A census on domestic violence services offered in Connecticut shows the need for them has grown in the last year.
The Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence is a member of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. Last September 15, the local organization participated in a national one day census to measure how the services are used.
The census found that the Connecticut group helped 1,125 domestic violence victims in a 24-hour period, an increase of 200 from the year before.
Almost 300 of them found refuge in local emergency shelters. Another 831 adults and children took advantage of non-residential assistance like individual counseling and legal advocacy.
Spokeswoman for Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence or CTCADV, Linda Blozie says the census data helps the group allocate money to specific programs and lobby for additional funds
"We can at least demonstrate to the General Assembly and to the general public at large that we are really using the monies that they provide for us in a positive fashion, we are serving more people and the need for services is also going up."
The census also reported that local shelters were unable to meet forty-seven requests for services on that day for a variety of reasons like a lack of available beds or not having enough staff. The good news was there were fewer incidents like this than in the previous year's census.
Blozie says she's hopeful the General Assembly will not cut too deeply into the assistance it provides to shelters as the Governor and lawmakers work to reduce the state's multi-billion dollar deficit.
