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Options: local domestic violence services provided 136 direct services in 2023; county asked to consider $3,000 appropriation
Summary
Options, the Northwest Kansas domestic violence and sexual-assault service provider, reported 2023 service statistics for Sherman County and said it has a tax-credit project to add eight shelter beds in Colby; it requested $3,000 in county funding.
Don Gable, representing Options (domestic violence and sexual assault services for Northwest Kansas), presented the organization's 2023 report for Sherman County and requested a $3,000 appropriation to support ongoing services.
Gable said the report combines KBI data reported by local law enforcement with Options' service data. For Sherman County in 2023 the report lists 29 domestic-violence incidents that resulted in 38 arrests (multiple arrests in some reports), which the presenter noted equates to an arrest rate the organization described relative to state averages. Options provided 136 services to survivors from Sherman County during 2023, and the presentation records zero nights of Options-funded safe shelter used in-county (Options said it transported residents to family or friends and that the nearest shelter is in Hays). Gable said tax-credit donations will fund a remodel of a building in Colby to create eight shelter beds; the remodel could begin within about a year.
The presenter described Options' role as the regional 24/7 emergency services and stated the organization funds many services through grants such as the Victims of Crime Act, which typically covers most costs but intentionally leaves a local funding gap of about 18% so local appropriations remain necessary.
At the conclusion of the presentation, the presenter asked the commission to consider a $3,000 appropriation to support Options' local services; the meeting record shows commissioners said they have provided funding in the past and did not record a change at this meeting.
