been an outspoken supporter of related issues, including increasing law enforcement presence in rural areas of the state, adding law enforcement positions to address the state’s crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and taking action to hire and retain enough staff to address human trafficking. Department spokesperson Austin McDaniel said DPS is working with the governor’s office to come up with a budget, but said the funding decision ultimately comes from the administration.

“Providing resources to the groups and programs that care for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault remains a top priority for Commissioner Cockrell and the Department of Public Safety,” McDaniel wrote in an emailed response to questions.

He did not say if the department plans to seek more money for CDVSA, but said the public will find out how much of the DPS budget will go to CDVSA when the governor’s office announces its proposed budget in December.

Stanfill said that from the law enforcement perspective, the cost of addressing domestic violence is very high. And she said that survivor services are a large, unsung part of the state’s response to violence and crime that should be considered alongside village public safety officers and state troopers.

“We have looked at supporting troopers and police departments; we looked at the support for VPSOs and making sure their wages were increased. But oftentimes we forget that survivor services is a core part of our first response,” she said. “We really want to elevate attention and talk about this issue, because oftentimes the victim of the crime gets forgotten in the process of it all.”

Stanfill admits that a $20 million boost is a lot more than ANDVSA has asked for in the past. And she said the results of the increase would take time to measure, just as the results of the Choose Respect campaign are most visible more than a decade later.

But she didn’t apologize for asking state commissioners to reach a big goal:

“I think I probably caught all of them a little bit off guard. But I do want us to think big. I do want us to think about, how do we end this in Alaska?”