Many in the county are in the process of recovering from the pain of a pandemic; but for others, another kind of suffering has remained.

“Our counselors have reported an increase in abuse with their existing clients, mostly because of employment loss, which leads to financial instability,” said Conny Steele, program director for the Highland Lakes Family Crisis Center in Marble Falls. The nonprofit, established in 1982, helps families across Blanco, Llano, Burnet, and Lampasas counties.

“We’ve seen a slight increase in new clients contacting us,” Steele said.

Counselors started working remotely in March because of COVID-19.

“Our emergency shelter has remained open during this time and has residency has been consistent,” she said.

Steele has a keen understanding of domestic abuse.

“It does not discriminate,” she said. “We see it in all economic levels, genders, ages, and cultures. Domestic violence comes in different shapes and sizes!”

When people think of domestic violence, physical and sexual abuse might come to mind.

But there’s more to it.

“We see many clients who are experiencing emotional, verbal, financial, stalking, and technological abuse,” Steele said. “Additionally, when providing services to clients, we often discover that the client doesn’t identify as a victim of abuse.”

Law enforcement

perspective

Blanco County sheriff’s deputies have not seen a notable increase in domestic violence arrests during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re still having domestic violence calls but we’re not seeing a spike in arrests, so we’ve been very fortunate,” said Blanco County Sheriff Don Jackson. “We’ve always had domestic disagreements, violent and nonviolent. We’ve had a couple of instances recently where contact was made, but no more than usual.”

On average, deputies respond to 3 to 5 domestic incidents in a week, Jackson said.

“It’s a violent offense, so they will be arrested and put in jail.”

Jackson said that law enforcement takes domestic violence seriously.

“It can lead to someone getting seriously hurt,” he said. “It’s also a dangerous situation for peace officers, because both parties are pretty riled up. It’s always a serious, priority call.”

He said that deputies have plenty of information on hand.

“On every domestic call, we hand out pamphlets on what to do and who to call for counseling. We try to get them in contact with people who can help.”

The Blanco County Sheriff’s Office works with the HLFCC, the Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center in Burnet and senior advocates, but they also need people to speak up if they suspect domestic violence.

“I always ask that if you see any kind of suspicious activity or unusual occurrences, please report it to us,” the sheriff said. “Even if it’s informational, we can look into it and maybe increase patrols once we’re aware of it.”

What can you do?

The HLFCC has advocates available 24/7 who will then refer people to either residential or non-residential programs.

All services are free.

“We provide a variety of services to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault: counseling, case management, legal advocacy, bilingual services, emergency shelter, crisis intervention, financial assistance, referrals, transportation and sexual assault advocacy,” Steele said.

For folks who are not in crisis but want to help those who are, the HLFCC takes donations or people can shop at its thrift store in Marble Falls.

“We closed for the month of April, but now we’ve reopened at normal days and hours,” she said.

The first step, asking for help, can be the hardest part.

“Anyone seeking services just needs to contact our agency at 830-693-3656,” Steele said. “Anyone, whether victim, family member or friend, can call us anytime.”

For more information, visit www.hlfcc.org.