October was declared as Domestic Violence Awareness Month by the Washington County Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

Domestic Violence Intervention Program (DVIP) Community Engagement Director Alta Medea-Peters and Client Advocacy Services Coordinator Xiomara Levsen presented the proclamation to the supervisors during their regular meeting. Levsen mentioned that she has seen an uptick in domestic violence cases since last May, working with 10 Washington County clients and providing housing and utility payment assistance to at least five of them, “We do have a good working program in Washington County where I can reach out to other resources like HACAP, and I’ve also talked to Mary Audia over at WEDG about our need for more affordable housing in Washington County because it’s definitely something that our clients are struggling with.”

The proclamation states that one in three Americans has witnessed a domestic violence incident, and children who experience domestic violence are at a higher risk for failure in school, mental illness, substance abuse, suicide, and may choose violence as a way to solve problems later in life. DVIP has worked to end violence in intimate relations for more than 40 years, serving Washington, Cedar, Des Moines, Henry, Iowa, Johnson, Lee and Van Buren counties. For their 24-hour crisis line, visit here.