B.C. restores funding for family-violence victims

The cash-strapped B.C. government says it will restore almost $440,000 in funding to protect services for victims of domestic violence.

Solicitor General Kash Heed said he's bringing back the money after being told the cuts would hurt front-line services.

Some of the cash will go to retain a victim-services worker in the New Westminster Police Department.

Domestic-violence units have proven effective tools in fighting domestic violence and having a victim-services worker embedded in the New Westminster unit ensures victims get immediate support, Heed told reporters in Victoria Tuesday.

The solicitor general said he understands the importance of having these programs where and when they are needed because of his former career as a police officer.

Heed was chief of the West Vancouver police department before entering politics earlier this year.

The reversal comes less than a week after B.C.'s children's representative released a report that called for action to address family violence after 70 domestic-violence-related murders in the past five years.

A representative of one Vancouver women's support group said she's relieved the money will still be there, but worried that services for women and children will be targeted for cuts in the future.

"Having to take time out of our days where we could actually be serving more people, coming to protest every six or eight months seems to be another inefficiency," Dalya Israel of Women Against Violence Against Women told CBC News.

Funding for non-profit agencies like hers has been too low for years and should be increased, Israel said.