Minnesota and Wisconsin domestic violence shelters brace for cuts

Melissa Drenckhahn recently set up foam headstones in Wabasha, Minn., to commemorate 24 Minnesotans killed in domestic violence last year. She worries that more crises will end in tragedy as short-staffed nonprofits are forced to turn away people in need.

"With any shelter that closes, you start wondering how many people are going to die because of that," said Drenckhahn, outreach manager for Red Wing-based Hope Coalition. "Right now, we're barely keeping up the demand for services."

Across Minnesota and Wisconsin, domestic violence programs that serve a growing number of people are in need of help themselves — grappling with staffing shortages, program cuts or even closures because of flat or reduced government funding and rising costs.

A Hastings nonprofit will close a 21-bed shelter in November and eliminate three jobs. In southern Minnesota, crisis centers can't afford to fill open jobs, while others are trimming costs by shortening hotel stays for victims.

Guadalupe Lopez, executive director of Violence Free Minnesota, said she's concerned the Hastings closure is the start of widespread reductions to domestic violence programs because of stagnant state aid and waning federal funding. As a result, she said, law enforcement and other social services will be strained to fill the void.

"What will happen if advocacy programs cease to exist?" she asked. "This is a public health issue."

The largest funding source for crime victim services locally and nationally is the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Fund, created from fees and fines off federal court cases. The fund has plummeted in the past few years because fewer cases have been prosecuted.

As a result, states across the country expect a 40% drop in VOCA funding next year. More than 70 Minnesota and Wisconsin organizations signed onto a letter in September urging congressional leaders to avoid "catastrophic cuts" that could leave millions of victims without lifesaving services.

In Wisconsin, many agencies that get VOCA grants won't be funded next year if the state's VOCA funding drops, as proposed, from $23.6 million this year to $13.9 million, according to the state Justice Department. Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers proposed raising spending this year on domestic violence services, but the Republican-controlled Legislature rejected the provisions and kept funding flat, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Minnesota's VOCA funding this year dropped by $11 million. But the DFL-controlled Legislature approved $11 million in additional state funding this year and next to bridge the gap, along with $6 million in state grants — the first increase in funding to crime victim services in nine years.

The Office of Justice Programs at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which administers the grants, said it's preparing for possible additional cuts next year in VOCA funding.

"The needs of victims and survivors is always our No. 1 priority and we know how important it is that organizations that fund those services to crime victims have the resources they need," Kate Weeks, the office's executive director, said in a statement.

The funding shortfalls come as domestic violence is rising. In Minnesota, a statewide crisis line is on pace this year to respond to a record 37,000 calls. So far this year, 24 people have died as a result of domestic violence, according to Violence Free Minnesota — the same number of deaths as in all of 2022.

Violence Free Minnesota and five other coalitions asked legislators this year to step up annual funding for crime victim services by $25 million. Lawmakers approved $17 million, which doesn't keep pace with rising costs, Lopez said.

"Every time we ask [for more money], it's always pushed aside for other things," she said.

In Minnesota's southwest corner, Southwest Crisis Center's state funding dropped 20% this year. The organization, which has offices in Worthington and four other cities, has 14 employees and isn't filling two positions despite higher demand for services across the six rural counties it serves.

"It's a struggle to access services out here anyway," said Sara Wahl, who leads the center. "When [funding cuts] happen, the people who really suffer are the people who need services."

Across the state, Bluff Country Family Resources in Hokah has reduced the length of hotel stays it covers for victims fleeing violence, executive director Sara Gilman said. If there are more VOCA cuts next year, the southeastern Minnesota agency, which has only three employees, will have to cut staffing and programs, which have helped more than 250 victims this year.

"Where do they go, especially in a rural county like ours?" Gilman asked. "Domestic violence is here. It is way more common than folks think."

Family & Children's Center, one of the largest social services organizations in southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, is ramping up fundraising in hopes it can make up for a loss of $96,000 in government aid for several child advocacy programs and child abuse prevention services.

"We are not going to limit or cut these programs because they're so important," said Ellen Hongerholt, advancement director at the center, which has offices in Winona and La Crosse, Wis.

As with many nonprofits, violence prevention programs have been plagued with rising burnout and staffing shortages. In Red Wing, Hope Coalition had to close its 24-bed domestic violence shelter temporarily this year because of the lack of staffing.

Because of flat public funding, Hope Coalition, which operates in three counties in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, can't afford to hire more employees, which means turning away more people in need, Drenckhahn said.

"With the amount of folks needing help, there's simply not enough money to go around," she said. "Everybody is stretched pretty thin right now."

In Burnsville, 360 Communities had a $500,000 shortfall because of rising costs and mostly flat state funding, forcing the difficult decision to close its Hastings shelter. Residents will be relocated to a second shelter the nonprofit operates in Eagan, or another safe place.

The two shelters have been almost always full, 360 Communities CEO Jeff Mortensen said, so he hopes the state and donors will help pay for a longer-term solution: a new $14.5 million, 50-bed shelter that would replace both shelters by 2026.

"The demand and the need is there and it's growing," he said. "Just because we don't have a shelter [in Hastings], doesn't mean it goes away."

Victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking can call the the Minnesota Day One Crisis Hotline 24/7 at 1-866-223-1111.