The Advance. (Vidalia, Ga.) 2003-current, February 24, 2021, Image 3

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The Advance., February 24, 2021, Image 3

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Newspaper Page Text(Eift Aiiuancg The ADVANCE, February 24,2021 /Page 3A Refuge continued from page 1A and Sexual Assault Center. “Since March 14, 2020, we have navigated our way through while remaining open 24/7 during a pan demic and putting our staff at greater risk of getting the virus.” In October 2020, Con gress cut the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) fund ing that Georgia receives for victims’ service agen cies by 28.7%, Williams said. In 2018, the state received almost $100 mil lion in VOCA funding, but in FY21, less than half that amount—$44 million— had been set aside for vic tims’ services. With the up coming 2021 cut that must be implemented to existing projects in October 2021, the Criminal Justice Co ordinating Council, the agency which funds vic tims’ services, is planning a three-year step-down funding cut to all victims’ services providers. The Refuge, which serves five rural South east Georgia counties for domestic violence and seven rural counties for sexual assault, will receive a $72,548.30 cut in VOCA funds for year one of the step-down. If VOCA funds re main at the $44 million lev el in FY22, CJCC expects an additional 10% cut, which will be $65,358.32 for the local agencies. If this level holds, in FY23, an additional 12% cut is ex pected (for us),” Williams explained. An additional $70,509.05 loss for the two local agencies could be expected in year three. “This would be a three- year loss of $208,415.72 for our agencies,” Williams stressed. That kind of loss would be devastating. “Our pro grams have no way to re coup or replace this loss of VOCA funding. We simply cannot do more with less,” Williams said. It is esti mated that across the state at least 60 victim assistance advocate positions will be cut and programs will turn away over 5,700 new Geor gia residents experiencing domestic violence and/or sexual assault and who are requesting services. In an effort to offset the loss of federal funds, Wil liams and others are asking state legislators to consider an additional state alloca tion of $2,756,354 (FY22 budget) for the 48 state- certified domestic violence and 28 state-certified sex ual assault programs serv ing Georgia’s 159 counties. This amount would sustain the state’s network of agen cies for one year. With a $1,100,000 an nual budget the local agen cies maintain one shelter, one sexual assault center and an outreach office 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Funding comes from fed eral, state and local sources. “Right now, our shelter is in good shape. We have a very giving community. But I know of two shelters in rural areas that I truly believe will have to close their doors. With the three- year step-down, they may not be able to sustain ser vices,” she said of shelters facing budget cuts because of the loss of federal funds. She and others are advocat ing for VOCA funds to be restored. “We are hoping they will see how devastat ing it will be for victims’ programs and will put the money back in the budget.” Williams commended Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vida- lia, Chair of the Senate Ap propriations Committee. “He did put $455,000 for domestic violence and sex ual assault shelters into the amended FY 21 budget, and we appreciate that, but this money has to be spent by June 30.” Also, when divided between all of the shelters across the state, the allocation comes to a little over $5,000 per shelter. Obviously, more is needed, but the state can only do so much. Federal funding is crucial. Shelter advocates across the state are reaching out to leg islators. “Senator Tillery said he does not think the state can do the whole $2.7 million, but can do some thing,” Williams said. In a weekend tele phone interview, Tillery said of what the state will be able to do, “We may be able to hold it off for now, but not for the long term.” He said, historically, alloca tions for domestic violence shelters and sexual assault centers were funded at a 43% level by federal re sources, 29% by the state, and a little over 27% locally, including donations. About 2014, the federal govern ment kicked in $14 million a year, and after that the funding was about $105 million a year dropping to $44 million this year. “The state can supplant some of that, but we let the centers know that we are not going to be able to make up the difference over time. We will have to drop back state funding 10% a year over the next three years.” On February 15, the governor signed an amended budget allocat ing $455,000 for the cen ters as a sort of stop gap, emergency measure, but whether the state can af ford to budget the request ed $2.7 million is still up in the air. “We aren’t sure yet,” Tillery said. He added that the issue would be taken up as the House Appro priations Subcommittee on Public Safety meets. In the meantime, Tillery and others have put the centers in touch with federal repre sentatives in Washington, D.C., who may be able to help. “We appreciate the services these centers pro vide and we are extremely sympathetic. There is still the big budget to go,” Til lery said. Recently, Williams sent a letter to Rachel Graber, director of Policy for the National Coali tion Against Domestic Violence, enlisting her sup port in urging Congress to take immediate action to increase deposits into the Crime Victims Fund to prevent further severe cuts of VOCA grants. Members of the House and Senate will soon be introducing a bipartisan, bicameral bill regarding the issue. The implications of stepping down federal funds are grim: job loss for shelter staff, suspension of services, and the impact on victims. “Not to have services available could endanger lives,” Williams said. She is hopeful that supporters will contact state and federal legisla tors and make their voices heard. The Refuge Domestic Violence Shelter was initi ated in 2001 as an outreach office for Wings in Dublin. In 2003, the agency ac quired 501C3 status, and opened a shelter in Vida- lia in 2004. The agency opened a sexual assault center in 2019. A non profit, nondenominational, United Way-funded orga nization, The Refuge has a mission is to provide emer gency shelter and compre hensive support services for victims and their chil dren hurt by domestic vio lence and sexual assault. VPD continued from page 1A picious activity in vari ous neighborhoods. They are often in unmarked cars,” he said. Police have observed that would-be criminals often work in pairs and are sometimes dropped off in areas to canvas for potential marks then picked up by their ac complices. “They are looking for unlocked cars that are parked in driveways or open garages or carports and, after targeting easy marks, usually come back at night to actually break in when everyone is asleep and no lights are on,” Cal laway said. In the last few weeks, police have investigated several cases involving car break-ins and burglar ies, but no arrests were made. In one incident, police suspect a group of teenagers looking for a joy ride made off with a truck with keys left in the igni tion. The truck was recov ered later but the culprits were long gone. “It is hard to connect the criminals to the crime, even with video,” Callaway said. Per petrators wear masks and gloves. “They know how to cover their tracks.” Surveillance systems are great if the quality is good. “Make sure the sys tem is high-quality with infrared capabilities for recording at night,” Cal laway said. Often, video is so poor that features cannot be distinguished. To complicate the situa tion ever further, it is not unusual for people to be wearing masks now, so re liable identification is dif ficult to achieve. “I have been a victim myself. I had a generator stolen that was chained down,” Callaway said, il lustrating that criminals can be profoundly deter mined to achieve their ob jective. But there are ways to discourage a thief. He advises, “Don’t leave cars unlocked, and definitely do not leave keys on the console. If possible, park a car inside a closed and locked garage. Do not leave valuables in clear sight. Thieves love for lap tops to be left on the car seat.” Gameboys and tele visions are also popular items with thieves. Leaving on exterior floodlights, or having lights that come on when motion is detected is an other deterrent. “Thieves don’t like to see lights on inside or outside the house.” “Write down serial numbers for items in the home and keep them in a safe place. Removing a serial number from an item is a crime and these items cannot be pawned,” he said. Everyone who pawns an item in a pawn shop has their photo made and police regular ly check pawn tickets to monitor for stolen prop erty. “Yesterday, I had four investigators out riding and looking for suspi cious activity,” Callaway said, but he is hoping the public will do their part in keeping the community safer. Any information helping to solve crimes in the City of Vidalia is greatly appreciated and helps keep our commu nity safe for everyone, Callaway said. All calls are kept confidential. Cit izens who have any infor mation that could help solve a crime are asked to call CRIMESTOPPERS at 912-386-4480. Where PEOPLE come FIRST, not only in our name. Peoples Bank Lending Staff Front (L to R): Becky Rollins and Suzi Braddy. Back (L to R): Chris Braddy, Les Ramsey, Wendell Dixon, Melissa Hightower and Mitch Johnson. § Peoples Bank Member , , , FD|| www.ourpeoplesbank.com ta EQUAL HOUSING LENDER 2301 LyonsHighw, Vidalia, GA 30474 • 912-537-9900 299 West Liberty Ave., Lyons, GA 30436 • 912-524-2000 Legislative Report From the People's House By this time next week, we will reach Crossover Day, Day 27 of the Legislative Session. This is an important day in that it is the last day for bills to survive by passing from one Chamber to another. Some imp ortant measures are still in play. Election Reform. HB351 by Rep. Barry Fleming is a key bill to watch. The bill proposes changes in absentee as well as in-person voting. There would be uniformity in early voting among all counties by requiring all counties to conduct early voting from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for three weeks before the election. The only other early voting would be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. the second Saturday before the election. HB 531 would require absentee ballots to include the voter's driver's license number, state id number, or a copy of a currently accepted photo id. In addition, no absentee ballot could be requested earlier than 11 weeks before. All absentee by mail ballots would not be sent out until four weeks before election day. Drop boxes would not be eliminated but would be restricted to manned early voting sites and could only be used during the times when early voting takes place. Other bills would require election precincts to open and scan absentee ballots starting eight days before election day, which would help with timely election results, and require each county to publicize total ballots received before election results are reported. Emergency Powers/Religious Services. Gov. Brian Kemp has endorsed legislation that would limit him and future Governors from restricting worship services during a statewide emergency. The powers the Legislature granted the Governor at the beginning of the pandemic allowed him to do just that. To his credit he did not, opting instead to provide guidance on social distancing and online services as a first line of defense against Covid. As a result, public safety in worship services was accomplished voluntarily without government overreach. If the Faith Protection Act passes, no Governor that didn’t possess Kemp's wisdom on the subject would be able to close services. I support the Faith Protection Act. HB286. Introduced by Rep. Houston Gaines of Athens, this measure would prohibit cities and counties in Georgia from defunding police departments by more than 5% per year. I support the sentiment of the bill that opposes the idiotic notion that less law enforcement would help the crime problem in communities. I do, however, expect changes in the bill before it leaves the House Governmental Affairs Committee. DACA/In-State Tuition. A bill introduced by Rep. Kacey Carpenter would allow DACA students to pay in state tuition to attend Georgia's colleges and universities. DACA students were brought to America illegally by their parents. Most were too young to remember coming here and have attended and graduated from Georgia high schools. DACA students are allowed to attend college, but lacking residency, they are required to pay out- of-state tuition. This tuition is four times higher than in-state tuition. Typically, DACA students can't afford to pay $24,000 a year instead of $8,000. They just don’t attend any college. I would like to know your thoughts. A student eligible for admittance to UGA would have had to score an average SAT of 1380, b e in the top 5 % of their graduating class, taking the most rigorous academic classes. I'm having a hard time seeing the wisdom in relegating a worthy student that could be a doctor, business owner, or educator and what they could contribute to our State and communities to less success. Not to mention my conscience. By Rep. Greg Morris (R-Vidalia)