When a domestic violence victim takes the courageous action of taking steps to get away from the perpetrator of the abuse, there are many forms of protection, help and assistance that they may wish to seek out. One thing they may wish to pursue is a restraining order against the perpetrator so that they have some legal protection against this individual. Family law attorneys can provide guidance to victims of domestic violence when it comes to the steps for requesting a restraining order.
In addition to legal protection, another thing domestic violence victims sometimes seek out is help from domestic violence shelters or domestic violence services programs. Recently, the results of a one-day survey regarding such shelters and programs in Texas were released. The results were released by the National Network to End Domestic Violence.
The survey was conducted on Sept. 17, 2013. Its results contain both good and bad news.
The good news is that the survey indicates that, every day, domestic violence services programs and domestic abuse shelters in Texas provide thousands of domestic abuse victims with important services like individual counseling, children’s support and temporary housing and shelter.
The bad news is that the survey also found that limitations caused by shortages of funds and staffing make it so such shelters and programs aren’t able to meet all of the requests for help that they receive in a day from domestic violence victims.
It is worrisome to think that some domestic abuse victims here in Texas might not be able to get the help they need from domestic violence shelters and services programs due to budget and staffing shortages. Thus, one hopes that steps are taken to address such shortages. What do our readers think should be done to address this issue?
Source: CBS Dallas/Fort Worth, “Survey: Critical Shortage In Funding For Domestic Violence Survivors,” March 6, 2014