JACKSON, Miss. – Domestic violence shelters are apparently missing out on nearly $600,000. That money is being withheld from them by the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) according to a study by the Domestic Violence Task Force. Also, no explanation was given for exactly why the money was withheld, even though that it was required to be set aside by the Legislature.
“The lack of internal accountability for these funds within the MSDH is extremely troubling,” said Executive Director at The Center for Violence Prevention, Sandy Middleton. “$600,000 dollars could have single-handedly funded a domestic violence shelter or rape violence shelter for a year.”
Right now the Task Force has gotten the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) Committee to approve a project to look into the failure of the MSDH to provide those funds and to figure out just how much money has been withheld for the past decade.
