While approving an additional $40 million for the Oakland Police Department, last night Oakland's City Council refused to allocate the $3.65 million needed to maintain current funding for community-based organizations funded by Oakland's Department of Violence Prevention.
Any cut to DVP-funded community-based organizations will devastate Oakland's response to violence. For example, the DVP funds FVLC's hotline, that annually receives calls from more than 1,500 Oakland survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Cutting funding to a hotline that provides essential safety net services is short-sighted and dangerous. A safety net with gaping holes will not provide much safety.
Read more in FVLC's letter and memo to the Oakland City Council or listen here to FVLC's Policy & Advocacy Manager Tunisia Owen's comments about this issue on KALW. A summary of last night's budget vote can be found here.
If you live in Oakland, please contact your city council member to demand that they find a way to fully fund these programs. Adjustments to the budget can still be made. You can find your city council member's contact information here.
Please also consider donating to FVLC. These cuts mean that we will need your help to make sure that Oakland survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault get help when they need it most.
If you are interested in getting more involved, please contact FVLC's Policy Team at policy@fvlc.org.
