(Spencer)– Officials with the local CAASA (Centers Against Abuse and Sexual Assault) say additional funding cuts from the state would be devastating to them.
Rhonda Dean is with the local CAASA office in Spencer which serves an eight county area of northwest Iowa. She tells KUOO news nine advocacy agencies would have to shut down if the state does not renew its four million dollars in funding to them. She says they don’t know exactly who would be affected, but she fears rural Iowa would take the majority of the hit.
28 community-based domestic violence and sexual assault programs serve Iowa’s 99 counties.
Dean adds the local CAASA office is already pared down when it comes to personnel, with eight full-time staff covering the eight-county area. She says six of those counties share advocates with atleast one other county. She says any additional cuts would dilute that even further, meaning they would have to serve more people with less funds. Dean says typically they see more than 700 new clients every year over their eight-county area.
Dean says any new cuts would come on top of those made in 2000 when the agency was zero-lined. She says they were able to make up for that by taking money out of the Crime Victims Fund. But she says that’s since been exhausted and apparently won’t be replenished.
