Explanation
Background:
This legislation authorizes the City of Columbus to accept and appropriate a $20,106.56 U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant subaward from Franklin County Board of Commissioners’ Office of Justice Policy and Programs (2022-JAG-2000). Award dollars fund a portion of total compensation for the Columbus City Attorney’s Blueprint for Safety Director to continue leadership of the county-wide Blueprint for Safety Interagency Domestic Response initiative through December 31th, 2024. This position was previously supported with a federal U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, Office on Violence Against Women grant, and the city and county see value in continued investment in this role. This grant, plus an investment from the City Attorney’s general fund, will fund this position through the end of 2024, and will be fully funded through contributions from the county and the city in 2025.
According to the Ohio Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, 1 in 5 Ohio households have experienced intimate partner violence and these impacted households also report significantly higher rates of poor physical health, stroke, asthma, depression, binge drinking and unlocked firearms in the home. This emphasizes that households experiencing violence not only deal with the immediate impact of physical injuries and the emotional turmoil resulting from the ongoing controlling behavior of their abusers but are more also more likely to struggle with poor physical, mental and behavioral health across their lifetimes--chronic conditions that impact their ability to work, engage with support systems and thrive in their daily lives. Domestic violence impacts victims, household members, colleagues, employers and schools. Domestic violence touches everyone.
The Blueprint for Safety initiative is organized with a multi-disciplinary team at its f...
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