HB 4133, a bill to bridge the gap in funding for co-located advocate positions in child welfare offices moves to the joint committee on ways and means for consideration after passing the House committee on human services and housing unanimously Wednesday.

Advocates are requesting an additional $850,000 be allocated to the Department of Human Services for funding of domestic violence specialists positions in child welfare offices, making an overall investment of $1.7 million this biennium.

Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal testified before the House committee on human services and housing at the start of the Session. In her testimony, Jayapal pointed to the success of the program, started in 2010. At the program’s inception, the co-located advocate positions were not funded statewide, starting in communities where advocates had capacity to provide services. Jayapal stated that after statewide expansion of the program, “the funding that was originally in place was simply expanded to fund the rest of the state, and as a result, 19 counties lost some of the funding that they had been using.”

Jayapal said of the program, “it’s a small program, but it is really impactful in terms of the people that it serves.” In her testimony she called out the increased safety and stability of survivors and their children provided through the program, and read moving testimonials from survivors and advocates (Jayapal’s full testimony can be watched here).

Representative Ron Noble (R- McMinnville), a chief sponsor of the bill, in his testimony thanked Commissioner Jayapal and asserted the funding “helps keep families together as opposed to penalizing them…because the survivor of domestic violence is unable at that moment, to make either a housing connection, or a food connection.”

The Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) health and human services steering committee will be taking a formal position on HB 4133 at its meeting on Monday, February 10. For questions, contact, AOC Legislative Affairs Manager, Andy Smith.

Contributed by: Megan Chuinard | Public Affairs Associate