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Council agrees to fund additional victim advocate and accepts $60,000 healthcare preparedness grant
Summary
Solicitor Scarlett Wilson asked the council to fund an additional victim advocate after federal grant cuts; council approved the request. The justice committee also accepted a FY2026 healthcare preparedness grant for $60,000 with no match requirement.
Solicitor Scarlett Wilson asked Berkeley County council to pick up funding for an additional victim advocate position after continued reductions to federally administered grant funding.
Wilson told the committee that the office receives federal grant funding to support victim advocates but that the grant has been cut repeatedly and more severely than expected this year. She said one advocate already had been transitioned to become a county employee and the office needs an additional county-funded position to "shore up the lapse in funding." She said the advocate the county is being asked to absorb has worked in the office for seven years and that the office's caseload remains high.
Council moved to approve the request; the motion carried by voice vote.
Separately, Major Hickman and Mister Sheldon presented acceptance of the FY2026 health care preparedness grant in the amount of $60,000, which staff said required no local match. The committee approved acceptance of the grant by voice vote.
Both actions free staff to proceed with hiring and grant-funded preparedness activities, and staff said they would return with any necessary implementation details.
