Funds Found to Restore Dane County Domestic Violence Unit

October 17, 2002
Sharyn Wisniewski, 267-8823
County Executive

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and District Attorney Brian Blanchard Wednesday, October 16, announced that funding has been found to keep the Dane County Domestic Violence Program in operation the rest of this year, and through 2003. The program had been threatened due to loss of a federal grant. Funds totaling $123,900 were assembled to keep the program operating through 2002. Another $506,500 was assembled for all of 2003. Following is a memo from County Executive Falk and District Attorney Blanchard to members of the Dane County Board of Supervisors, citing highlights of the funding decisions. If you'd like any of the attachments faxed to you, please call our office at 266-2444. # # # DATE: October 16, 2002 TO: Kevin Kesterson, Chair Dane County Board of Supervisors Members, Dane County Board of Supervisors Elected Officials Department Heads FROM: Kathleen M. Falk Dane County Executive Brian Blanchard Dane County District Attorney RE: Funding for the Victims of Domestic Violence Thanks to the hard work and cooperation of many county, state, and federal officials, we are happy to announce that we have found funds to maintain specialized prosecution of perpetrators of domestic violence and services for the victims of domestic abuse. This achievement relies on reallocation and the willingness of dedicated staff and managers to work even harder on behalf of these victims. Both of us are extremely grateful for the sacrifices and innovations that many people and organizations were willing to make. We can all be proud of the extraordinary degree of cooperation everyone brought to the task of maintaining these vital services. Attached to this memorandum are lists and charts showing the sources of the funds and the costs we had to cover. Redirecting these funds will take several Board actions, in budget and ordinance amendments. We will have these readied for your consideration as soon as possible. Our staff and we are also available with more information. Please contact: Topf Wells at 266-9069, Bonnie Hammersley at 266-4519, and Marlys Howe at 284-6888. Some highlights of the funding decisions: -- The District Attorney provides about $152,000 in funding through reallocation, additional fees, and lapsing or holding positions open. Included in the District Attorney’s total is increased reimbursement made possible by Attorney General Jim Doyle and the Department of Justice. -- The Clerk of Courts is willing to take on additional bail monitoring for a savings of about $78,000. -- The Sheriff will reconfigure his work force for the AODA pilot project for a savings of about $40,000. -- Other county departments -- the County Executive’s Office, Planning & Development, and Highway & Transportation contributed approximately $157,000.* * All of these figures are for 2002 and 2003. We are especially grateful to three other partners: -- Physician’s Plus has donated $5,000 to Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS) and has challenged other health care providers to help. -- United Way has already provided $7,000 and is working on another $25,000. -- The State Department of Administration, at the specific direction of Governor Scott McCallum and lead by Secretary George Lightbourn and Executive Assistant Kathleen Moore, have made about $130,000 available to keep the Assistant District Attorneys on the job. Our state and federal delegations have been extremely helpful in identifying sources of funding that can come into play in the latter half of 2003 and later. We will work with them closely to make the most of those opportunities. We respectfully ask that you support these actions that require Board approval. Again, our profound thanks go to the many partners who are enabling us to continue these vital services.