Here are some items in the news we are watching:.

As the recession continues to hurt the social services sector, the state of California has come up with a creative way to fill some of the funding gaps. From the San Jose Mercury:

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Counties could raise fees on marriage licenses by up to $10 to fund domestic violence shelters under a bill sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by the state Senate.

Counties already collect a $23 fee on marriage licenses to fund domestic violence shelters. The bill approved Thursday lets county supervisors increase the fee to $33.

Alarming statistics about prison sexual abuse in America were recently released:

A US Justice Department study reported Thursday that, from October 2008 to December 2009, 88,500 inmates nationwide were sexually assaulted behind bars–4.4% of inmates in prison and 3.1% of inmates in jail.

The study showed that Females are twice as likely to be victimized as males, and that 13% of women and 19% of men were victimized in the first 24 hours after being admitted to a correctional facility.

A new study suggests that child abuse rates in the U.S. are on the decline.
From Time Wellness Blog:

The number of maltreated children in the U.S. has fallen steadily in the last two decades, according to a report this week from the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.

Overall, physical-abuse cases per capita fell 3% between and 2007 and 2008 (the most recent year for which stats are available). Meanwhile sexual abuse fell by 6%, the report says. These figures continue long-term downward trends in the rate of physical and sexual abuse nationwide — with most states reporting cumulative drops of over 50% since 1992 — although neglect cases per capita seem to have remained fairly stable.

September 2009 marked the 15 year anniversary of President Bill Clinton signing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) into law. As the date approached, it became clear that we needed to do more than a press release or event. This was a moment in time for the Department of Justice to send a clear signal that the issue of violence against women is a priority.

That is why we at the department launched a year-long initiative to raise public awareness, build stronger coalitions among federal, state, local and tribal communities, and redouble efforts to end sexual assault, domestic and dating violence, and stalking for men, women and children across the country.

Far too many communities in the United States and around the world are affected by this issue and it must stop. One of the messages that we have sought to carry throughout the 15th anniversary of VAWA is that sexual and domestic violence are not just issues for the victim, or his or her family. They are everyone’s problem. And anyone dealing with sexual violence on a college campus today knows that this is a reality.

Read the rest of the story here

Referred to as “The Link,” groups are now trying to understand and call attention to the relationship between abusing animals and violence in homes in hopes that these efforts will create an opportunity for prevention and protection for animals.

Nationwide studies have shown that, “up to 71 percent of women (with companion animals) entering women’s shelters reported that their batterer had injured, maimed, killed or threatened their animals for revenge or to psychologically control them.”

Lawmakers in New Mexico have responded to this problem in their state with the passage of a joint memorial in the last legislative session, which will make February 10 New Mexico Link Awareness Day.

Read the entire article here.

From The New York Times:

France’s National Assembly approved Thursday night a proposal to add “psychological violence” to a law intended to help victims of physical violence and abuse, despite doubts that the law is specific enough to have much impact.

The proposed law says that to “act or repeatedly say things that could damage the victim’s life conditions, affect his/her rights and his/her dignity or damage his/her physical or mental health” is punishable by a jail term of up to three years and a fine of up to 75,000 euros, or about $103,000.

According to the article, the next step for bill will be the French Senate, where passage is likely to happen this summer.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) reprimanded her colleagues in a floor speech Thursday for their two-month-long hold on the confirmation of Judge Susan Carbon as the Director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Violence Against Women (OVW). President Barack Obama first nominated Carbon to be director of the OVW in October 2009, according to the Boston Globe. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted for Carbon’s confirmation on December 3. She was eventually confirmed last Thursday.

During her speech on the Senate floor, Shaheen said, “Every two minutes someone in this country is a victim of sexual violence. Every 52 seconds a woman is victimized by a spouse or partner. These crimes devastate victim’s lives. They shatter families…These Senators cloaked in anonymity were not punishing Attorney General Holder by blocking Susan Carbon’s confirmation. These Senators were punishing the victims of domestic and sexual violence in states across this country…the police officers who put their lives at risk every day when they enter homes plagued by domestic violence…[and] the community groups that are working to prevent domestic and sexual violence.”

Via the Examiner.com

Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman, Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) today announced a critical step forward in putting $418.5 million in funding for programs administered by the Department of Justice’s Violence Against Women Office in the federal checkbook.

These funds are included in the CJS Appropriations Bill, which was approved on Sunday, Dec. 13 by the Senate for a final time as part of Congress’ Fiscal Year 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Bill. It now goes to the President to be signed into law.

“When we fought for the Violence Against Women Act, it was not an unfunded mandate. I led the fight to put these programs in the federal law books, and I will continue to fight to put the funding they need in the federal checkbook,” Chairwoman Mikulski said. “I have absolutely no tolerance for domestic violence. That’s why I strongly support legislation and grant programs that help protect women and their families from continued violence and abuse, and gives them the tools they need to rebuild their lives.”

• FVPSA is currently authorized at $175 million but only received $127.7 million in fiscal year 2009.
• For fiscal year 2010, the Senate requested $127.7 million in funding for FVPSA, (the same level as fiscal year 2009) while the House of Representatives requested an increased level of $133.7 million!
• Recognizing the need for specific services for children, Congress determined that once FVPSA funding reached $130 million, a portion of funding over $130 million will be dedicated to programs serving children.
• Since the existing funding does not meet the need for emergency services and does not provide specific support resources for specialized children’s services, it is critical that the Senate agree to the House approved funding of $133.7 million.

• To respond to the needs of victims of domestic violence, there are approximately 2,000 community based domestic violence programs serving approximately 300,000 victims and their children every year.
• FVPSA is effective – the domestic violence shelters and programs it funds address both the urgent and long-term needs of victims of violence and help victims protect themselves and their children.
• Despite FVPSA’s successes there is still a large gap between demand for services and adequate resources – on just one day in 2008, 60,799 victims received services from domestic violence programs while 8,927 requests for services went unmet due to a lack of resources.

We also found an interesting blog post at Womenstake.org about people are taking action in states where there are no laws that prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to domestic violence survivors:

Five of the 8 jurisdictions that do not explicitly prohibit health insurance discrimination based on domestic violence have made efforts to address this problem:

* In October 2009, the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking issued a bulletin warning insurers not to use domestic violence as a factor when issuing health insurance policies.
* In September 2009, Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chancy called upon the state legislature to take action banning discrimination against survivors of domestic violence.

* In North Carolina, Insurance Commissioner, Wayne Goodwin, stated that he will ask the legislature to clarify current state law and that he will implement new administrative rules to prohibit insurers from discriminating against domestic violence survivors in the individual market. North Carolina state law already prohibits such discrimination in group plans.
* In North Dakota, Insurance Commissioner, Adam Hamm and Governor John Hoeven are currently working to change the present policy in their state.
* Finally, in Oklahoma, state Senator Jim Wilson intends to introduce SB 1251, which would prohibit any insurance plan issued or renewed on or after November 1, 2010, from considering domestic abuse as a pre-existing condition.
* It is also noteworthy that, In April 2009, Arkansas passed a law expressly prohibiting health insurance companies from using a woman’s status as a domestic violence to deny coverage.

The original Womenstake.org blog post also posted a helpful link for you to contact your congressional representative.

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Here are some of the findings:

Child deaths attributed to abuse or neglect vary significantly by state.

Kentucky had the highest rate of death due to child abuse and neglect in 2007 – 41 deaths, or a rate of 4.09 per 100,000 children in the state. Other states topping the list include South Dakota (4.08), Florida (3.79), Nebraska (3.59) and Missouri (3.51). States with the lowest rate of child death from abuse or neglect in 2007 are Delaware Rhode Island, Idaho, Maine and Montana.

“About half of all children who die from abuse and neglect were previously brought to the attention of authorities – either by another family member, a teacher, physician, neighbor or someone else who cared about their safety and well-being,” said Teresa Huizar, executive director, National Children’s Alliance. “But case workers are routinely stretched too thin, and funding levels are too low. The result is often too little action that is taken too late, and kids die as a result.”

There is nearly a 13-fold difference in the amount that states spend per person to address abuse and neglect.

While there is no funding level or formula that guarantees a reduction in child deaths, states that invest in a strong social safety net for children – including health, social services, education, plus child protection – experience fewer child abuse/neglect deaths, on average. Experts suggest that this is because fewer families experience difficulties in the first place, and that if child abuse does occur, case workers can investigate more cases more thoroughly, thus protecting more children from potential harm.

The report finds that Rhode Island spends the most per capita – spending $181.34 per person to protect children. Other states that make significant investments in comparison with their counterparts include Pennsylvania ($137.89), Alaska ($129.02), Vermont ($126.31), and California ($121.16). The five states spending the lowest amount on child protection per person include South Carolina ($14.72), Mississippi ($28.82), Maine ($31.88), Nevada ($34.02) and Arkansas ($35.99).

“We need a bigger investment in case workers, whether it is number of staff or additional training,” said Rebecca Myers, L.S.W., director, external relations at the National Association of Social Workers. “Child protection workers are often the first line of defense in protecting children living in high-risk situations, but caseloads in some jurisdictions are as high as 60 or more, even though national standards recommend 12 or fewer cases per worker.”

Poverty is closely associated with child abuse and neglect.

Experts say stopping deaths due to child abuse and neglect requires addressing poverty, particularly during challenging economic times. While no level of household income or educational level makes a family immune to this issue, a child living in poverty is 22 times more likely to be abused than children living in families with an annual income of $30,000 or more.

Recent Census figures show that states with the highest levels of children living in poverty are Arizona (26%), New Mexico (26%), Kentucky (24%), Alabama (24%) and Mississippi (24%). States with the lowest levels of child poverty are New Hampshire (9%), Utah (9%), Alaska (10%), Vermont (10%), Maryland (10%) and Connecticut (10%).

The report comes as Congress works to reauthorize the Child Abuse and Treatment Act. Let’s hope they do the right thing and increase funding for this very important program.