Costs and demand challenge efforts to combat domestic violence

Despite being a state with a high rate of domestic violence and sexual assault, there are disproportionately few services for victims in Alaska. Mat-Su based Alaska Family Services has been doing its part to provide those services for more than 40 years.

With its 32-bed emergency shelter for women and children, the nonprofit organization has always sought to provide a safe environment free from violence, said Desiré Shepler, executive director of Alaska Family Services.

“A shelter is a meaningful intervention in breaking the cycle of domestic violence and sexual assault,” she said. “We want to optimize that. We want to be sure survivors get the best care while they are here.”

There is no shortage of demand for those services. Shepler said the shelter has been operating more frequently at or near capacity.

Trying to keep up with that demand during recent years, with increased costs and seven years of flat-funded budgets, has led to staff reduction and decreased capacity to provide needed services.

A $2.4 million grant in December from the Mat-Su Health Foundation is helping to change that. The outlay funds a four-year project designed to enable adequate staffing and the hiring of more experienced, professional-level clinicians.

The goal is better outcomes for shelter clients after they leave the shelter.

“Our staffing structure will ensure safety and service quality to better support survivors,” Shepler said. “We want to reduce the number of incidents that result in a need for services, and increase the numbers discharged to successful independent living.” Based on its belief that cost should not be a barrier to services, AFS does not charge for providing them. The organization relies heavily on grant funding and the support of the community to do the work.

“There is no way for us to provide these services without the grant,” Shepler said. “Given the rates of domestic violence and sexual assault in our community, we all know someone who needs a safe place to be. So this benefits everyone.”

The nonprofit Mat-Su Health Foundation has been making investments like this in community health and wellness since 2007, when it became part owner of the new Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. Since that time, the Health Foundation has invested more than $160 million of its share of hospital profits in the community through scholarships, sponsorships, and grants to other nonprofit organizations around the Valley, like Alaska Family Services.

Among the new positions funded by the recent grant are two clinicians who will help AFS better tailor services for children and their families. Assisting survivors in working through their trauma is the first step in breaking the cycle and preventing future incidents.

“We are so grateful to the Mat-Su Health Foundation,” Shepler said. “People lose sight of how dangerous domestic violence is in Alaska. Our lethality rate is high, so this is a matter of saving lives.”

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http://akafs.org