Domestic violence advocates concerned about possible cuts in Chicago, Cook County budgets
This week is a critical week for domestic violence survivors. Elected leaders in Chicago and Cook County are hashing out how much money to spend on key services like legal help and housing as they weigh next year's city and county budgets.
Funding cuts are on the table, and advocates say what happens this week could be a matter of life and death.
At a press conference last week, city and county leaders came together denouncing federal cuts to domestic violence services.
"If budgets are a moral compass, the budgets proposed out of Washington are morally bankrupt," Cook County Commissioner Bridget Degnan said.
But this week, it's the city and county budgets advocates are concerned about
"The need is greater than ever, yet the funding is less," said Amy Fox, executive director of Life Span, a nonprofit that provides counseling and legal services to domestic violence survivors.
Fox said they're facing cuts at all levels.
"And it's all coming at once. So it's on top of reduction at every level of funding – the government funding – but also it's coming at the time which all know – the increase in domestic violence," she said.
A CBS News Chicago investigation found one domestic violence accounts 26% of the city's violent crime so far this year.
Fox said there's a disconnect between the city's commitment to stopping domestic violence and what's in the mayor's budget plan for next year.
"It also sends a really damaging and deadly message to survivors across our area that they are not a priority, that their safety is not a priority, that they are not believed," she said.
Domestic violence advocates said that this week the mayor's task force on gender-based violence revealed funding has been cut from $21 million last year to $12 million this year, a concerning number to some city leaders.
"As you can imagine, a lot of us are really worried about that type of decrease in funding to support these really vital services," said Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th). "The data is showing that we clearly need to invest more in domestic violence."
Mayor Brandon Johnson's office said they're working this week to shore up money in the budget to help fund services for survivors.
Funding for services to support domestic violence and gender-based violence survivors is a priority for the Johnson administration, especially this year with the alarming rise in domestic violence-related incidents. Mayor Johnson included funding in the new Community Safety Fund specifically to support survivors of domestic violence and gender-based violence. The Mayor's Office is working with the Budget team to ensure that there is adequate funding in this year's Protecting Chicago budget to address the concerns raised by advocates about the expiration of federal ARPA dollars. The Mayor's Office will have an update soon.
The decrease in GBV funding in 2026 is due primarily to the one-time federal ARPA dollars sunsetting. The City received $5.6M in DFSS' 2025 budget from ARPA that we are no longer receiving and the federal government has declined to replace that funding source. The other factor is that the Domestic Violence Homeshare carryover has been spent down. The DV Homeshare fund was $9M in the 2025 budget. In 2026, the $5.69M is approx. $4.1M in revenue and approx. $1.59M in carryover from 2025. The carryover in prior years has been higher and as we allocate 100% of the DV Homeshare fund year to year, the carryover will decrease/diminish. In total, the City currently has $12.2M budgeted for GBV in 2026. This includes $3.5M in Corporate funding from the Community Safety Fund, $1.05M in other Corporate funds to support the Chicago Children's Advocacy Center and child survivor services, and just over $1.9M in CDBG (CDBG, HUD grant).
The Mayor has put forward new revenues to mitigate against the impacts of the expiration of the federal ARPA dollars and the Trump administration's refusal to replace those federal dollars. The Mayor's Community Safety Fund is a dedicated fund to support youth diversion and employment programs, services for survivors of domestic violence and gender-based violence, mental health support for first responders, and one of the largest permanent Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programs of any city in the country. The CSF is a dedicated funding stream through a Community Safety Surcharge, to be paid by 3% of large companies operating in Chicago with more than 100 employees. 97% of small and medium-sized businesses would not be impacted.
How much the county will help fund gender-based violence programs is still not clear. Cook County commissioners will be discussing that in budget hearings on Thursday.
Advocates said they're worried.
"We know, without the financial support, then we can't do what we need to do to tackle the problem," Fox said.
A Cook County Bureau of Administration spokesperson sent a statement saying they are going to continue to fund domestic violence programs and services that support survivors.
Cook County recognizes that domestic violence is a critical issue that continues to impact households across our community. While violent crime has declined, rates of gender-based violence remain elevated. We are committed to investing in the programs and services that support survivors and help break cycles of violence and harm.
Over the past two years, the County has invested nearly $6 million in DV services through multi-year grant agreements with community-based service providers. This funding has not been fully expended by our community providers so the County extended the time period to use these funds.
We are also allocating an additional $1.2 million in funding for these providers to use over the coming year based on spending projections. This month, the Cook County Board is voting on this additional funding which comes from a reallocation of unspent federal American Rescue Plan funding. We expect broad support as we are aligned in support of the important work taking place at the community level. In total, the County's investment in domestic violence services has exceeded the initial projections.
Cook County recognizes the ongoing need for these critical programs and services and we remain committed to continuing support for survivors of domestic violence and their families. Cook County is committed to sustaining this critical work. The Justice Advisory Council and members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners will work to ensure we continue to fund DV programs and services that support survivors and help reduce violence and harm.