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Shelter Length Extension Bill – Will Create Safe Options for New Yorkers with Nowhere Else to Go

Michael Polenberg, Vice President for Government Affairs
Michael Polenberg is Safe Horizon’s Vice President for Government Affairs who partners with government agencies and elected officials to advocate on behalf of victims of crime and abuse.

With less options for affordable housing available to low-income New Yorkers in recent years, we are very concerned domestic violence survivors and their families have sufficient time to make safe choices upon exiting emergency shelter.  For families who have nowhere else to turn to for safety, an additional 45 days in shelter can be a life-saver.  This is why Safe Horizon joined with advocates from across New York State to advocate for legislation that extends the length of time survivors and their families can stay in shelter – from a maximum of 135 days to a maximum of 180 days.  For the first time in New York State’s history, both the Assembly and the Senate agreed to pass this important legislation, which is now awaiting the Governor’s approval.

From our experience working with victims of domestic violence, we recognize that victims are most at risk when they make a decision to leave an abusive relationship. When their stay in shelter ends before they find permanent housing, they may be in even greater danger, facing the impossible choice between homelessness and returning to the abuse.

By modestly extending the length of stay by an additional month and a half, Governor Cuomo can ensure that victims of domestic violence who have been assessed to need additional time in shelter have the opportunity to avoid further violence and instead move into safe, permanent housing.

If you support our advocacy, please click here and ask the Governor to once again stand with victims of domestic violence and those who help them to ensure that safe choices cam be made and that lives can be filled with joy and laughter instead of violence and abuse.

Say NO MORE: The Reality of Child Abuse

Ariel Zwang, CEO, Safe Horizon
Ariel Zwang is Chief Executive Officer at Safe Horizon, the largest victims’ services agency in the United States, touching the lives of 250,000 children, adults, and families affected by crime and abuse throughout New York City each year.

One in four girls and one in six boys are abused, usually at the hands of someone they know.

As the nation’s largest victims’ services agency, working with hundreds of thousands of survivors of abuse and crime each year, we know all too well that victims of domestic violence and sexual assault feel an overwhelming sense of shame, often preventing them from seeking help. This is never more true than with abused children and their caretakers, who feel an even more heightened sense of confusion, guilt and shame in coming forward.

Although nearly three million children are abused in our country every year, sadly, many people have trouble accepting its reality. Across the country, there are nearly 700 Child Advocacy Centers devoted to providing safe spaces that provide intervention, emotional support and treatment services for young victims of abuse.

Safe Horizon runs four nationally accredited Child Advocacy Centers, which help more than 4,000 children in New York City each year, using a therapeutic team approach to investigating, prosecuting and treating the most severe cases of child abuse. With experts from both government and nonprofit service providers working together at each location, the Child Advocacy Centers offer proven services to help physically and sexually abused children and their caregivers.

This spring, in the Science Times section, the New York Times  highlighted the implementation of the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI) at Safe Horizon’s Child Advocacy Centers. Safe Horizon piloted CFTSI in partnership with the Yale Childhood Violent Trauma Center in an effort to help children and their family members cope with the trauma of abuse, providing a means of recovery for victims and their families and also helping children avoid the many emotional problems that can occur later in life, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

At Safe Horizon, we have found that healing is possible, and the more people know about the options available to them, the more likely they are to seek help and support. That’s why we are so grateful to and supportive of NO MORE and their efforts to shine a spotlight on the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault, so that every individual whose life is touched by violence has the chance to receive the assistance they need and deserve.

Safe Horizon Supports Justice for Victims

Michael Polenberg, Vice President for Government Affairs
Michael Polenberg is Safe Horizon’s Vice President for Government Affairs who partners with government agencies and elected officials to advocate on behalf of victims of crime and abuse.

On May 14th, Safe Horizon CEO Ariel Zwang wrote a poignant letter to the editor of the New York Daily News defending the 75-year sentence handed down to a former police officer convicted of several felony-level sex crimes against a 25-year old teacher, and praising the victim for her courage in reporting the crime and the prosecutors who stood by her and won these convictions. Ms. Zwang’s letter was a direct response to an op-ed penned by the former police officer’s defense lawyer, who argued that the sentence his client received was overly harsh. You can read her letter here.

Let us step back for a moment and put this incident in context.

The nation’s prevalence of rape and sexual assault is disturbingly high – the Centers for Disease Care and Control report that one in six women will be raped during their lifetime, and 80% of victims are first raped by the age of 25. In this light, the courts are absolutely right to send a clear message that this behavior is abhorrent and that those who report this crime can and should expect justice to be delivered.

As the nation’s leading victim assistance organization, Safe Horizon is proud that the New York County District Attorney’s Office provided unwavering support and expert guidance to the young woman in this case who chose to report her case to prosecutors. While the physical and emotional wounds borne by the victim in this case will need time to heal, there can be no question that she was supported unequivocally by advocates and prosecutors who treated her case with the seriousness and respect it deserved, and that an appropriate sentence was given by the presiding judge, the Honorable Richard Carruthers..

We recognize that it took enormous courage and fortitude for this victim to come forward and file a report given all that she endured, particularly since it was at the hands of someone whose job is to protect the public.. Contrary to Mr. Savitt’s assertion that Mr. Pena received a sentence disproportionate to the crime he committed, we commend Judge Carruthers for ensuring that never again will he target another innocent New Yorker.

Safe Horizon Supports Expansion of DNA Databank – Join us in Making New York a Safer Place

Michael Polenberg, Vice President for Government Affairs
Michael Polenberg is Safe Horizon’s Vice President for Government Affairs who partners with government agencies and elected officials to advocate on behalf of victims of crime and abuse.

Safe Horizon’s CEO Ariel Zwang recently joined the Governor’s office, district attorneys, and survivors of violence to call on the New York State Assembly to pass the Governor’s “all crimes DNA” proposal.  Ariel noted in her remarks that “the All Crimes DNA bill is a powerful tool in finding justice for survivors of crime, and in preventing our family members, friends and neighbors from experiencing violence.”

This legislation, which has already passed the State Senate, would expand the State’s DNA databank to include all felonies and penal law misdemeanors.

The press conference was particularly notable for the testimony of three women who experienced the crushing impact of violence in their lives.

Ann M., whose young daughter was raped in her bedroom, spoke passionately about the devastating impact this event had on her family.  Noting that this rapist attacked again and again until a DNA sample taken upon conviction of a petit larceny charge tied him to her daughter’s attack, Ann asked, “How many more serial rapists are we allowing to roam the streets of New York, for no other reason than that we have not expanded our DNA databank?”  She asked the Assembly to support the Governor’s proposal “…because what happened to my daughter can happen to anyone’s child.”

Tynetta Megginson, whose mother was murdered in her apartment, asked the legislature to honor her mother by passing this proposal into law.  “Expanding the use of New York’s DNA Databank will help victims and families of violent crime survivors heal.”

Natasha Alexanko, a rape survivor who has been a vocal advocate in support of DNA databank expansion, said: “My rapist is a serial criminal who is no longer victimizing people thanks to a DNA match.  Collecting DNA from all convicted criminal defendants will be instrumental in preventing the needless suffering of crime victims, such as myself.”

Those who oppose this bill cite a litany of factors – concern about identification procedures in police lineups, or the sanctity of the DNA samples in the State’s laboratories.  But the testimony of Ann, Tynetta and Natasha reminds us that this bill is simply about justice – for those impacted by violent crime, for those who won’t be victimized because offenders have been held accountable, and for those who are exonerated.

The Governor’s proposal will make New York a safer place for communities in every county.  We thank everyone who is speaking up for a safer New York, particularly those impacted by violence and who have found the strength and courage to add their voices to this effort.  For Ann, Tynetta, Natasha and the thousands of other victims across New York whose lives have been forever changed by violence, we urge the State Assembly to pass the Governor’s proposal into law as soon as possible.

To get involved, please visit http://www.governor.ny.gov/BuildingaNewNY/dna-databank.  You can click on the “Assembly” link and ask your State Assembly Member to support A. 8547-A, the “All-Crimes DNA” bill. Thank you for your assistance!  

NY Governor’s Budget Includes Important Proposals for Victims of Violence and Abuse

Michael Polenberg, Vice President, Government Affairs
Michael Polenberg is Safe Horizon’s Vice President for Government Affairs who partners with government agencies and elected officials to advocate on behalf of victims of crime and abuse.

With continuing economic pressures threatening the viability of valuable programs serving victims of violence and abuse, we are pleased that the budget proposal for SFY 2012-2013 released on January 17 by NY Governor Andrew Cuomo largely avoids the "across the board" approach to cuts that we have seen too often in recent years.  While we do have some real concerns about the budget proposal – in particular the elimination of funding for Statewide non-residential domestic violence programs for the third year in a row – we are pleased that the budget also includes:

• New funding to expand the State’s DNA databank to include all felony and penal law misdemeanor convictions, a step that will bring justice to crime victims, prevent further violence from taking place, and exonerate the wrongfully charged;
• An expansion of the State Central Registry to allow New Yorkers to report suspected abuse of persons with psychiatric disabilities, developmental disabilities, the elderly and other vulnerable populations; and
• Continued State funding for Child Advocacy Centers, domestic violence shelters, court-based programs for crime victims and other critical services.
• So now that the budget proposal has been released, what happens next?

Between now and the beginning of April when the budget must be adopted, Safe Horizon will:

• Partner with other providers to ask the legislature to restore $1.4 million in funding for non-residential domestic violence programs. These programs assist victims of domestic violence in a variety of settings – courtrooms, legal clinics, Family Justice Centers – who have chosen not to enter domestic violence shelters or who have recently left that system.  For Safe Horizon, this funding supports case managers in our Family Court and Integrated Domestic Violence Court programs in Queens, and allows us to provide a wide range of assistance to New Yorkers in crisis.
• Join forces with the Governor’s office, victim advocates and law enforcement to expand the State’s DNA databank.  Right now in New York State, persons convicted of felonies and certain misdemeanors are obligated to provide a DNA sample. Unfortunately, this accounts for less than fifty-percent of the crimes in New York.  An expanded DNA databank that includes all felonies and penal law misdemeanors will help solve crimes that continue to haunt victims and their families for years, sometimes decades.  By holding those who commit these crimes accountable, we will in turn prevent additional heinous crimes from taking place.  Finally, it will also help exonerate those who might otherwise be charged and convicted of crimes they did not commit.  It is a sensible, cost-effective measure to protect thousands of New Yorkers from the trauma of violence, rape, sexual assault and homicide.  We are proud to stand with the Governor in support of this effort and look forward to its passage in the months ahead.

For more on the importance of the DNA Databank legislation, check out these recent op-eds by some of our partners:
http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/The-more-DNA-the-better-2684292.php

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/opinion/collect-dna-samples-even-when-its-just-a-misdemeanor.html?_r=1

Find out more:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/opinion/collect-dna-samples-even-when-its-just-a-misdemeanor.html?_r=1