HOUSTON – On Thursday, the KPRC 2 team is helping victims of abuse with several different stories. Tune in at 6 a.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Federal funding allocated to aid survivors of abuse is at risk of being slashed by more than 30%.
Congress has proposed a 37% (about $700 million) cut to the Victims of Crimes Act, which funds domestic violence groups across the country, including several organizations in the Houston area.
Family Ties, located in northwest Harris County, is a children’s and family crisis center that is known throughout the state for helping families in need.
“Family Ties were established because we saw a need for service, especially young people. A lot of times in victimization, adults are the primary victims and kids are kind of sometimes really overlooked,” said Heather Stautmeristerm, Executive Director for Family Times, Family Resource Service.
The organization, which provides counseling, crisis intervention, and advocacy to victims in the Austin, Waller County and Northwest Harris County areas, says since the COVID-19 pandemic, several federally funded organizations have seen pay cuts that are hindering them from helping victims.
“When individuals commit crimes, they pay fines, and those fines funnel into a victim fund at the federal level. During COVID, nothing was prosecuted for two, almost three years, in some cases. Because of that, money quit funneling into that fund. Now, COVID is catching up with us,” Stautmeristerm said. “The biggest issue is that this isn’t even about our program, only that it’s about every program, and the vital needs of the programs victims are losing. I think that’s the most important piece of all of this, that there’s only so much that you can do. And our clients are losing.”
She added that Family Ties has lost nearly $600,000 this year in funding, which is a third of their budget.
“It is very difficult for me. Our transitional housing program, we recently had an individual come in for our services through another one of our programs and had been identified as being a victim of domestic violence and we couldn’t even offer her the transitional housing, that she needed. She had three littles under the age of, I believe, three,” Stautmeristerm said.
For a Houston-area mother and survivor of domestic violence, the transitional housing program provided by Family Ties played a crucial role in her journey to safety.
“I think that that’s the most important program that they have out there,” she said. “I think that it is the most helpful thing for victims to be able to make that safe transition, and without it, you know, it made me really sad for people who are currently going through situations and need help.”
The mother said Family Ties was “critical” to her success, noting that going through the Harris County justice system for help was a “nightmare.”
“It was extremely critical. It allowed me to relocate from the scene of the crime, otherwise I might still be living there,” said the woman, who did not want to reveal her identity due to safety concerns. “And it allowed me the space to advance in my life. If I hadn’t been referred directly to family ties I was feeling very alone, I’m like there wasn’t any help out there.”
This survivor also highlighted the challenges victims face due to negative stigmas surrounding domestic violence.
“In my situation, the person that I met is not who I ended up being in a relationship with. A lot of time abuses completely mask who they are to gain your trust,” she said.
Despite the challenges, the woman says with the help of Family Ties, she was able to provide a better life for her children.
“I think that you can consider mine a success story. I am a business owner. I recently purchased a house. I’ve been able to give my kids a good life. They’re severely traumatized from what they went through. But they have had the experience of what normal is,” she said.
While organizations like Family Ties strive to navigate through budget cuts, the primary concern is the delayed support victims experience.
“I think it feels to a victim that we don’t care, which is not true,” she said. “The hardest part about that is knowing that the whole reason this agency was established was to stop that. We put ourselves out to the community and said, ‘We’re here.’ And now we’re in a place where we are saying, ‘We’re here but we’re not here for you right now.’”