Significant increases fulfill the promise

Back in December 2009, we reported on President Barack Obama's efforts to increase funding for the Office on Violence Against Women. Part of the Justice Department, the bureau is tasked with implementing the Violence Against Women Act by steering financial and technical assistance to communities that are developing programs to help women who have been victims of violence.

At the time, we rated the promise In the Works, since Obama had not yet signed the 2010 budget, which would increase the level of funding -- or so we thought. It turns out that in the midst of the holiday season, we fell a little behind the schedule. On December 16, 2009, a day before we posted our rating, Obama signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010, which provided funding to various departments, including the Justice Department. Congress gave OVAW $418.5 million, $29.5 million more than in 2009. Of specific focus were the STOP (Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors) program, the sexual assault victims services, and civil legal assistance programs for abused women, which received $210 million, $15 million and $41 million, respectively.

By this point, the Obama administration has released its 2011 budget request, so we thought we'd take a look. According to the Office of Management and Budget, the 2011 budget "includes $538 million, an increase of $120 million, to support women victims of violence, including domestic abuse and sexual assault victims."

Obama increased funding for the Violence Against Women Act in his 2010 budget and asked for further increases in 2011.

Promise Kept.