Issued Could 2, 2024
On behalf of The Nationwide Home Violence Hotline (The Hotline), we write to request sturdy extra funding for the Federal Communications Fee’s (FCC) Reasonably priced Connectivity Program (ACP) which is getting ready to shutting down because of lack of funding.
Entry to reasonably priced high-speed web isn’t a luxurious in 2024. This program is the biggest broadband affordability effort in our Nation’s historical past which has efficiently allowed greater than 23 million households to get — and keep — linked to sturdy broadband service at residence. This contains susceptible populations comparable to victims of home violence and survivors of different types of gender-based abuse who are sometimes remoted, expertise many types of financial abuse and rely upon looking for critically wanted help by way of entry to the web.
For over 27 years, The Hotline has supplied very important assist for over 7 million victims of abuse by means of confidential 24-hour, seven days every week, Twelve months-a-year toll-free phone and digital (chat and textual content) hotline companies which supply info and help to grownup and youth survivors of household violence, home violence, or courting violence; their household and family members; and others affected by the violence. In 2023, The Hotline skilled historic excessive contact quantity—928,892 calls, texts, and chats with greater than 2,500 incoming contacts per day. This was near a 20 % enhance from 2022. Now greater than ever, survivors of home violence want reasonably priced high-speed web to entry assist, security planning and assets to maintain them and their kids protected.
Monetary insecurity is the primary barrier to security for survivors of intimate accomplice violence and clearly mirrored on the strains. Evaluating January 2023 to December 2023 to the identical interval
in 2022 the Hotline skilled 40% extra contacts citing financial and monetary abuse as central to their expertise of abuse and funds as a barrier to security. Monetary abuse happens in 99% of all home violence.i Entry to applications like ACP might be lifeline.
On the finish of final yr, the FCC carried out a survey of recipients and unearthed beautiful findings.ii Eighty (80) % of respondents cited affordability as the rationale they’d inconsistent or no service previous to the ACP.iii Greater than three-quarters of respondents stated that dropping the ACP would disrupt their service, as much as and together with dropping web service altogether. Meaning thousands and thousands of households and survivors of home violence throughout the nation might lose their means to entry assets, assist and their alternative to very important companies comparable to these supplied by The Hotline.
The ACP represents an enormous step ahead in closing the digital divide for our nation’s most susceptible populations in city, rural and Tribal communities. With out extra funding for this system, we stand to backslide on that progress and immediately affect the protection of 1000’s of victims of home violence. We can not let these susceptible people and households lose their very important connections merely as a result of Congress failed to supply critically wanted funding to proceed this profitable program.
Sincerely,
Katie Ray-Jones
CEO
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The Nationwide Home Violence Hotline envisions a world the place all relationships are constructive, wholesome, and free from violence. Should you or somebody you realize is experiencing relationship abuse in any type, assist is obtainable. The Nationwide Home Violence Hotline supplies free, confidential assist 24/7/365. Textual content START to 88788, name 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or chat with us on-line at TheHotline.org. You aren’t alone.
