Domestic-violence coalition scandal leaves human toll
Last week, I was the only witness invited to address the House Public Integrity and Ethics Committee concerning the egregious misuse of public funds by the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence (FCADV).
Between 2006 and 2016, I served as the CEO of Harbor House of Central Florida. As I explained to the committee, in that role, I had the privilege of working with some of the most amazing advocates, both in our agency and in our community, who fought every day to keep women, men and families safe. It was the hardest job I’ve ever had but also the most fulfilling.
Despite our successes, we encountered roadblock after roadblock working within the system created by executive director Tiffany Carr and the FCADV, which was fraught with favoritism, retaliation and, as we now know, corruption.
I watched in horror as FCADV became increasingly controlling, threatening and abusive to those who dared question how things ran or how money was being spent. Survivors were a means to keep policymakers in line — dare challenge them and you’d be branded “anti-woman.”
Funding became a means to keep centers from blowing the whistle. Step out of line, ask too many questions and your funding, or even your career, were at risk, as I would find out the hard way four years ago.
What Carr, her board and senior staff did with millions of taxpayer dollars was a serious betrayal of the public trust.
But, as I made clear in my testimony last week and numerous other times publicly in recent years, there is a human element to what happened here that is even more catastrophic than you may realize.
Carr and those in league with her destroyed lives, careers and endangered countless women, children and men.
When a survivor comes to a domestic violence shelter, they have no idea what is on the other side of the door. Only that walking through it may well mean their death.
When they take that step, they are walking into an unknown future — often with no job, no home, perhaps not even a change of clothes or shoes on their feet. They must trust a complete stranger with their life and the lives of their children.
Now imagine the message it must send to these brave souls — desperate for their freedom, who likely risked their lives to seek shelter — to be sent away because there was not enough money left to provide the resources to help.
That was the fate of tens of thousands of Floridians in 2018.
According to a study by the National Network to End Domestic Violence that compiled statistics on a single day — Sept. 13, 2018 — 132 victims were sent away. Multiplying that figure by 365, comes to 48,180.
In 2018, 215 Floridians lost their lives due to domestic violence. In the first half of 2019, another 91 people lost their lives. Numerous law enforcement officers were injured, and several were killed responding to calls.
Whenever I’d hit another roadblock in my quest to expose Carr and her enablers’ egregious behavior, what provided me with fuel to keep going was simply bringing it back to the enormous cost of her behavior on the victims of domestic violence.
It makes me angry just to think of how many lives could have been saved and improved if those advocates had been there to answer the phone, help with an injunction or offer support.
I commend the governor for ordering an investigation, the committee for holding its historic hearings, and the Legislature for finally removing the FCADV from statute as the sole-source provider and coordinator of domestic violence services at 42 shelters across our state.
For too long, despite the resourcefulness and heroic work of countless advocates, the system in Florida failed, and it cost tens of thousands of victims of domestic violence their freedom.
Now the real hard part begins — coming up with a comprehensive legislative fix. One that establishes a fully transparent system that prioritizes the safety of survivors first and foremost, is open to innovation and in which the leadership is held accountable.
Contact your representatives in Tallahassee and urge them to ensure that the voices of domestic violence survivors are no longer silenced. They must be protected and supported.
There is simply too much at stake not to get this right.