COVINGTON, Ky. — Federal funding cuts have created concerns for the head of northern Kentucky's most prominent treatment center and a survivor starting up her own program.
Both said they’ll need to rely on community partners to continue protecting victims.
The Ion Center for Violence Prevention works to take care of people hurt by “power–based violence" and prevent it from happening in the first place. That can include intimate partner violence, sexual violence, stalking, child abuse, harassment and more.
The Ion Center is state-mandated and designated as the second-largest program in Kentucky. The work takes many resources.
“Eighty-five percent of it is grant funded,” said CEO Christy Burch.
Burch said 37% of the budget is federally funded. Recent cuts to federal funding have left her concerned.
“It is affecting us, so I think for us, we’re really trying to understand how we’re impacted,” she said.
One source of funding the center receives is the Rural Domestic Violence Grant.
“That grant in those communities has allowed us to reach over 200% more survivors of violence,” Burch said. “If that money is gone, that would be very difficult for us to maintain those positions and maintain that presence.”
Ashley Minks, a former client of the center, said she was trapped in a domestic violence situation in Grant County about eight years ago.
She said the breaking point came when she elbowed the face of her abuser while defending herself.
“His face turned pale, and his eyes went black," Minks said. "And he literally just dragged me around the living room floor, just every punch he could connect to my face, he was doing that."
"I made a promise to myself that if I got out of that situation, that I would be a life link for someone. And that’s kind of what I’m trying to form.”"I made a promise to myself that if I got out of that situation, that I would be a life link for someone. And that’s kind of what I’m trying to form.”
Minks founded Hopeful Haven Co., which will offer a support group for survivors like her in Grant and surrounding counties starting this March. Right now, she’s focused on fundraising and doesn’t think she’ll receive much in the way of federal grants.
“When I found out they were going to be cutting sources, it made me want to do this even more,” she said. “I just want to help the people here because we get forgotten about."
"People are staying in these relationships because they literally have nowhere else to go. So instead of giving us the funds so that we can help these people and build facilities and make them safe, they’re cutting our funds.”
According to the Ion Center, Kentucky has the second-highest rate of intimate partner violence in the nation at 47% versus the national average of 23%.
We’ve got to make sure — we’ve been here 49 years — we can’t stop doing what we’re doing." “Survivors of intimate partner violence don’t care about orders," Burch said. "They care about services. We’ve got to make sure — we’ve been here 49 years — we can’t stop doing what we’re doing."
She said, given the uncertainty, the center will have to rely on donations and private funders more than ever before.
Along with President Donald Trump’s first round of executive orders, the Office of Management and Budget has placed a temporary pause on some federal grant and loan disbursement programs.
While a temporary court order has challenged the pause, it is still in effect and left concerns for those helping. Now, domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking victims and other survivor groups around the country could face financial burdens.
At the top of the U.S. Office on Violence Against Women website on Jan. 27, a small notice said “funding opportunity has been withdrawn” for 2025 and to “not finalize any applications started under it.”
The Ion Center is working with the Kentucky Association for Sexual Assault Programs and intimate partner coalition ZeroV to figure out its next steps and ensure no interruptions in services to survivors.
