JOE TASCA: Before we talk about the group and its mission, talk to me a little bit about why it came into existence. Why did the Governor feel the need to sign an executive order establishing this panel now? What’s happening in Rhode Island to prompt the need for a Domestic Violence Working Group?
LUCY RIOS: Well, I can tell you that when the governor for took office in 2021, our coalition made it a priority to get in front of him and his staff, to let them know about what we were seeing what we were experiencing during the pandemic, because at the time when risks for violence had intensified, programs were receiving drastic federal cuts to funding. And so we needed to raise the alarm about what was happening. Last year, we received 13,839 calls to our helpline for referrals, for emotional support, for safety planning. That was an unusually high number for us. And also, during the pandemic, we saw increases to our helpline call by 90% in some months. Definitely the pandemic has intensified risk factors for violence. So some of those are isolation, unemployment, financial hardship, those stressors are linked with increased rates of violence. And so the pandemic layered this public health crisis on top of another one.
TASCA: What have the last two years been like? Has there been any difference in the type of client that you’re seeing – the person that’s coming in and seeking help? What’s been different, If anything?
RIOS: One of the things we’re seeing more and more is survivors and children sleeping in their cars, right? This homelessness, and this housing shortage is really different than what we’ve seen in the past. Not only is the data showing us how important it is to address safe, affordable housing for survivors, and not just emergency shelter, because that’s one piece, right? But also, what happens after that. What happens after they’re out of the immediate crisis? How do they get an apartment, a unit in the community that is safe and affordable?
TASCA: What’s your initial sense about what needs to change now? There are conversations to be had and more details to be worked out. But are there any immediate policy changes that need to happen in order to improve the outcomes of clients that seek help as a result of domestic violence?
RIOS: We do have some legislative priorities right now, as an organization that we are working on. One of them is address confidentiality bill, which would provide a measure of safety for survivors. After they’ve left the abuse, many times, in order to vote or to complete state documents, you have to state your address, and for someone who’s hiding, because they don’t want their abusive partner to find them, that can put them at risk for violence, and that risk of being found. And so the address confidentiality bill would help provide a new program that would be managed out of the Secretary of State’s office, to allow survivors to be able to have their address locked and use a PO box instead. So that’s one but I can’t speak for the working group, because that’s the work that we’re trying to do together.
TASCA: Some people might look at something that’s titled, a Domestic Violence Working Group and just kind of scoff and say, okay, this is more government bureaucracy. This is just people sitting around a table engaging in fruitless conversation that doesn’t really address the problems on the ground. How are you and the other members of this panel going to determine the effectiveness of this working group? What’s the end game here?
RIOS: I think the end game will be the recommendations that get lifted up. So what did we learn? How do we communicate what we’ve learned in the process of evaluating our different systems? So once we identify what those policy recommendations are, which organizations have to partner together to make sure that what gets listed up as important, then becomes a law change? If that’s what’s required, or changing a system and or change in practice. I want people to understand that even though there may be 15 people around the table, all of the ideas, all of the information is coming from the community itself as well. Are there gaps that we can address? Are there reforms that can be made? Are there improvements that we can make collectively to make it so that we improve our response and we don’t continue to lose our family members and loved ones in Rhode Island? And so that’s the now, that’s the urgency.
TASCA: Lucy, thank you so much for doing this. I appreciate your time.
RIOS: Thank you very much for having me.
Joe Tasca can be reached at jtasca@ripr.org
