Federal Funding Freezes Have Chilling Effect on Rural Domestic Violence Resources
The U.S. Department of Justice has ceased several funding opportunities historically allocated to domestic violence organizations, leaving local leaders with unclear paths toward future programming
By Maggie Dresser
For the last 27 years, survivors attempting to escape abusive and violent relationships and family situations on the Blackfeet Nation have had one of few dedicated resources available to keep them safe.
Covering the 1.5 million acres of sovereign land isolated against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountain Front and the gateway to Glacier National Park’s eastern entrance, the Blackfeet Domestic Violence Program provides services like transportation, clothing, diapers, food and legal support for clients experiencing abuse.
Since launching in 1998, the program has always experienced instability as funding comes and goes while relationships between local agencies frequently fluctuates as leadership shifts.
“This is the first time we’ve had much stability in a long time,” Blackfeet Domestic Violence Program Director Victoria Augare said.
Historically, the domestic violence program has utilized federal grants through the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), including the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW).
But amid the Trump administration’s efforts to cut federal spending, those DOJ funding sources have evaporated. An open notice announced Feb. 6 stated that the “OVW has withdrawn notices of funding opportunities, and you should not finalize any applications started under them” for fiscal year 2025.
The last OVW grant Augare received gave the program some more stability with $315,000 allocated for three years. But without the DOJ grants, she was forced to lay off three staff members including a victim advocate, a part-time on-call victim advocate and the groundskeeper.
In addition to emergency services like providing food and transportation, the organization also aides in providing long-term solutions for survivors like helping with a rental deposit and resources to help maintain their safety and escape their abuser.
“We probably won’t be helping with rent,” Augare said.
The Blackfeet Domestic Violence Program is one of many resources facing uncertainty as federal funding cuts threaten these types of nonprofits.
While the Abbie Shelter in the Flathead Valley will maintain its funding for now, future grant cycles are unclear.
In 2024, Abbie Shelter Executive Director Kristen Schepker said 36% of the domestic violence organization’s revenue came from federal funds including Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services (FVPSA), and VAWA.
“That’s a big deal for us,” Schepker said. “If that money is no longer available, we are going to need to dramatically rethink our funding development strategies as an organization.”
Schepker in January applied for the VOCA grant, requesting $250,000 over a two-year cycle, but she has only heard that her application was received at the time of its submission and nothing more.
As federal workforce cuts continue, Schepker says it’s unclear if there are employees left to process her application or administer funding.
“What is deeply concerning to us right now is the recent reductions in workforce that have taken place across the federal government,” Schepker said. “It’s one thing to know that Congress approved a federal budget, but how are these funds going to get administered if they are no longer in their offices? The federal government moves slowly in good times so I’m not panicking yet, but I’m very troubled by the leadership.”
Schepker is actively exploring other funding options, which could include state grants and a heavier reliance on private donations, but she’s also working to address the Abbie Shelter’s rise in demand.
While payroll for the seven staff members is the organization’s largest expense, Schepker said layoffs will be a last resort.
Operating on a $1 million annual budget, the Abbie Shelter served more than 1,000 individuals with programming that includes shelter beds and connections to resources like counseling and legal services. The nonprofit has also expanded its community engagement and partnered with agencies and local businesses that have requested educational opportunities within their organizations.
“Intimate partner violence is everywhere, and it’s such a prevalent issue,” Schepker said. “Anyone could learn from our team.”
At Safe Harbor, a domestic violence shelter operating out of Ronan on the Flathead Indian Reservation, Director of Development Dana Grant says education and prevention is an essential part of the work they do, which includes outreach with local schools and community organizations.
In addition to the presentations the nonprofit proves for 1,000 youth each year, it also partners with Salish Kootenai College and provides shelter, transportation, counseling, a 24-hour hotline and legal support.
With an annual budget that hovers around $850,000, federal funding accounts for about one-third of operating costs. Grant says one of the organization’s largest expenses aside from payroll is the legal services offered to survivors.
“The reason that’s so vital is when they don’t have that assistance, it’s hard for them to move forward from what’s happening,” Grant said. “If they can’t clearly be defended through the legal process, they have to engage with each other. It creates the potential for violence and a further loss of power.”
At the Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA), the agency’s attorneys provide legal support for domestic violence survivors across the state, assisting in things like temporary orders of protection, custody and parenting plans.
“Research shows that attorneys make the biggest difference in staying away from abusers,” MLSA Executive Director Alison Paul. “The power and control that an abuser has is the children. If you don’t have a lawyer, how will you make sure you get custody of your children? It’s the same with temporary orders of protection. You often need a lawyer to get that.”
In 2024, the MLSA office handled 4,502 cases statewide, 1,600 of which were for domestic violence.
With an annual budget of around $10 million per year, the MLSA also utilizes grant funding and, while their money is still flowing, Paul said they are prepared for grant terminations as uncertainty persists.
If MLSA does lose federal funding, Paul says the consequences will be severe.
“The system will collapse,” Paul said. “The state does not fund us for legal services – 70% of money is federal. If we lose federal funding, we will be smaller and take a lot less cases and people will not have resources.”
In Ronan, Safe Harbor provides legal assistance to nearly half of its 800 primary clients. Additionally, the shelter serves more than 200 secondary clients, which include children and elderly individuals.
More than half of Safe Harbor’s clients are Native American, but Grant clarifies that those numbers don’t include Salish Kootenai College students who come from other areas or some individuals who come from mixed-race families.
Violence on reservations also affects Native Americans disproportionately. According to the National Library of Medicine, more than 84% of American Indian and Alaska Native women experience some form of violence in their lifetime, nearly three times that of white women.
Additionally, Grant says the shelter’s location on the Flathead Indian Reservation presents other unique challenges. For example, different jurisdictions add another layer of response from a variety of agencies like the Ronan and Polson police departments, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Police and the Montana Highway Patrol.
“Sometimes, that can be a challenge – to make sure people are served in the best way,” Grant said.
On the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Augare said she has worked for years to foster a good relationship with local law enforcement, which also includes Blackfeet Law Enforcement Service and the Glacier County Sheriff’s Office.
Augare says there’s high turnover among local law enforcement agencies and the domestic violence program has historically worked to train authorities on appropriate responses to these types of calls. But there hasn’t been funding in recent years to help educate these law enforcement officers.
“We really want to build that relationship,” Augare said. “It’s been lost in the past because of the lack of education, and that really broke down during Covid. We’ve been trying to get stabilized again.”
Like the Flathead Indian Reservation, there are also jurisdictional and logistical complications on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, especially when they are serving clients in Heart Butte, which lies in Pondera County.
The rural nature of Indian reservations adds logistical challenges for domestic violence survivors, Augare says, and since the Blackfeet Domestic Violence Program does not offer shelter beds, staff provides transportation to other shelters or safe locations across the state. Kalispell and Great Falls, for example, are more than 100 miles from Browning.
As complications like this have long persisted on the Blackfeet Nation, Augare said while funding cuts will reduce their services, instability is nothing new.
“It’s always been on a shoestring budget,” Augare said.