PathWays PA Policy Blog

From our friends at the PCADV The House of Representatives will negotiate amendments to the House budget bill, HB2328 , this week. As advocates, we must keep the pressure on the Legislature to make the safety of PA citizens a priority with a funding increase to domestic violence and rape crisis services. One option being considered by leadership is to pass a bare-bones budget that does not raise taxes and eliminates the Governor's proposed increase to education, human services, domestic violence and rape crisis services, so your advocacy is more crucial than ever! Your support is more crucial than ever! You could: Call your members of the General Assembly and tell them to support Amendment A07794 offered to HB 2329 by Representative Sheryl Delozier Click here to send a message to your House and Senate members urging them to support Amendment A07794. Click here to message Senate members requesting support for an increase in domestic violence and rape crisis services fu...

From our friends at the National Partnership for Women and Families. No one should have to choose between staying employed and staying safe. Join the National Partnership for Women & Families (@NPWF), Half in Ten (@halfinten), Futures Without Violence (@WithoutViolence), Legal Momentum (@LegalMomentum), National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (@endsxlviolence) and National Network to End Domestic Violence (@nnedv) for a tweet chat on Today, May 15th at 2:00 pm about the intersection of economic security and domestic violence and sexual assault. Hashtag #SafeWomenSucceed. Sample tweets below: No one should have to choose bw staying employed & staying safe. Let's talk about DV/SA & economic security 5/15 @ 2pmET #SafeWomenSucceed Join the discussion about domestic & sexual violence & economic security 5/15 @ 2pmET #SafeWomenSucceed #talkpoverty #paidsickdays

VIsit  http://bit.ly/1pVBz0E to learn more #Tweetaboutit Tuesdays are chats happening on Twitter every Tuesday in April as a part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). Join experts and the online community for a live discussion. Tuesday, April 8 @ 2pm EST: Healthy teen sexuality. Hosted by Sex, Etc. ( @sexetc ). Sex ed perspectives on teen relationships, communication and consent. Tuesday, April 15 @ 2pm EST: Creating change on campus. Hosted by SAFER Campus ( @safercampus ), Students Active for Ending Rape on best practices for campus reform and prevention. Tuesday, April 22 @ 2pm EST: Engaging LGBTQ Youth. Hosted by Advocates for Youth ( @advocatestweets ). Creating spaces for all youth voices and inclusive outreach to LGBTQ young people. Tuesday, April 29 @ 2pm EST: #SAAM 2014 recap and feedback. Hosted by NSVRC ( @NSVRC ) Share your #SAAM highlights, feedback and ideas. How to participate: Log in to Twitter.com each Tuesday in April at 2pm EST and search #T...

http://www.pasaysnomore.com/ is a website where you can share stories of domestic violence and get valuable information and resources. The No More campaign is bringing together all people, organizations and communities that support ending domestic violence and sexual assault in our society. The website is part of a joint effort between PCADV (Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence) and PCAR (Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape) to get all Pennsylvanians to join voices and say no more to domestic violence and sexual assault.

There were an estimated 26,000 cases of sexual assault last year, but only 3,000 were reported. And when a survivor does file a complaint, the commander in charge has the ability to set aside guilty verdicts, return the attacker into the ranks, and in some cases even promote the attacker. This legislation transcends party politics - with Republicans and Democrats signing on to support the bill. They understand that our service members deserve better, and they're willing to work together to make it happen. Tell your Senators you won't accept anything less than a strong solution for military survivors of sexual assault. Keep up the pressure on your Senators to support this legislation. Ask them to stand with Senator Gillibrand.

A proposed bill in Congress called the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act , or STOP Act, would create an independent, professional office in the military to investigate, and prosecute sexual assault, instead of leaving the decisions in the hands of commanders who can act at their own discretion. The STOP Act would still keep the authority over sexual assault cases in the military-just not in the hands of individual commanders who are not trained to handle these cases. Nearly 3,200 cases of sexual assault in the military were reported in 2010, yet the Department of Defense estimates the actual number of assaults to be 19,000 since most cases are never reported. Please urge your representative to cosponsor the STOP Act (H.R. 1593) and fundamentally change how sexual assault is handled in the military.

Take action now and tell your Senators today to end the extreme policy that prohibits women in the Peace Corps who become pregnant due to rape or whose life is at risk because of pregnancy from getting an abortion. The Peace Corps is a federal program that sends over 8,000 American volunteers abroad each year to promote world peace and friendship. Women make up more than 60 percent of these volunteers. And though other women who receive health care coverage through the federal government have coverage of abortion in cases of rape, incest, and to protect the life of the woman, Peace Corps volunteers are prohibited from receiving the same coverage as federal employees. It's time to end the unconscionable ban on abortion coverage for Peace Corps volunteers in the cases of rape, incest and life endangerment to the woman. Tell your Senators to support the Peace Corps Equity Act to end this extreme policy.

A new report by the Department of Justice gives hope to victims of sexual violence, but also reveals much work still needs to be done.  The report highlights improving statistics including: From 1995 to 2010, the estimated annual rate of female rape or sexual assault victimizations declined 58%.  The percentage of females who were injured during a rape or sexual assault and received some type of treatment for their injuries increased from 26% in 1994-98 to 35% in 2005-10.  Some areas for improvement include: The percentage of rape or sexual assault victimizations reported to police declined to 35% in 2010, a level last seen in 1995.  In 2005-10, 23% rape or sexual assault victims received help or advice from a victim service agency.

Thanks to The Advocates Agenda for letting us repost. Corbett Administration and County Commissioners Association Going to the Mat for Human Services Block Grant PA House tweaks the Senate passed budget bill to spend more on early childhood care and education, domestic violence, rape crisis centers and public libraries June 5th – Tuesday brought stepped up debate and political posturing about Pennsylvania’s budget. The morning started with Pennsylvania Lt. Governor Jim Cawley putting forth a united front with the County Commissioners Association of PA (CCAP) touting the benefits of “a new way of doing business” that will result from block granting certain state funding. Department of Public Welfare Secretary Gary Alexander said the “landmark block grant” would deliver real “innovation, control and flexibility” at the local level. Cawley stressed the Corbett Administration is committed to transforming “the relationship between the state and local governments.” Ber...

PATHWAYS PA ADOPT-A-FAMILY PROGRAM With the holidays right around the corner, it is time for PathWays PA's Adopt-a-Family. The Adopt-a-Family program offers the families who receive PathWays PA services many of the joys of the holiday season they may otherwise be without. Thanks to the generous contributions of local donors, special memories of holidays past have been created for the families we serve. Thousands of client families have benefited from this program through the years! This year, client families will again be partnered with donors based on their size and the ages of their children. After being paired up with a client family, a wish list will be sent to the donors with the receiving family's genders, ages, clothing sizes and their holiday wishes. The donor family chooses to purchase any or all of the items on the clients' list, or substitute items that they feel the client may enjoy. Non-perishable food baskets are also welcomed. This program is a source...

Earlier this summer the Administration adopted regulations restricting abortion coverage in the new federal and state high-risk pool plans . Abortion coverage will only be allowed in the cases of rape, incest, or danger to the woman’s life. The high-risk pool plans will be offered to people with pre-existing conditions, such as breast cancer, so this decision means that thousands of women with serious medical conditions will lack coverage from abortions they may need because of risks to their health. Legal analysis of the issue shows that neither the Hyde Amendment, which restricts the use of Labor-HHS federal funding for abortions, nor the Nelson Amendment, which restricts the abortions in the insurance exchange section of the federal health care reform law, apply to the high-risk pools. Raising Women’s Voices of Southeastern Pennsylvania, a coalition that PathWays PA is a member of, is asking people to sign onto a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services urging ...

In Pennsylvania, lawmakers spent some time last week debating whether or not to designate the month of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month under a bill that Representative John Siptroth brings to the floor each year . While it was introduced as a “noncontroversial resolution,” the bill gained its share of controversy on Thursday when Representative Daryl Metcalfe blocked the bill, declaring it had a “homosexual agenda.” When asked later, the Representative stated that he had a problem with a phrase in the resolution that read, “ one in six women and one in 33 men have experienced an attempted or completed rape. " While most of us think of domestic violence as occurring to women, this incident brings home the fact that men also suffer as victims of domestic violence – from female and male partners . What matters in the end is not the gender of the person committing the violence or the gender of the victim – what matters is that over 2 million women and men are physical...

PA Budget Breakthrough! Over the weekend, Governor Rendell held a press conference to announce his support of a modified version of the "three-caucus" budget proposal that has been making the rounds since September 10. While details are still emerging, it is expected that the budget will include: $27.9 billion in spending - this is $400 million less in spending than in the last fiscal year. Without federal stimulus dollars, the budget would be about $2 billion less than last year. Increased business taxes and cigarette tax rates (and the expansion of the cigarette tax to cigarillos) Extension of the sales tax to theater and concert tickets Table games at casinos Increased education spending of about $300 million This version of the budget is expected to be debated next week in the House and Senate, with possible passage by the end of the week (though it will more likely continue into the week of September 28). Once the budget is passed, Governor Rendell noted that the Sta...

While state workers have begun to receive paychecks and some essential services will receive funds, many institutions and organizations that rely on state funding continue to go without until the remainder of the budget is passed. These include schools, hospitals, and non-profit organizations making tough decisions that could lead to laying-off workers, cutting services, or closing their doors because of funding tied up until the budget is passed. A budget is needed quickly, but it must also be a budget that supports Pennsylvanians. As budget proposals continue to be negotiated, important programs are still at risk of being cut. It is crucial for legislators to hear from their constituents about what programs are important. If you are upset about the budget proposals, which include cuts ranging from education to hospitals to the elimination of the Industry Partnership program , please tell your legislators how you would finish this sentence : “If the choice is between reduc...

It is day 36 of the current fiscal year and today the Governor signed a “stop-gap” budget, which only funds a small fraction of the Commonwealth’s expenses. While state workers will begin receiving paychecks and some essential services will receive funds, many institutions and organizations that rely on state funding will have to go without until the remainder of the budget is passed. These include schools, hospitals, and non-profit organizations that may have to make tough decisions that could lead to laying-off workers, cutting services, or having to close their doors because their funding is tied up until the budget is passed. As budget proposals will continue to be negotiated, important programs are still at risk of being cut. It is crucial for legislators to continue to hear from their constituents about what programs Pennsylvania cannot afford to cut. If you are upset about the budget proposals, which include cuts ranging from education to hospitals to the elimination of the...