first on decorahnews.com: State of Iowa's reorganization of Crime Victim Services will affect Helping Services

Much attention has been paid recently to the State of Iowa's reorganization of mental health and developmental disabilities services.

But the state is implementing the reorganization of another program and that reorganization will also affect services in Winneshiek County.

A proposal to change crime victim services would divide Iowa into six regional service areas.  Within those regions, the state would fund just one or two domestic violence programs, one or two emergency shelter programs and one or two sexual assault service programs.

Currently Helping Services for Northeast Iowa provides such services to Winneshiek, Howard, Allamakee, Clauton and Fayette counties.  But the new reorganization plan would create a 14-county region stretching from Cedar Rapids to Dubuque to Waterloo to Decorah.

State officials say the reorganization is necessary because of sharp cuts in federal and state funds for crime victim services.  They believe the larger regions will create greater efficiencies.

Helping Services for Northeast Iowa Executive Director David Runyon says the new system "looks doable."  His agency plans to submit a bid to the state to handle domestic violence programs in the entire 14-county area.

Of course, that would creast "a pretty dramatic shift," says Runyon.  If the state awards the contract to Helping Services, the agency's domestic violence program staff would double in size.  It would also have to figure out ways to serve Waterloo, Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, although the agency currently has an office in Dubuque, as well as offices in Decorah, Postville and Fayette.

The state reorganization would force Helping Services to cover a much wider area geographically if it is selected.  Using community volunteers, such as trained First Responders, and using technology, such as Skype, would be ways to cut down on the "windshield time" for the program's employees.

The State Attorney General's Office, which administers the programs, will make its final decisions in May.  If Helping Services is not awarded one of the contracts, it would be forced to downsize slightly.  If it does get the contract, the changeover would start in July.