Daily Progress, Jacksonville, TX

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July 26, 2007

Crisis Center crisis

By Raymond Billy

assistanteditor@jacksonvilleprogress.com

The Crisis Center of Anderson and Cherokee Counties is in the midst of a crisis of its own. The center, which helps women and children who are victims of abuse recover physically and emotionally, has learned that it won't be receiving close to $160,000 in funding that it expected courtesy of the Criminal Justice Division of the Governor's Office.

Roger Pharr, director of development at the center, said that many important services will fall by the wayside in the absence of state funding.

"The counseling, safe-house and forensic interviews we provide for child abuse victims are all functions that could suffer as a result of this decision by the criminal justice division," Pharr said.

Funding for programs related to criminal justice and violent crime is determined based on a priorities list compiled by the East Texas Council of Governments.

According to the list, which was obtained by the Jacksonville Daily Progress, the Crisis Center of Anderson and Cherokee Counties was prioritized last on the list of 12 area programs even though it is ranked first on the list of essential services provided.

Pharr has a theory as to what influenced ETCOG’s rankings.

“Smith, Gregg and Wood counties have a significant plurality of representatives on ETCOG and the top seven programs prioritized are based in those counties,” he said.

Katherine Cesinger, a spokesperson from the Governor's Office, said that there are discretionary funds for crime related programs that may ultimately be allocated to the Crisis Center if Gov. Rick Perry decides that it provides an indispensable function to its constituency. But, Pharr says the center contacted state officials and were told that no such funds were available.

For now, Pharr and his colleagues are doing what they can to make up their unexpected deficit.

“We’re looking at funding from private organizations around Texas and the U.S. for assistance,” he said. “Most of them want proof that we have community support before they will give us theirs, so we’re really counting on Cherokee County to help us financially before we can expect large scale aid from other entities.”

The Crisis Center serves approximately 1,500 clients, 555 of whom are younger than 10-years old.

You can contact the center by calling 903-586-9118.

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