FUNDING: CVIC seeks grants from city and county, Federal funds dwindle, threatening three programs

The Community Violence Intervention Center in Grand Forks is seeking funding of $100,000 each from the city and county governments to prevent shutting down three programs.

The programs include the Crime Victim Witness Program, which served 619 adults and children last year; the Wishing Well Child Visitation Program, which served 313 children; and the Domestic Violence Offender Treatment Program, which served 91.

The decision to approach the city and county governments – the first time the CVIC has done so in its 25 years – was taken as a last resort measure, said Faye Kihne, director of program operations at CVIC. Grants from federal agencies and private donors have dwindled over the past few years, she said.

“This is probably because of the Iraq war, where the government wants to save money, and also our economy is not stable … people want to preserve their dollars,” she said.

“We tried every other possible source of funding before deciding to approach the city and county,” Kihne said.

If the city and county can’t help, the CVIC would have no option but to return about $175,000 to federal agencies because of the closure of the three programs, directors said. The CVIC receives about $700,000 in federal grants every year.

With an annual budget of $1.5 million, the CVIC serves about 2,000 adults and children and educates and trains over 10,000 people a year through five programs. The other two programs are the Abuse and Rape Crisis Program and the Prevention and Education Program.

Kihne said the program reductions also would result in the loss of 14 full- and part-time jobs, an equivalent of eight full-time positions. It now has 38 staff members including part timers.

Although there has been no official response from either the city council or the county, Kihne hopes the two bodies will consider the partnership a crucial tool to keep down violence.

The various programs of CVIC, according to a joint study done with the Grand Forks Police Department, are estimated to save $168,000 to the city alone. That amount represents the cost of responding to domestic violence in the programs’ absence.

“This is a very conservative figure,” she said. The estimated cost of savings to the county is being worked out.

“We have never charged the local government for its services, but, in actuality, many of the services are quasi-governmental,” said Duane Czapiewski, co-president of the CVIC Board and also UND chief of police, in a statement.

Those services include 24-hour crisis intervention and collaboration with law enforcement to ensure the safety of citizens, Czapiewski said. That saves local governments the cost of responding to serious injuries or homicide, emergency room calls and shelter space to hide adults and children in imminent danger.