No room for hundreds at domestic abuse refuge

A domestic abuse refuge was unable to accommodate 441 children and 258 women last year due to the lack of space.

The 2017 annual report for Cope Galway shows the charity had the busiest year since it was set up helping homeless people and those affected by domestic violence.

The startling figures show that 214 children – over one third more than in 2016 – were supported by its domestic abuse staff along with 339 women. Some 62 children received emergency accommodation in the Cope refuge.

“It is always a matter of regret when we consider the numbers of women and children we are unable to accommodate – 258 women with 441 children, on 326 different occasions in 2017. When a woman seeks refuge with us, she is never turned away,” states the report.

“The ‘unable to accommodate’ figure indicates the number of women and their children who wished to stay with us, but for whom we could not provide a room. For these women, we work closely with other refuges in neighbouring counties, so that they can be safe in the immediate term, until space opens at ours; we also provide emergency accommodation where another refuge is not available or appropriate.”

The Cope Outreach Service saw a surge of 17% in demand across towns throughout the county as well as its Galway City base.

“The number of women dropping in for support and advice also increased dramatically (up 75% – 200 women in 2017, 114 women in 2016), evidencing the very real need that women have for information and support, when faced with an abusive, violent or coercive domestic life,” according to the report.

The homeless leg of the charity had a 44% increase in those using the service. It worked with 1,588 people who experienced homelessness in Galway, including 576 children.

A total of 164 families were provided with or placed in emergency accommodation by Cope Galway over the course of the year. This represented a 125% increase on the 2016 figure of 73.

One worker described it as a tsunami of family homelessness that hit in May 2015 and has continued unabated since.

Some 61 families moved on from emergency accommodation with 35 of these securing social housing tenancies and a further 23 moving to homes in the private rented sector. The remaining three moved into transitional accommodation.

A growth in rough sleeping in the city was a major contributing factor for the increased numbers seeking help.

“Although there have always been incidences of people sleeping rough in Galway City at any given time, the numbers were far higher in 2017. This situation placed considerable pressure on already over stretched services with the result that emergency accommodation projects operated at 100% occupancy levels throughout the year,” states the report.

The annual Cold Weather Response to address rough sleeping over the winter months, put in place by Galway City Council with the support of the HS and based at based at the COPE Galway Teach Corrib Day Centre, was expanded from 14 beds to 31 beds for the winter of 2017/18 and accommodated a total of 165 individuals between January and April.

“Another challenge Cope Galway faced in 2017 was responding to those who were rough sleeping who were without habitual residency status and so were not eligible for welfare and housing supports and services. Language and communication difficulties further added to the challenges in working toward identifying and implementing solutions to the needs of a cohort of people who were destitute.”

Cope Galway CEO Jacquie Horan said the housing crisis was having an acute impact on children and adults across all their service areas.

“Children, from aged a few weeks old to those in their teens, will be affected by any exposure to domestic abuse in their homes.

“Families experiencing domestic abuse have very limited housing options to move from a violent or abusive home and, as a direct consequence of the housing crisis, children are often exposed to the effects of domestic abuse over a longer period of time,” she said.

Dr Carol Baumann, Cope Galway Domestic Abuse Service Manager, stressed that prolonged stress at a young age over a long period of time can be detrimental to a child’s physical and mental health as they grow up.

The planned new Cope refuge in the Magdalen convent is taking longer than planned, with best estimates for completion pushed out to late 2019.