skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, May 17, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Millions under threat of strong tornadoes and violent winds as storm danger increases Friday; Expanded Clean Slate laws in NC, US could improve public safety; TX farmers and ranchers benefit from federal conservation funds; Head Start supports WA parents, celebrates 60 years.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Omaha elects its first Black mayor, U.S. Supreme Court considers whether lower courts can prevent Trump administration's removal of birthright citizenship, and half of states consider their own citizenship requirements for voter registration.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

New Mexico's acequia irrigation system is a model of democratic governance, buying a house in rural America will get harder under the Trump administration's draft 2026 budget, and physicians and medical clinics serving rural America are becoming a rarity.

Ohio Domestic-Violence Deaths Rise as Programs Face Cuts

play audio
Play

Tuesday, October 6, 2020   

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- New data is highlighting the need to strengthen programs that help prevent and respond to domestic violence. An annual report from the Ohio Domestic Violence Network reveals 109 Ohioans died as the result of domestic violence in the year ending June 30 2020 - a 35% increase from the year before.

During the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic-violence fatalities were 14% higher than during the same period in 2019. Jo Simonsen, family systems advocacy director with ODVN, said this comes as a primary source of funding for domestic-violence programs, the federal Crime Victims Fund, was cut by one-third statewide.

"While the need is still there and we're actually seeing sort of increases in severity in some of the cases we've heard about most recently, the dollars have dropped off, and that's going to be significant for our program," Simonsen said. "We're still encouraging victims or survivors to reach out to us."

State funding for domestic-violence programs in Ohio is $1 million annually, compared with $5 million in Indiana, $6.7 million in Kentucky and nearly $16 million in Pennsylvania. Simonsen said ODVN is calling for $5 million in general fund support to provide prevention services, victim advocacy support and permanent housing assistance.

The domestic-violence deaths in the report include four children and one police officer responding to a call. At least 70% of the fatalities were caused by a gun and, Simonsen added, 40% involved a homicide-suicide case.

"That's an important number to think about. You know, what does mental health mean in this case when people are pushed to the point of making a tragic decision to harm their partner, ex-partner or children and then take their own life?" She said. "So what can be done to prevent those kinds of cases?"

She said the data is extremely useful to help domestic-violence organizations and law enforcement evaluate interventions such as protection orders and identify ways to prevent intimate-partner violence fatalities.

"Risk-reduction opportunities or building protective factors, building the resiliency of children that witness domestic violence; accounting for hyper-masculinity and dangerous social norms, that kind of support perpetration of domestic violence," she said.

More than 200 people are expected to attend ODVN's annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month event today, which will be held virtually for the first time.

Disclosure: The Ohio Domestic Violence Network contributes to our fund for reporting on Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Since its inception in 1965, Head Start has served nearly 40 million children and their families. (Save the Children)

Social Issues

play sound

This Sunday is the 60th anniversary of Head Start, the federally funded preschool program supporting more than 12,000 children, up to age four…


Environment

play sound

By Dawn Attride for Sentient.Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for Arkansas News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaborati…

Environment

play sound

Friday is Endangered Species Day and experts are reminding Rhode Islanders of the plight of the North Atlantic right whale. Right whales' habitat is …


The peninsular bighorn sheep is federally listed as an endangered species. (Chrismr/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Today, on the 20th anniversary of Endangered Species Day, conservation advocates warn polices of President Donald Trump's administration are …

Environment

play sound

New data show Arizona's two largest airports have fared well for on-time departures and arrivals but the same cannot be said about U.S. airlines in …

Eastern hellbenders reproduce from late August to October, with females laying 150-450 eggs that males guard and oxygenate until they hatch, in 45 to 75 days. (Ondreicka/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

It is Endangered Species Day, a reminder some plants and wildlife need protection, like Pennsylvania's eastern hellbender. It is the state's …

Social Issues

play sound

Legal groups are weighing an appeal after a court ruling this week that left voters in several states, including North Dakota, at a disadvantage in …

Environment

play sound

By Dawn Attride for Sentient.Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Greater Dakota News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaborati…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021