Facing a Cliff

As federal funding dwindles, Washington groups that work with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault urge state lawmakers to step up

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

Despite seeing increased need, agencies in Washington that work with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault face layoffs and reduced services as their budgets take a significant hit in federal funding.

In Spokane, that could mean losing $300,000 for the YWCA’s domestic violence emergency housing program, reduced hours for Lutheran Community Services Northwest’s 24-hour sexual assault hotline (which got nearly 2,000 calls in the last year), and the loss of multiple sexual assault and vulnerable adult advocates.

To prevent the looming funding cliff, a coalition of providers is pushing state lawmakers to include $132 million in the two-year budget this year to stabilize their ability to help crime victims.

Stein, it turns out, is Greene’s opening speaker.

His speech doesn’t start for a few hours, so the selfdescribed comedian is outside starting arguments with protesters and shooting content with a cameraman to share online because the 37-year-old is also an internet personality.

Inside the resort, a group of women talk about how funny it was when Greene tried bringing a balloon to Biden’s State of the Union address last week to troll the president over the Chinese spy balloon that recently traversed the country.

On Twitter, Greene refers to the protesters outside as “nasty women who watch the view [referring to the TV show] and their ‘low-T’ husbands,” referring to low testosterone, a questionable phenomenon that Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson is currently obsessed with. She posts a picture of herself posing with a man in a shirt that reads: “LIBERALS SUCK.” (A photo with the congresswoman is $50.)

Affected groups include providers of legal assistance, domestic violence shelters, sexual assault and children’s advocacy services, help for vulnerable adults and more. Much of their funding comes from either the state Office of Crime Victims Advocacy or Department of Social and Health Services, which provide both state money and federal dollars from the Victims of Crime Act.

Since 2017, the federal Crime Victims Fund has plummeted from $13 billion to about $1.8 billion. Statewide, Washington expects to see a 35 percent reduction in its annual allocation from that fund for the 2024 fiscal year, which starts in July.

The Crime Victims Fund relies on federal fines, fees and forfeitures. Much of that money comes from federal white collar crime cases, and it’s possible the sharp decrease is due to fewer of those crimes being prosecuted in recent years, says Roshelle Cleland, the advocacy and education program director for Lutheran Community Services.

Meanwhile, Washington’s funding for domestic violence emergency shelters (about $6.1 million per year statewide) and sexual assault services (about $6.8 million per year statewide) has remained stagnant for more than a decade.

The protesters outside hold signs depicting Greene as a clown and calling her a “Karen.” Other signs make fun of Biden’s predecessor.

Former Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer stops by the protest to see what’s going on. He’s accosted by a local man who films him and spouts conspiracies about the United Nations.

Many protesters express concern about North Idaho’s continued rightward lurch.

On the other side of the street, Darlene Nelson stands with a group of about five counterprotesters who came out in support of the congresswoman. Nelson likes Greene because she “speaks her mind and tells the truth.”

“We haven’t seen a cent of an increase in state ongoing funding since then,” says Emily Stone, the public policy director for the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who notes that 39 programs split the domestic violence funding that’s remained the same since 2009. “Programs are really, really struggling.”

Service providers say they’ve seen double-digit increases in demand for sexual assault programs and children’s advocacy centers in recent years. Domestic violence

She praises the congresswoman for calling Biden a liar during his State of the Union speech. She wonders if some of the protesters across the street were hired by Democrats.

While we’re talking, someone in a car drives by and tells Nelson and the other Greene supporters to “eat a dick.”

Passing drivers are heckling protesters on the other side of the street, too. Some are on their way to Greene’s speech. Inside the resort, attendees mill around in tuxedos and formal dresses. There’s chatter about vaccines, sex education in schools and big tech censorship. A few families passing through the lobby are dressed for vacation and seem confused about the yelling outside.

Security is tight. A spokesperson for the local GOP tells me they aren’t offering press access to Greene’s speech because of space issues. Close to 700 people attend, including prominent Idaho Republicans like state Rep. Heather Scott and state Sen. Scott Herndon.

A recording of the speech posted online shows Greene taking the stage in the big, white fur dress she wore to the State of the Union. “North Idaho is truly God’s country,” Greene says, adding that it’s her first time in the state before drumming on the usual culture war beats: vaccine mandates, election fraud, undocumented immigrants and the arrest of the Jan. 6 rioters among them.

Outside the resort, Stein isn’t taking any of this seriously. When protesters engage with him, he calls them “losers” and “baby killers,” and makes fun of the way they look.

As the sun sets, Stein takes a break from trolling to shoot a promo for an upcoming event in Canyon County, Idaho.

“Buckle up buttercup ’cause we’re about to go wild,” Stein says to the camera.

“Dude, that was fire,” the cameraman says.

Stein’s voice drops to a normal volume. He sounds almost bored as he tells the cameraman to make sure there weren’t any issues with the audio. Then he runs back to the resort to edit the video together before the speech. He got the content, it’s time to post. n nates@inlander.com groups also regularly see far more requests than they can handle.

“We want the state to step up and increase sustainable, ongoing funding, so it’s not this guessing game from the federal level of what is going to be distributed,” Cleland says.

Otherwise, Lutheran Community Services, which is the official sexual assault advocacy and crime victims center for Spokane County, has been informed that its funding could drop by 17 to 36 percent at the end of June.

The organization helps children and vulnerable adults who’ve faced everything from violence to financial fraud, and provides 24-hour sexual assault advocates who can help adults with hospital visits, court navigation, safety planning and access to counseling.

If the reduction happens, Lutheran Community Services would lose two to six full-time advocates from a staff of about 15, Cleland says.

“We’re working with thousands of individuals, thousands of families every year,” Cleland says.

The center could also lose the ability to provide the 24-hour response for sexual assault victims they’re required to offer, which is concerning because they already struggle to help everyone who requests their services, Cleland says.

The YWCA expects the gap in domestic violence emergency housing money will be covered with funding from the Spokane city and county governments, so it doesn’t anticipate losing staff, for now, according to a statement.

“Programs have shared multiple times that it’s hard for them to even do a two-year budget because they don’t know what the federal budget is going to look like,” Stone says. “[This ask] is really about stable funding and, quite frankly, keeping the doors open.” n samanthaw@inlander.com