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Millions set aside for victims of violence not being used
TheCopenhagenPost
October 14th, 2015
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This article is more than 9 years old.
Municipalities reluctant to pony up their share
Funds set aside for families with violence are not being used (photo: Senior Airman Rusty Frank)
There is 18 million kroner just sitting and not being used in a fund for families that have suffered violence.
Access to the fund is dependent on municipalities coming up with 25 percent of the costs of the programs, something some local jurisdictions have been reluctant to do.
The group Mødrehjælpen had indications from the Copenhagen Municipality that it would receive funds for an anti-violence effort it had planned in conjunction with several other groups, only to be left disappointed when the municipality eventually dropped its support for the program.
READ MORE: Smaller municipalities missing out on welfare funds for the vulnerable
Locals won’t help
Mødrehjælpen has since contacted six other municipalities that refused to get involved because it would eat into their budgets. Randers, Horsens, Odense, Aarhus, Silkeborg and Skanderborg have all turned the mother’s group down.
Mads Roke Clausen, the head of the group, is calling on the government to change the rules so that aid organisations like his can seek funds directly and without involving the municipalities.
“Let those who have direct contact and expertise have access to the funds,” Clausen told Berlingske. “We can work with local authorities afterwards.”
The 18 million for families hit by violence are part of a pool of 87.6 million kroner earmarked for battered families in social reserve funds for 2015.
The pool is negotiated on and set aside annually.
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