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Syracuse victims advocate reports rise in domestic-violence cases, seeks VAWA funding for part‑time advocate
Summary
Syracuse City victims advocate presented FY24 service statistics, described a recent increase in domestic violence cases, and outlined a VAWA grant application that could pay for a 25‑hour-per-week part‑time advocate; councilors asked clarifying questions about caseload trends and outreach plans.
Summer (Victims Advocate) presented FY24 statistics for victim services across three participating cities and summarized Syracuse-specific data, services and a planned VAWA grant application to expand staffing.
Summer told the council the combined program served 381 victims in FY24 across the three cities, and Syracuse accounted for 169 of those cases. Domestic violence was the most common victimization type reported, and the advocate said Syracuse had observed an increase in domestic-violence cases in recent months. The advocate said common services include information about the criminal-justice process, victim rights and notification of court dates; she also said she frequently refers clients to Timpanogos Legal Center for income‑based civil legal assistance (protective orders, custody, divorce) when appropriate.
On grant activity, the advocate described a VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) grant application that, if awarded, would support a part-time (25 hours/week) victim advocate. The job match requirement was clarified in the presentation as a 25% match split among the three participating cities (the advocate noted a typo in the slide and corrected it during the report). The advocate said the proposed part-time hire would cover specified crime categories listed under the grant (domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, dating violence and female genital mutilation) while the current full-time advocate would continue to manage other victim-service areas.
Council members and staff asked about an apparent recent uptick in cases. The advocate attributed the increase in part to population growth and recent multifamily development—"more people just equals more crime," she said—and offered to provide additional disaggregated data for council review. The council encouraged the advocate’s plans to begin administering client surveys in July to evaluate program performance and service gaps.
Ending: The council received the report and asked staff and the advocate to return with additional data as requested; no formal funding action was taken at the meeting.
