Record level funding proposed for domestic violence prevention efforts in New York’s FY 2026 budget

ALBANY, NY- Record level funding for domestic violence prevention across New York has been proposed in the FY, 2026 State Budget, which is due now only one-week away as of this publication.

“Combating domestic violence is personal to me — and for the entirety of my career in public service, I’ve prioritized policies that protect survivors and improve law enforcement response to these crimes,” Governor Hochul said.

Specifically, the Governor is pushing for what she calls “essential” changes to the state’s discovery process.

Currently, New York’s discovery statute details specific timelines for pretrial disclosure of information and evidence by prosecutors to the defense.

Discovery reforms enacted January 1, 2020 made essential changes that allowed individuals accused of crimes to receive information and evidence earlier in the pretrial process to ensure a better understanding of the charges. However, these reforms had unintended consequences, resulting in procedural delays and dismissals that adversely affected victims and survivors of domestic violence and other crimes, according to the Governor’s Office.

Since reforms were enacted in 2020, dismissed cases involving domestic violence rose nearly 15 percent in New York City. In 2023, 94.3 percent of cases were dismissed in New York City, and 49.1 percent were dismissed outside of New York City.

As a result, Governor Hochul proposed essential changes to New York State’s Discovery Law in the Budget. The tweaks would ensure procedural fairness, shorten case processing times, reduce the length of pretrial incarceration, and safeguard sensitive and personal information belonging to witnesses.

These changes include:

• Expanding the scope of automatic redaction to include sensitive details, such as witnesses’ physical addresses and personal data unrelated to the case, eliminating the need to engage in lengthy litigation to redact such material.
• Removing the incentive to delay bringing a challenge in a manner that can result in technical dismissals unrelated to the merits of the case or the legality of the investigation.
• Ensuring that cases are not dismissed if discovery compliance falls short of perfection.
• Clarifying that prosecutors are not required to track down information that is by definition irrelevant.

Governor Hochul’s proposed Budget also includes record-level funding to improve services and increase access to programs that support victims and survivors, including:

• $379.5 million over three years to support crime victim services statewide: Victim assistance programs provide counseling, support groups, criminal justice advocacy, civil legal services, and assistance with filing for crime victim compensation, among other help. That amount includes $100 million in state funding annually for the next three years, allocated by Governor Hochul to offset any reductions in federal funds.
• Nearly $41 million to improve the public safety response to intimate partner abuse and domestic violence, and better address the needs of victims and survivors: $5 million divided among the five New York City District Attorneys’ Offices; $23 million for law enforcement and services providers in 20 counties outside of the five boroughs; up to $7 million for the State to provide training and technical assistance, risk assessment tools, and investigative support to participating agencies and improve the domestic violence reduction efforts of state agencies; and an additional $5 million in the Budget to help police agencies and prosecutor's offices adopt evidence-based enforcement, investigation, and prosecution strategies.
• $12.8 million — double the current funding — for the New York State Department of Health’s certified rape crisis programs that ensure advocates are available by phone or in-person to provide information, emotional support and other services: The Budget also would require all hospitals to provide access to medical professionals specifically trained to perform forensic sexual assault exams; increase reimbursements to medical providers for those exams; and provide a full course of preventive treatment for HIV exposure to all survivors of sexual assault, not just those younger than 18.

In addition to reductions in gun violence, the number of homicides decreased 15 percent statewide from 2022 to 2023 — 791 down to 670 — which is shown through the latest data available.

Domestic homicides, however, increased by 7 percent (126 vs. 135), and the 135 homicides in 2023 represented 20 percent of all homicides. In 2020 and 2021, domestic homicides represented 14 percent of total homicides reported statewide.

Police departments and sheriffs’ offices outside of New York City collectively reported a 7 percent increase in the number of victims of intimate partner violence in 2023 compared to 2022 — from 33,684 to 35,947.

New York City also saw a 7 percent increase in the number of victims of intimate partner violence — 29,372 compared to 27,527 — during the same time.

Image via the office of New York Governor Kathy Hochul.