Anti-violence efforts get little funding

Fifth in a five-part series

For all the lip service directed to domestic violence as a societal ill, the state of Utah directs little money and lackluster attention to the growing crisis, critics say.

The domestic violence prevention community is rife with political infighting and lacks money and organization. The cause has no clear champion.

"Utah has a unique opportunity to enhance the leadership of, and collaboration among, state agencies and other organizations battling this social ill. Now is the time for action," according to a letter Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. signed in the 2006 Utah domestic violence report, "No More Secrets."

But the same line, with slight variation, appears in the 2005 report above Huntsman's signature.

It also appears in the 2004 report over former Gov. Olene Walker's name.

Deseret Morning News research for the five-day series "Don't hit Mommy" shows token calls to action with recycled phrases may be indicative of the state's efforts on this complex issue.

"Unfortunately, the state of Utah has hit a plateau over about seven or eight years. That commitment has remained flat," said Judy Kasten Bell, executive director of the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition projects.

Ned Searle, director of Huntsman's Office on Violence Against Women and Families, takes responsibility for the repeat language in the "No More Secrets" report. Searle writes the report — and Huntsman's letter — at a busy time of year when he is preparing for the Legislature.

"I can understand how it feels like lip service," Searle said.

The duplication of strong words for the domestic violence cause was an oversight. "I don't have time to go through and draft a new letter for them to review," Searle said.

Certainly attitudes toward this issue have changed since 1999, when then-state Sens. Lorin Jones, R-St. George, and Parley Hellewell, R-Orem, famously suggested in a legislative committee meeting that women on welfare would be willing to take a beating to extend their public assistance.

Under fire from state officials and victims, they later stood by their words.

"I think that's a reasonable assumption," Jones said. "When people are destitute, they do desperate things."

While state agencies have participated in several domestic violence studies over the years, lawmakers overall have offered little. "What we haven't seen is an increase in general funds from the state Legislature," said Kasten Bell.

The state Division of Child and Family Services has the past two years asked for 10 new domestic violence caseworkers. But division director Duane Betournay said the Department of Human Services hasn't deemed it a high enough priority to get on the governor's funding list.