Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Domestic-violence provider YCC asks Weber County for funding as referrals rise after state law
Loading...
Summary
Danette Stanger, executive director of YCC, told the Weber County Commission on June 10 that referrals have increased since Utah enacted SB 117 and asked the county to consider additional local funding after federal and state cuts.
Danette Stanger, executive director of YCC (Your Community Connection), asked the Weber County Commission on June 10 for local financial support after statewide and federal funding for local domestic-violence services fell.
Stanger told the commissioners that YCC has served Weber County for 80 years and is responding to a 25% increase in referrals since Utah enacted SB 117, the state law that mandated use of the Lethality Assessment Protocol (LAP) by law enforcement in 2023. "I believe so strongly in the LAP and I'm so glad that Weber County does the LAP to fidelity," Stanger said.
The request followed a presentation that described how the LAP connects victims screened at high danger directly to local service providers. Stanger said LAP referrals frequently reach victims who had not contacted YCC before; she told the commission that about 61% of the calls now are from people YCC had not previously served.
YCC described its services as more than shelter: community case management, criminal-justice advocacy, protective-order assistance, psychoeducational groups, therapy, a sexual-assault program and a newly opened transitional housing facility. Stanger said five families have already graduated from the transitional housing program, which allows stays up to two years while residents complete financial-literacy classes and other supports.
Stanger said YCC has a cooperative memorandum of understanding with Ogden City—Ogden contributes $35,000 annually to support LAP referrals—and listed other municipal contributions last year as North Ogden $14,000, Marriott-Slaterville $2,000 and Morgan County $10,000. She also said the agency received a $50,000 reduction in its current VOCA (Victims of Crime Act) federal grant award and that a 2024 request to the state Legislature for $1.4 million to support statewide shelters went unfunded.
YCC also highlighted sexual-assault medical-forensic exams (so-called SANE exams or “code R” exams). Stanger said the county's protocol at the health department allows timely, trauma-informed exams and that YCC provided 58 exams in 2024 and 61 exams so far in FY 2025.
Commissioners asked for follow-up information and data to support any county contribution. A commissioner suggested YCC present at a budget session with a per-capita or city-by-city breakdown and coordinate with the Weber County Sheriff’s Office to show how victim services can reduce repeat law-enforcement responses. Stanger said she would follow up by email and supply detailed financials and caseload metrics.
No formal county appropriation was made at the June 10 meeting; YCC’s request was a presentation and an appeal for the commission to consider funding in the county budget process.
Stanger closed by restating YCC’s role as a 24/7 partner to law enforcement and the courts: "We will continue to provide that LAP training, victim services support for victims. We're available 24 hours, 3 65 days a week."
