FRANKFORT, Ky. - 'Tis the season for giving – and the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association (KDVA) is looking for folks to give their time to help working families file their taxes next year, at no cost to them.

The organization's Kentucky Asset Success Initiative (KASI) and its regional partners across the state are searching for volunteers. Vickie Johnson, KDVA's Western Kentucky economic justice coordinator, says they must be willing to be certified by the IRS to prepare taxes.

"The Kentucky Asset Success Initiative serves any low- to moderate-income families. The income cap for our services is a household income of $50,000. We're looking for people who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit."

Johnson says the free tax preparation program saves working families on average of $200 in tax filing fees and also keeps them from taking out high-interest refund anticipation loans. In 2010, KASI filed taxes for more than 11,000 families, prompting more than $17 million in federal and state tax refunds for them.

The volunteers don't have to be tax experts, as they receive training and certification by the IRS, she says.

"They're ordinary folks, some of whom work in social service fields, some are small businesspeople; some work in factories. We have volunteers that really run the spectrum."

KDVA also offers free tax preparation services to help taxpayers understand their returns and claim tax credits for which they're eligible, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which lessens the financial stress felt by those struggling to make ends meet. Johnson says the IRS estimates that 15 to 20 percent of eligible households do not claim the EITC.

"When times are tough, and it's hard to pay bills, and there's unemployment in the household, that's when people get stressed out and tensions rise – and we want healthy communities in our state."

Last year, six coalitions throughout the state had 460 volunteers, who gave more than 25,000 hours of their time. Trainings begin Dec. 15 and continue through early January.



get more stories like this via email

Gov. Mike DeWine recently announced he's providing $30 million to boost rape crisis services statewide, after years of federal funding cuts.

Jennifer Seifert, executive director of the Ohio Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program, said the trauma associated with sexual violence demands a tailored response that crisis centers are staffed and trained to address.

"And that can be all the way from a civil protection order to perhaps filing a Title IX complaint, if they're a college student," she said, "or all the way to maybe mobilizing some housing resources or reporting to law enforcement, getting the evidence collection done at a medical facility."

Since the start of the pandemic, crisis centers have had to cut staff and reduce service areas, as centers saw a 55% jump in monthly hotline calls, along with a rise in survivors seeking emergency shelter, legal advocacy and mental-health services.

Emily Gemar, director of public policy at the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence, explained that the services people need throughout their lifetime to recover from sexual violence, and that the response from law enforcement and prosecutors offices can be costly. She said for every act of sexual violence prevented, more than $122,000 in lifetime costs are averted.

"We know that by investing money into prevention, which was one of the primary reasons for the state funding for sexual assault services, that we are actually saving our state money and improving the quality of life for for all Ohioans," she said.

Rose Beltre, the alliance's executive director, said centers are grappling with how to expand coverage across the state, retain existing services and reach into new areas, and asked, "How can the centers maintain adequate staff to be able to provide services for survivors, holistic and comprehensive services?"

According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Victimization Survey, nearly one in five women and one in 67 men have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lives.

Ohio community groups seeking ways to increase support for sexual assault survivors living with disabilities. A January 23rd training session hosted by the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence will focus on how law enforcement, hospitals, and other institutions can provide equitable services.

Natasha Larson, director of training and member engagement with the Alliance explained it is common for perpetrators to be closely linked to their victims, and can often include family members or staff at a caregiving facility. She said people with disabilities are at higher risk for assault because their abuser can interfere with attempts to report it.

"They may tamper with things," Larson said, "like withholding any assistive technology that they have - mobility aids, communication devices - things that allow them to perform daily tasks."

A 2012 nationwide survey, the first of it's kind published by the Spectrum Institute, found more than one-third of respondents were victims of repeated sexual abuse. More information on the training is online at 'oaesv.org.'

Nicole Kass Colvin, manager of coordinated community responses with the Alliance, added society often views those with disabilities as asexual, and points out that people born with disabilities are less likely to be taught the proper names of body parts, or the definitions of sexual assault and consent.

"This leads to a lack of comprehensive sex education and consent education, which increases risk," she said.

Kass Colvin said Ohioans can help protect their loved ones with disabilities by advocating for increased accessibility in their communities and workplaces.

"When we are able to know ahead of time how to access or activate a trauma-informed qualified interpreter, or services that have accessible spaces, then we're better able to respond to those situations," she said.

Children with disabilities are nearly three times more likely to experience sexual violence, according to the World Health Organization.

A new statewide initiative aims to help connect domestic-violence survivors with medical providers, with a focus on treating traumatic brain injury.

Rachel Ramirez, founder the Ohio Domestic Violence Network's Center on Partner-Inflicted Brain Injury, said survivors often experience severe violence aimed directly at the head, neck and face. But there's been a longstanding gap in accessing the right medical services when individuals come into shelters.

She said $5.12 million dollars in funding will be used to pay for medical services.

"To pay for health care that people are not able to get reimbursed through other means, through Medicaid or insurance. We want to investigate the possibilities of working with occupational therapy to help with brain-injury rehabilitation," Ramirez said.

The three-year project in collaboration with the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers will cover four to six areas of the state. According to data from the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, the state suffered 112 domestic violence-related fatalities between June 2021 and June 2022. More than twenty of those killed were children.

Ramirez said advocates are also working on developing a statewide virtual and call-in center known as the Care Health Connection.

"That will be a place where domestic-violence programs and survivors can also talk to an advocate when they have health-related needs to help them get better connected to either telehealth services, behavioral-health services or other health services in their community," she said.

Emily Kulow, director of mobile advocacy and meaningful access at the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, said the goal is to eliminate barriers that prevent survivors from seeking help, and then providing a holistic approach once a connection has been made.

"So checking in with the survivor about what's going on with their housing, what's going on with their health care. When was the last time they were even seen by a doctor," she said.

According to the National Center for Health Research, women who experience domestic abuse are more likely to suffer from diabetes, asthma, lower back pain, headaches and other chronic conditions.