MONTGOMERY— Sixteen domestic violence agencies across Alabama whose primary focus is to assist victims will receive additional financial assistance through the state’s Domestic Violence Trust Fund, Gov. Kay Ivey announced.

The trust fund, enacted by the Legislature in 2015 and endorsed by then Lt. Gov. Ivey, was established to provide supplemental revenue for agencies to provide shelter and other needs for victims and conduct educational and prevention programs.

“Domestic violence is crime that affects the entire state and can easily destroy lives and devastate families,” Ivey said. “This additional funding through the state Domestic Violence Trust Fund will enable these agencies to reach more victims and provide them with critical assistance.”

Funded through a marriage license fee, the trust fund is managed by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. Funds are issued on a quarterly basis to agencies. Appropriations to each agency are determined by several factors, including service area population and the number of domestic violence occurrences within those service areas.

“Gov. Ivey recognizes that strong partnerships among these agencies has made it possible that Alabamians who unfortunately become victims of abuse have a place to turn to for help,” ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said. “ADECA is pleased to play a role in making these additional funds available to support victims.”

In the first three quarters of fiscal year 2018, ADECA has distributed a total of $1.51 million from the trust fund to agencies statewide.

Domestic violence agencies allocated to receive funds and the counties they serve are:

• Baldwin Family Violence Center (Baldwin, Conecuh, Escambia and Monroe counties)

• House of Ruth (Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and Pike counties)
• SABRA Sanctuary (Dallas, Greene, Marengo, Perry, Sumter and Wilcox)
• Montgomery Area Family Violence Program (Autauga, Butler, Chilton, Crenshaw, Elmore, Lowndes and Montgomery counties)
• Crisis Center of Russell County (Russell County)
• Domestic Violence Intervention Center (Chambers, Lee, Macon, Randolph and Tallapoosa counties)
• Safehouse of Shelby County (Clay, Coosa and Shelby counties)
• SAN (Turning Point) (Bibb, Fayette, Hale, Lamar, Pickens and Tuscaloosa counties)
• YWCA of Central Alabama (Blount, Jefferson and St. Clair counties)
• Second Chance (Calhoun, Cleburne, Etowah, and Talladega counties)
• Family Resource Center of Northwest Alabama (Walker County)
• Safeplace Inc. (Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Marion and Winston counties)
• Domestic Violence Crisis Services (Cherokee, DeKalb, and Marshall counties)
• AshaKiran (Madison County)
• Crisis Services of North Alabama (Jackson, Limestone, Madison and Morgan counties)

ADECA administers an array of programs supporting law enforcement and traffic safety, economic development, energy conservation, water resource management and recreation development.

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