The $43.3 billion state budget signed into law on Wednesday includes a total of $80 million across various agencies toward preventing, raising awareness of and supporting victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said.
After Gov. Charlie Baker signed the budget, Polito said she was "very pleased" that their administration has increased funding for sexual assault and domestic violence accounts by 25 percent since taking office in 2015.
The $80 million, according to Baker's office, includes funding to provide emergency shelter for domestic violence victims and their children.
Polito, who chairs the Governor's Council to Address Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, thanked lawmakers for including $1.5 million in support of an ongoing public awareness campaign aimed at educating teenagers about healthy relationships.
Launched on social media platforms in May with a focus on youth between the ages of 12 and 18, the RESPECTfully campaign is the state's first public awareness campaign related to sexual assault and domestic violence in almost 20 years.
The budget also contains $2 million that the administration said would support increased staffing at the State Police Crime Laboratory in connection with a requirement in last year's criminal justice overhaul that crime labs test all sexual assault evidence kits within 30 days of receiving them from local governments.
A separate line item within the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, dedicated to the purchase and distribution of sexual assault evidence kits, is funded at $86,956.
Other elements of the justice reform law represented in this year's budget include extra money for the Parole Board to support an anticipated higher caseload of individuals newly released into supervision and additional funding for education, mental health and medical staff at the Department of Correction, Baker's office said.
The Parole Board line item is funded at $23.6 million this year, a roughly $4.7 million increase over projected fiscal 2019 spending. The 2020 budget allocates $716 million for the Department of Correction, which had a spending level of nearly $693 million last year.
A Department of Correction line item not included in previous annual budgets appropriates $4.8 million for implementing reforms related to behavioral health and residential treatment that were called for under the law.
The $679 million line item for Department of Correction facility operations includes language requiring the department to submit biannual reports to lawmakers on the use of solitary confinement in state prisons, and to submit a report by Jan. 1 on visitation procedures at each facility.
