Thousands of New Yorkers experience domestic violence every day.  
They require access to resources and services that can help enhance their safety.  
By investing in critical, life-sustaining services, legislators can ensure  
DV survivors have the support they need to heal and move forward.  

• New York State has the highest demand for domestic violence services in the country.  
• NNEDV National Survey:  
• On one day in 2024, more than 10,000 adult and child victims of domestic violence sought services from local DV programs.  
• On that same day, more than 1,700 victims did not receive the help they  
  asked for – a 64% increase in unmet demand from the year before. 
• Despite being frontline, essential workers, DV advocates have never received a cost-of-living adjustment or other salary increases that other human service workers have received. DV programs cannot retain staff or recruit new employees, resulting in hundreds of vacancies across DV programs statewide. Please support legislation to ensure DV advocates are included in any future COLA or inflationary increase on contracts. 
• New York’s judges fail to recognize and appropriately respond to DV and child abuse in child custody and visitation proceedings. This has led to several tragedies. We must require courts to prioritize the safety of children. This is the goal of Kyra’s Law, which would require the court to hold a prompt hearing when allegations of DV or child abuse are made. If the Legislature fails to act, more children’s lives will be tragically harmed or lost. 
• DV abusers often use their victims’ financial information to apply for credit cards, obtain loans, or open financial accounts, often without the victim’s consent or knowledge. These actions can destroy a DV survivor’s credit rating, making it difficult for them to create financial independence. It can also lead to a mountain of debt in the survivor’s name. Legislation is needed to ensure survivors are not held liable for this coerced debt and creditors should be required to cease collection activities if they find the debt was coerced. 
• New York State relies on nonprofit DV agencies to provide critical services to families experiencing DV. Providing DV services comes at a cost, and it is incumbent upon New York State to pay for these services in a timely manner. Yet many DV programs report long delays in the execution of contracts and reimbursements. We urge the Legislature to pass legislation to help alleviate these contracting and payment delays.  

Frequently Asked Questions: 

Q: How are actions in Washington affecting your organization and DV services? 

A: Federal agencies are now reviewing the use of their funding to ensure compliance with recent Presidential Executive Orders. More than 90% of the funding New York State uses to support DV services comes from the federal government (e.g., FVPSA, VAWA, VOCA). The State has no other mechanism to fund our services if this funding is cut or if significant restrictions are placed on its use. We are already seeing harmful provisions added to HUD contracts that would prohibit the use of grant funds to promote all DV survivors. We are elevating this issue to the Governor and AG to find a way to ensure DV services remain available for everyone. 

Q: This year’s budget included a significant investment in the STRIVE program. How do you think that program is going? 

A: The STRIVE program is intended to support collaborations between local DV programs, law enforcement and prosecutors. The funding is being used to enhance responses to DV and better address the needs of victims. The funding is earmarked for 20 jurisdictions across the state and has not been distributed yet, to the best of my knowledge. NYSCADV has been following the program’s roll-out. If you’d like more information about it, I can put you in touch with them. 

Literature Drop Off Script   

Good afternoon. My name is [name] and I am the [title] at [name of agency/organization]. (If appropriate: I am a constituent in [name of Senator or Assembly Member]’s district.) I’m in Albany today for NYSCADV’s Legislative Day of Action.  

We have several legislative requests that we’d like the Legislature to consider.  Here is a copy of those requests if [name of Senator or Assembly Member] would like to review them. 

Most important, we are asking the Legislature to pass Kyra’s Law and ensure domestic violence advocates are included in the COLA. 

Thank you!