Local Domestic Violence Services Face Funding Cuts

By Margo Amelong, Executive Director of the Support Center & Kat Goering, Executive Director at Room One

This year, organizations who support victims of crime, like The Support Center in Okanogan County, are expecting a 23%-30% cut in their funding from the State of Washington. These funding cuts mean fewer resources will be available to all survivors of crime in Okanogan County. Victims Services are critical in our rural areas. Without them, people will need to travel at least 2 hours to get help which means they will likely stay in unsafe situations. 

Families who have experienced domestic violence will be particularly impacted by these funding cuts. Domestic violence is a complex issue with no simple answers and it is present in every corner of Okanogan County. Domestic Violence is not physical violence alone. It's any coercive patterned behavior intended to gain or maintain power and control over a spouse, partner, girlfriend, boyfriend or intimate family member. It's not caused by anger, mental problems, drugs or alcohol or other common excuses. See the National Network to End Domestic Violence to learn more. 

Domestic violence not only affects those who are abused, but has a substantial effect on family members, friends, co-workers, other witnesses, and the community at large. Children who grow up witnessing domestic violence or are abused themselves are among those seriously affected. Growing up in the midst of violence puts people at risk of becoming a victim as an adult or even becoming a perpetrator. Violence of any kind poses significant threats to the health and stability of our communities.  

In Okanogan County, we have two agencies who specialize in crime-victim services, The Support Center and Room One. The Support Center is a nonprofit agency in the town of Okanogan that provides 24-hour crisis intervention, medical and legal advocacy, emergency shelter, food and clothing as well as many other services to survivors of crime including Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and other crimes. Room One is located in Twisp and works with individuals and families experiencing violence by creating safety plans, referring them to resources and providing other wraparound services. Room One relies heavily on the expertise of The Support Center when it comes to the legal aspect of crime victim’s services.

To provide their services, programs like The Support Center receive federal, state and county funding. They partner and coordinate with many other agencies, providing referrals for physical and mental health services for survivors as well as crime victim compensation services provided by the state Department of Labor & Industries. From January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022, The Support Center provided services to 201 survivors of domestic violence, 41 survivors of sexual assault and 73 survivors of other crimes.

A network of Coalitions including the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, The Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, Office of Civil Legal Aid, Children’s Advocacy Centers of Washington, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and the Washington Sexual Assault Working Group have come together to request $132 million from state lawmakers for regular biennium funding for crime victim’s series.  Please consider joining this effort by reaching out to your legislators and asking them to support this request.

[2/23 CHI Mtg] State Policies and Okanogan Community Health

On February 23rd, CHI members came together to about policy proposals being discussed in Olympia right now that could influence our CHI members’ work and the health of our Okanogan community.

From large funding investments in housing to healthcare workforce and reimbursements for health services, this is an exciting year of movement in our state.

Click on the recording below to hear from local leaders about action in childcare and early learning, housing, healthcare capacity and workforce, mental health, and substance use. This is also a great opportunity to learn more about the legislative process and how we can best support our partners.

[1/26 CHI mtg] The State of COVID-19 in Okanogan County

Thursday, January 26th from 12:00 to 1:00, we'll hear updates on the state of COVID-19 from Okanogan County Public Health (OCPH), as well as an update on our county's upcoming Community Health Assessment.

To make sure this conversation about COVID-19 is as useful as possible to you, we invite participants to fill out this short email survey about your COVID-19-related questions and reflections.

Okanogan County Candidates Respond to CHI Issues

In the June, 2022 the Okanogan CHI held a forum for Okanogan County candidates for Sheriff, County Commissioner, and State Representative. Community health leaders talked with candidates about Housing, COVID-19, Smoke Readiness, Substance Use, At-Risk Youth, Community Health Workforce, Childcare and Mental Health, check out the recordings below.

Okanogan County Commissioner Candidates talk Housing, COVID-19, and Smoke Readiness

Okanogan County Sheriff Candidates talk Substance Use and Overdose, At-risk Youth, Partnerships with Community Health Networks

State Representative Candidates talk Community Health Workforce, Childcare, and Mental Health

2022 CHI Candidate Forum: June 30th

The Okanogan CHI will be hosting a Candidate Forum on key community health issues with candidates for the office of Okanogan County Sheriff, Okanogan County Commissioner, and 7th District State Representative. We hope you and your team can join us!

How did the COVID Economic Downturn affect Health?

COVID-19 Economic Recession & Okanogan Community Health: February, 2021 CHI meeting summary

The connection between the economic health & wellbeing:

Health is influenced by many factors, not just disease. Overall health is affected by emotional, intellectual, social, physical, environmental, spiritual, and financial factors.

Okanogan County’s health indicators are poor in mental health, chronic disease, food security, obesity, and access to exercise. Okanogan’s socio-economic indicators are also poor relative to the state, we have a high adult & child poverty rate and limited availability of living-wage jobs. Ultimately, health and wellbeing is influenced most strongly by socio-economic factors; when economic downturns deteriorate socio-economic status, health and well-being suffers.

The impact of the economic downturn on community health:

High COVID-19 exposure & illness among farmworkers: COVID-19 hit farmworkers (one of our most vulnerable populations) in the summer of 2019 at the peak of cherry season, when many people are earning 80 - 90% of their annual wage, seasonal population grows, many multi-household childcare collaborations are needed so people can work, and many people cannot afford to take time off. Not a good environment for pandemic management, we didn’t have the protections in place to protect an essential workforce.

Rising stress and anxiety among mothers: Many mothers have taken the burden of all child rearing responsibilities during school closures (including home schooling), while continuing to work their paid job.  Mothers are dealing with rising stress, depression, anxiety. 

Absence of childcare prevents people from working: High turnover at businesses, many can’t work because they don’t have childcare or don’t have childcare that will be able to provide their kids sufficient education.

Lack of internet or phones severely limits access to resources: Those without phones or internet access can’t get the services they need. Lack of broadband is a growing issue that now affects school learning, remote businesses, telemedicine, precision agriculture, and other new technologies.

Kids with disabilities struggle to get sufficient support: Families who have children with disability are not able to get many of the resources they need, e.g. speech or physical therapy. Some are not getting the healthcare they need out of fear of COVID exposure.

High stress among front-line healthcare workers: Hard on staff, hard on clients. Social workers hear tough stories every day; the economic struggle is hard for clients, but it’s also hard on staff. Most state services immediately entered a hiring freeze, preventing reinforcements from coming in. 

High financial and emotional stress among small businesses: Recession has affected small businesses tremendously. Many who were otherwise prepared for a “rainy day” could not make it through a full year of being closed. Some are laying people off, closing permanently, or choosing to not re-open. Businesses were not given forbearance or deferment on their loans (unlike individuals), they were required to pay high overhead expenses, including rent. Government funding was able to help some of these people, but many were worried they would lose their homes if their business failed. Family owned and operated businesses were uniquely affected because every single household member lost income.  Stress levels were high among business owners: changes to opening, closing, and  funding put them on an emotional rollercoaster.

What we learned: socio-economic stabilizers in an economic downturn

Protect our workforce and invest in our most vulnerable populations: If workforce can endure, we are better positioned to support the economy

Increase community health infrastructure: In the pandemic, this involved direct outreach workers, increased contact tracing, and support with isolation and quarantine but community health systems should be mobilized in recessions in multiple ways.

Create affordable, accessible childcare options: Childcare is critical to essential workers, demand for childcare, particularly among 0 - 3 is very high when people need to work to make ends meet. A safe place for kids to go when household stress is high is critical.

Increase food support and cash assistance: People needed more than “usual” benefits, and many people who previously qualified accessed this support for the first time.  

Make access to benefits as quick and efficient as possible: Community health entities made all forms completable electronically and enabled people to get food benefit cards the same day. Not having to go in-person has been helpful for those who live far away.

Deliver direct financial assistance to small businesses: Partner with state, county, and municipalities to administer grants directly to small businesses,  including help with overhead expenses.

Provide 1:1 assistance to businesses most affected: Educate businesses on newly-available resources and re-look at business models, such as shifts to online retail and use of social media

Distribute more, high quality food: Good nutrition is critical for families to learn and people to stay healthy.

Prevent evictions; help with heating, utilities, and other essential costs: No one should lose the ability to be safe in their homes during a financial crisis.

How can we be more resilient to future economic downturns?

Increasingly flexible businesses: Adjust business models in recession times (e,g, brick and mortar vs. remote) and look for cost reduction opportunities.

Ensure childcare is available and affordable: Early childhood education lays the groundwork for healthy adults and enables workers to be flexible during downturns, it should be reliable and well funded.

Utilize the post-downturn period to step into new ideas that fit a changing market: Support innovators post-pandemic as they develop new ideas and approaches to business

Help household’s understand their monthly expenses and budget: Train people to spend money thoughtfully and reserve funds for critical expenses or crises. 

Develop and invest in a stronger safety net (housing, schools, apple health, etc.) and address generational poverty: Preserve health insurance coverage, nutrition programs, housing subsidies etc. to improve health in ways that bouey the economy

Reduce poverty in general: Develop the Okanogan economy in ways that reduce unemployment and poverty.

Poverty and the economy:

“What are we missing out on because of the poverty that our county faces? What’s the opportunity cost? If we can lift people out of the impoverished conditions they live in, what would their contribution to the Okanogan economy be?”

“Why should we work to eliminate poverty? Because poverty costs money. Just in January, Okanogan County issued 1.9 million in food benefits. This money goes into the economy (which is good), but what would we do to attract a business that would bring in a $2 million payroll? We need to find a solution to the high unemployment and high poverty rate we have in this county.”

How has Okanogan’s economy changed?

Long-term Labor Market Trends in the Okanogan County Economy:

• Average annual Okanogan County unemployment rate in 2020 (9.4 percent) was still less than the rate in 2010 (10.7 percent) - during the “peak” of the recent Great Recession.

• However, the average annual nonfarm job loss-rate of minus-5.6 percent countywide in 2020 was worse than the minus-3.9 percent loss-rate in 2009.

• Agriculture lost jobs at an annualized loss rate of minus-2.5 percent (down 1,260 jobs) from 2009-2019. Conversely, transportation and warehousing added jobs at an annualized growth rate of 15.5 percent (up 306 jobs).

Recent Labor Market Trends (2019 - 2020)  in the Okanogan County Economy

• Unemployment rate rose from 6.8 percent in 2019 to 9.4 percent in 2020. COVID related layoffs drove rates up from April through November 2020. 

• The Okanogan County nonfarm market lost 710 jobs in 2020 (down 5.6 percent). Washington state lost 160,900 jobs in 2020 (down 4.6 percent)

•  Sectors losing jobs in 2020: over eighty percent of jobs lost were in leisure and hospitality (down 250 jobs) or state and local government (down 330). 

•  Sectors gaining jobs in 2020: federal government (up 40 jobs) and manufacturing (up 20 jobs).

• Unemployment rate rose from 6.8 percent in 2019 to 9.4 percent in 2020. COVID related layoffs drove rates up from April through November 2020. 

•  The Okanogan County nonfarm market lost 710 jobs in 2020 (down 5.6 percent). Washington state lost 160,900 jobs in 2020 (down 4.6 percent).

• Sectors losing jobs in 2020: over eighty percent of jobs lost were in leisure and hospitality (down 250 jobs) or state and local government (down 330). 

• Sectors gaining jobs in 2020: federal government (up 40 jobs) and manufacturing (up 20 jobs).

The State of COVID-19 in Okanogan County: January, 2022

January 27, 2022 Okanogan CHI Meeting Summary

Overview of current COVID activity in Okanogan County:

• This COVID variant acts more like a flu or a bad cold (Omicron stays in the upper airway), far fewer people are hospitalized than previous variants, not a lot of hospitalized children so far.  

• People are testing multiple days in a row when they have been exposed or have symptoms, they can be negative with the first test and not get a positive result until day 4 or longer.

• Many clinics are running out of testing supplies, DOH is working on solutions

• We may be nearing a peak in this surge (we are usually 1-2 week behind the westside of the state).  School athletics are furthering cross-county infection. 

• DOH is likely to shift from reporting positive tests to reporting hospitalizations because the reporting is too demanding to keep up with.  

• Vaccination rate is relatively flat at 48% across the county, see your town’s vaccination rate here. Misinformation is the biggest challenge to getting more people vaccinated.

How are our hospitals and clinics doing in this surge?

Hospitals, clinics, and many nursing homes are struggling with capacity:

• There are above average numbers of people in hospitals and healthcare facilities in general who are not necessarily COVID affected.

• Many patients could be staying at home or seeing a provider, instead they are coming into Emergency Departments. Some of the disease care that was put off during COVID is now accelerated into more extreme health issues, which increases the overall work of healthcare facilities.

• Significant operational challenges are arising as staff test positive and cannot return to work until they are clear again.

• Hard to transfer a patient to a higher level of care or ICU because beds are full in other places and extreme weather hampered movement several times this winter.

• “We're in a world of hurt for healthcare professionals.” Many people are leaving healthcare, they are burned out and tired, leaving a shortage of healthcare workers in the wake, e,g, there are 73 openings at confluence for Medical Assistants.

There are more positive people testing positive than are being reported on the COVID site.  How do we best help explain his discrepancy? 

There are more positive COVID-19 cases in the community right now than are represented in the incidence rate on the OCPH data page. Before cases can be reported, they are verified and entered into the Washington State Disease Reporting System (WDRS). This is where DOH and LHJs pull data from to track cases across the state. In Okanogan County right now, there is likely a ~3-5 day lag between when someone tests positive using an antigen (rapid) test and when that case appears in the OCPH update (assuming that OCPH is notified of the positive test--we know not every positive home test result is reported to OCPH!). 

OCPH has moved to a weekly reporting window to allow for that lag time and to compare weekly trends that can indicate when the current surge appears to have peaked and begins to decline. Besides home tests, OCPH must manually enter all positive test results from EMS testing (AeroMethow, Fire District 15), some schools (those who are not using the CDC Simple Report tool, which links directly to WDRS) and Mid-Valley Hospital & Clinic. It takes approx 15 minutes to manually enter one positive test result into the database. To make it easier to report a home test kit positive result, OCPH has just launched an easy online reporting form 

https://okanogancountycovid19.org/home-test-for-covid/. Instead of calling OCPH, community members can fill out the quick form online, and then OCPH will follow up.

People have COVID symptoms but often don’t test positive for 5 days or more.  How should employers navigate this in their policies and practices?

Employers should set their guidelines and communicate the plan with employees. It might involve something like asking employees the following when they come to work: 

1. Do they feel ok (fever, scratchy throat)?,

2. Does anyone in their household have covid?

3. Were they in close contact (indoors, less than 6' apart for more than 15 min) with someone who was covid pos? 

If yes, the employer could ask the employee to take a rapid test (ideally, employer would have home-tests on hand and they could do one right then). If employee tests negative, but has symptoms, employer could choose to have them stay home or make sure all employees wear N95 masks in indoor work spaces. If employee has a fever, they should stay home until the fever has been gone for >24 hrs without meds.

If someone has symptoms and they are at work, N95 masks for everyone inside is the best way to keep all employees safe. Anyone who tests positive, should isolate at home for 5 days, and then wear an N95 mask for another 5 days. The updated CDC guidance for isolation/quarantine after exposure, or positive COVID-19 test, is here: https://okanogancountycovid19.org/tracing-isolation-quarantine/

How can CHI members best support the capacity challenges facing hospitals and other healthcare entities right now? 

Spread the message:

• Go to the appropriate place for appropriate services so we can get doors open for community visits and ERs, help healthcare use its resources very well right now

• Keep people out of emergency rooms when possible

• Come to your providers’ appointments when they are scheduled (health systems are working hard) 

Support long-term plans to grow the healthcare workforce:

• To try to get more people into the profession through tracks that community colleges, hospitals, public health and clinics are developing (we’ll talk about that more at the CHI)

• Leverage community health workers to keep healthcare engaged with patients

This is time to support each other. There is no quick fix to covid or staffing shortages, healthcare folks could all use care and support right now.

[CHI Meeting Announcement] 1/27/22 State of COVID-19 in Okanogan County

Our CHI network of more than 40 organizations across Okanogan County plays a critical role in COVID-19 response. This meeting is set-up to answer your questions, and position you all as key messengers and community-weathervanes for COVID-19. We encourage you to share this meeting invitation with others in your organization

To help us best organize this meeting, please send us any questions or COVID-19 specific topics you'd like our public health and community partners to discuss.