Alderpeople Call For Hearing On Domestic Violence Program After Block Club Investigation

CHICAGO — Alderpeople are pressing for a City Council hearing to examine a city-funded domestic violence program after Block Club found it has so far been ineffective.

Ald. Nicole Lee (11th) introduced a resolution in City Council this month calling on police representatives “to provide testimony on the allocation of $3.9 million to the Office of Victim Services and other initiatives around domestic violence prevention and services.”

Thirteen other alderpeople signed on as cosponsors. Along with Lee, they account for 14 of the 18 women in the City Council.

The hearing push is a direct response to Block Club’s investigation published in June that revealed failures by the Chicago Police Department’s Office of Victim Services. The expanded police program has touched a nerve because it’s produced few documented results.

“Just throwing money at an expansion of a program or a department doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to see” better outcomes, Lee said in an interview with Block Club. “I’m a mother, I’m a woman, I have friends, I know people who have been victims of domestic violence … and it doesn’t sit well with me knowing that we could be doing something better in a different way.”

Lee expects to set a date for the hearing soon, she said. The matter has been referred to the City Council’s police and fire committee, which is chaired by Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th).

Taliaferro said Block Club’s investigation raised “very serious concerns” and he supports holding a public meeting where police officials can answer questions about the “functionality, sustainability and effectiveness” of the program. He said he and Lee would talk further about the timing of the hearing.

Neither the police nor the Mayor’s Office responded to requests for comment.

Domestic violence in the city spiked at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and has remained higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Since then, advocates have persistently asked the city to increase its investment in services and resources such as emergency housing and attorneys. 

Instead, the police department put nearly $4 million more into its victim services office without consulting advocates or survivors. It was a joint decision with the mayor’s office and other city leaders, Garien Gatewood, former deputy mayor of community safety, told Block Club in an interview last year.

Made up of civilian specialists, the victim services office aims to connect domestic violence survivors, along with victims of gun crimes, with legal help and other resources. During the expansion last year, the department grew its staff from 7 to 55 employees.

Officials say the expansion was meant to help combat the city’s rise in domestic violence while repairing relationships with survivors after years of police mishandling domestic violence calls.

But advocates argue the program is a gross misallocation of taxpayer dollars. Most survivors don’t want to interact with police, they say.

“This police program is not addressing gender-based violence. It’s not supporting survivors,” said Karla Altmayer, co-founder of the organization Healing to Action and former chair of the city’s gender-based violence task force. “It’s a tired strategy that ultimately is failing our communities.”

In addition, one of the program’s top goals is to steer people in need to community service providers, but very few domestic violence organizations received referrals from the program last year, Block Club found.

Last year the victim services office made contact with 6,383 victims of violent crime, mostly domestic violence survivors. But the department doesn’t track what happens next, so it doesn’t know how many of those survivors received services. 

Meanwhile, survivors in desperate need of emergency housing, counseling, legal help and other resources are continuing to flood community organizations and the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline, said Madeleine Behr, deputy policy director for The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, a coalition of local organizations.

“Before [survivors] engage with the criminal legal system, they have to figure out, ‘Where am I going? How am I paying for it?’” Behr said. “We want to make sure we’re meeting people’s direct needs, and we can do that through direct services.”

Block Club’s findings were highlighted in Lee’s resolution, which was also signed by Alds. Pat Dowell (3rd), Michelle Harris (8th), Julia Ramirez (12th), Jeylú B. Gutiérrez (14th), Stephanie Coleman (16th), Jeanette Taylor (20th), Monique Scott (24th), Jessie Fuentes (26th), Ruth Cruz (30th), Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez (33rd), Samantha Nugent (39th), Angela Clay (46th), and Maria Hadden (49th).

This Story Was Produced By The Watch

Block Club’s investigations have changed laws, led to criminal federal investigations and held the powerful accountable. Email tips to The Watch at investigations@blockclubchi.org and subscribe or donate to support this work.

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