Gov. Chris Sununu announced Wednesday $600,000 for the state’s 13 crisis centers providing critical emergency services to victims of domestic violence and an additional $2 million in new funding to help vulnerable children.
“These are issues that don’t just disappear just because of a public health emergency, and, if anything, they may actually be exacerbated under these circumstances,” Sununu said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon in Concord.
The $600,000 will help crisis centers buy groceries, personal hygiene products and other necessities for the victims they are serving, including at their shelters, and provide a nest egg for victims who are in need of safe place to stay. The state’s domestic violence shelters are at or near capacity, meaning advocates are in need of funds to be able to cover the cost of hotel stays when victims have no where else to go, Sununu said.
The money will also help ensure that the crisis centers throughout the state can meet the increased need and serve victims of domestic and sexual violence, stalking and sex trafficking.
For many experiencing domestic violence, the state and federal government’s stay-at-home directives have meant victims are now trapped with their abusers, allowing for fewer chances to seek help. During the early days of the pandemic, calls to the 24/7 hotline were down. Advocates said they remain concerned that victims, now isolated indoors, have fewer opportunities to pick up the phone because their abusive partner is always home.
While in-person service availability at crisis centers has changed because of COVID-19, the advocates who answer hotline calls can make referrals, provide information and help connect those in need with support services. The statewide hotline is 1-800-277-5570.
The Crisis Center of Central New Hampshire in Concord served 1,589 victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking in 2019. The center served a total of 1,505 victims in 2018 and 1,025 in 2017.
State statistics show the majority of victims served by the state’s crisis centers experienced domestic violence and most were women.
“This critical relief recognizes the severe impact that the COVID-19 crisis has on survivors of domestic and sexual violence in New Hampshire,” said Amanda Grady Sexton, director of public affairs for the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. “Domestic violence victims are under intense pressure at this time due to stay at home requirements, severe isolation, and the financial impact of this pandemic. Through this potentially life-saving Executive Order, survivors will be safer from violence and abuse.”
Also on Wednesday, Sununu signed an executive order that provides $2 million in aid to support the state’s most vulnerable children. The funding creates new positions for licensed drug and alcohol counselors and will allow family violence prevention specialists who are part-time to become fulltime.
The state is also increasing the scope of its programming for at-risk youth, Sununu said. The Strength to Succeed program – a peer-to-peer effort that provides guidance to children and families – will be expanded. Currently it serves children aged zero to six; it will now extend up to kids ten years old.
“If we have to take more steps we absolutely will,” Sununu said at a press conference Wednesday. “Unfortunately as we see that the number of calls and incidents of reporting dropped out, that there’s definitely a gap, and that’s where the state has to step up and fill that gap and hopefully provide those resources.”
The head of a state watchdog group is urging neighbors, delivery people and others to keep an eye out for abused and neglected children.
Moira O’Neill, director of the Office of the Child Advocate, said home confinement and disrupted routines likely have increased common stresses known to contribute to child abuse, such as economic insecurity and limited access to medical and mental health help.
Referrals to the Division of Children, Youth and Families hotline have been halved in recent weeks with children “out of school and out of sight,” she said.
“Risk of child abuse increases with stress and lack of supports,” O’Neill said. “We need to be checking in with neighbors and making sure children are safe.”
The state’s 24/7 hotline is 1-800-894-5533.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.