NEWBURGH—Orange County receives about 300 emergency calls a year relating to domestic violence, said Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus, which is why the county needs to increase its awareness of, and efforts to prevent it.
“I see domestic violence on a daily basis,” Neuhaus said. “This is unacceptable.”
Neuhaus and other officials from state, county, and local governments gathered at the offices of Safe Homes Orange County, the county’s premier agency working to end domestic violence, in Newburgh on Oct. 3 to recognize the beginning of October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Speaking of the ways the county is committed to ending domestic violence, he pointed to the county’s commitment to funding the Safe Homes employees who work with the county’s child protective services, and stepping in when funding for Safe Homes’ rape crisis center was cut a year and a half ago.
While not specific to domestic abuse, Orange County launched a text-to-911 feature last month for situations where someone may not be able to, or feel comfortable, calling 911. By doing so, Orange County joined 20 out of the state’s 72 counties in offering this feature, Neuhaus said.
