Cuts in funding threaten court advocates program
Stamford Advocate
By Zach Lowe
Staff Writer
January 12, 2005
STAMFORD -- Christine considers herself the "eyes, ears and voice" for victims of domestic violence unsure how to handle their cases or afraid to appear in court. Like other court advocates, Christine withholds her last name for safety reasons.
Christine is one of three advocates working in state Superior Court in Stamford whose position may disappear in June, when federal and state funding for two of the positions runs out.
About $400,000 of federal funds for court advocates around the state expires at the end of March, and emergency funds provided by the state Judicial Branch will only maintain the positions through June, according to the Domestic Violence Crisis Center of Norwalk and Stamford. The federal funds were from a startup grant.
The crisis center yesterday urged its supporters to ask Gov. M. Jodi Rell to include money for the positions in the 2005-06 state budget.
The domestic violence court in Stamford, which meets every Thursday and hears only domestic violence cases, would be hardest hit.
Its advocates handle the approximately 70 cases that flow through the court each week, said Barbara Heffernan, executive director of the crisis center.
"I don't know if the victims would get the services they really need with just one advocate," Christine said. Prosecutors rely heavily on sentence suggestions from the advocates.
Christine is in constant contact with hundreds of domestic violence victims from Fairfield County. She helps find safe housing for victims who request it, and she outlines possible anger management therapies for offenders. She also explains the differences between various types of restraining orders and protective orders to victims, she said.
"A lot of victims don't know the legal system," Christine said. "And some don't want to appear in court because they feel threatened, so they come to us."
Advocates recommend whatever sentence the victim requests -- even if they disagree with some victims' desire to have cases dropped.
The state has received federal funding for the advocates since 1997 under the Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies program, Heffernan said. The funding helped the state pay for five specialized courts that hear only family violence cases. The system prevents multiple offenders from so-called "judge shopping" or "prosecutor shopping" because the same judges and prosecutors deal with every case.
The domestic violence court in Stamford opened in 2002, Heffernan said. Other domestic violence courts operate in Bridgeport, Hartford, Waterbury and New Haven, she said. Those courts also will lose staff members, including an advocate in Hartford.
Experts at the crisis center say the special courts have produced more consistent prosecution and encouraged more victims to come forward.
The federal funding also pays for employees who supervise the advocates around the state and a Bridgeport program that deals with domestic violence cases in which children are witnesses, according to the crisis center. These positions and the Bridgeport program would be cut if the federal funds are not replaced.
Heffernan said the loss of advocates would reduce the victim's role in trials.
"The major impact of the cuts will be in Stamford," Heffernan said.