Funding cuts impact services for domestic violence survivors, ECLI-VIBES says

Well, funding for agencies that help survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and abuse are speaking out about major cuts to funding. News 12's Julia Rosier has more details about what this means for their services. Today is five years since my daughter Megan Kiefer lost her life to domestic violence. She was 27 years old. There's not a day that's gone that Bevin Landis doesn't think about her daughter Megan. Megan was fatally stabbed by her boyfriend in 2021. The day she died, she really stood her ground. He had to leave. It's horrific. Now, as a volunteer, she wishes she knew about the organization years ago. Had we known about this agency before my daughter's death, that maybe she wouldn't have died. ECLI Vibes is one of dozens of organizations across the state that's losing state and federal funding. The organization says they've lost about $600,000. The governor did the right thing, backfilled about $11.5 million to try to make us whole again, but we're still 30 percent in a deficit at the moment. We're still missing $400,000 per year in funding that we usually get year to year. ECLI Vibes tells me this funding is critical to them as it helps them with staffing, answering calls, and getting people the support they need. This is the worst part of it all, is that people are literally going to voicemail at this time. We cannot pick up every single call that's coming in. ECLI Vibes has helped over 2,200 survivors receive counseling and support last year and answered over 5,600 hotline calls. Us working with these individuals means that there's less violence in homes, that children are not exposed to dangerous situations. To cut the funding is going to actually cost people their lives. In Islandia, Suffolk County, Julia Rozier, News 12. And the spokesperson for The Office of Victim Services says they received an unprecedented response to its 2026 application request. They tell us they're working with the state comptroller to finalize funding as quickly as possible.