SAN ANTONIO — The Bexar County Commissioners Court is now left having to figure out how to fund an internal domestic violence navigation line after a last-minute warning that the city grant funding the program ended in September.
"This is a management failure. This is an intergovernmental failure. It's a budget failure. It's a public safety failure, and that's our No. 1 goal is we've got to provide for public safety," said Tommy Calvert, Precinct 4 commissioner. "Had it not been for a last-minute warning, we wouldn't have known and we can't have that happen again."
Calvert expressed his frustration after a Bexar County Domestic Violence Navigation Line was almost cut because a grant provided through the city ran out in September. The grant funded the navigation line, including 11 on-call case managers, through Metro Health.
County Judge Peter Sakai also expressed frustration.
"The notice to the court, to me particularly, did not hit us until after the budget was set, which I found unacceptable. Not only is this just moving this money around, we're going to have to figure out how to pay for this program," Sakai said.
The phone line is used by Bexar County deputies to determine if domestic violence victims are considered high-risk. If they are, those individuals are connected to services within an hour.
"If they would like to go to the Women's Battered Shelter, if they can't make it there or don't want to go there, we are able to transfer them to a hotel, or to a friend or family location," said Nancy Sanford, a Bexar County chief deputy.
The victims can also be provided with food and gift cards. To avoid cutting services, the Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a three-month extension at a cost of $291,993.
"I'll alert the court were still short another $750,000. I understand the total bill to the county will be nearly $1,000,000," said Sakai.
When deputies call after-hours, victims are serviced by on-call case managers through Metro Health. But with the three-month extension, Bexar County is working on a new model for the phone line.
"The path forward is to create positions for case managers for which our domestic violence advocates could refer directly to Bexar County case managers, as opposed to keep referring them to Metro Health," said Dr. Andrea Guerrero-Guajardo, director of the Bexar County Public Health Department.
Calvert says the funding issue should have been raised before the upcoming year's fiscal budget was approved in September.
"I guess I'm going to vote for this. I think this is a sloppy way to do funding," he said.
The phone line is an internal resource for Bexar County deputies, and not available for public use.
Anyone who needs help escaping domestic violence can call the Family Violence Prevention Services 24/7 hotline at 210-733-8810.