Dear Member of Congress:

I stand with the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) in urging you to pass S. 1275, the bipartisan Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act (FVPSA Improvement Act) in this Congress. The FVPSA Improvement bill will re-authorize core support for domestic violence programs and enhance comprehensive responses to domestic violence.

FVPSA is the only federal funding source dedicated to domestic violence shelters and programs. FVPSA helps fund emergency shelter, counseling, legal assistance, crisis intervention, and domestic and dating violence prevention education. FVPSA expired in 2015, and while support continues, it must be reauthorized with critical enhancements to meet survivors’ evolving needs.

More than1,500 local domestic violence programs rely on FVPSA-funding to keep their doors open to more than 1.3 million victims seeking safety each year. NNEDV’s 16th Annual Domestic Violence Counts Report (NNEDV.org/DVCounts2021) reveals that on a single day in 2021, 70,032 domestic violence victims and their children received essential services. On the same day, 9,444 requests for services went unmet because of a lack of resources. There is an urgent need to increase survivors’ access to vital programs as well as to address current unmet needs.

S.1275 bolsters and invests in lifesaving core victim services and shelters, expands support for and access to Tribes, culturally specific programs, and underserved communities, and also meaningfully invests in prevention.

Congress must continue to ensure that when survivors reach out for help, funding for lifesaving services are there to support them and their children.

I urge you to pass S.1275, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act before the end of the year.

Dear Member of Congress:

I stand with the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) in urging you to pass S. 1275, the bipartisan Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act (FVPSA Improvement Act) in this Congress. The FVPSA Improvement bill will re-authorize core support for domestic violence programs and enhance comprehensive responses to domestic violence.

FVPSA is the only federal funding source dedicated to domestic violence shelters and programs. FVPSA helps fund emergency shelter, counseling, legal assistance, crisis intervention, and domestic and dating violence prevention education. FVPSA expired in 2015, and while support continues, it must be reauthorized with critical enhancements to meet survivors’ evolving needs.

More than1,500 local domestic violence programs rely on FVPSA-funding to keep their doors open to more than 1.3 million victims seeking safety each year. NNEDV’s 16th Annual Domestic Violence Counts Report (NNEDV.org/DVCounts2021) reveals that on a single day in 2021, 70,032 domestic violence victims and their children received essential services. On the same day, 9,444 requests for services went unmet because of a lack of resources. There is an urgent need to increase survivors’ access to vital programs as well as to address current unmet needs.

S.1275 bolsters and invests in lifesaving core victim services and shelters, expands support for and access to Tribes, culturally specific programs, and underserved communities, and also meaningfully invests in prevention.

Congress must continue to ensure that when survivors reach out for help, funding for lifesaving services are there to support them and their children.

I urge you to pass S.1275, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act before the end of the year.