(Louisiana Illuiminator) – Louisiana domestic violence shelters doubled the number of beds available for emergency housing in recent years with millions in state funding.
The shelters went from offering 335 beds statewide in 2021 to 663 beds in 2025. Louisiana governors and legislators gave an additional $7 million per year, starting July 1, 2023, and continuing through June 30, 2026, which allowed for the expansion, said Mariah Stidham Wineski, executive director for the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Louisiana shelters typically turn down approximately 2,500 requests for emergency housing annually. But over the past 12 months, they have been able to meet more of the demand, only turning down 1,300 requests.
“That investment did completely change the landscape of these services,” Wineski said at a Louisiana Senate Select Committee on Women and Children meeting Monday.
With the new state funding, advocates opened five shelters and 11 outreach offices for day services in rural parishes. They also expanded seven existing shelters, six child advocacy centers and six legal advocacy offices for victims. Counseling and domestic violence prevention programs were also added with the money, Wineski said.
In total, the state now has 21 domestic violence shelters run by 16 organizations.
Before 2023, approximately 90% of the funding for domestic violence survivor services came from the federal government and totaled $7 million annually. Another 10% came from state marriage license fees and a grant from Louisiana’s criminal justice reinvestment fund. The shelters also do private fundraising.
Domestic violence is more destructive in Louisiana than in almost any other state. Louisiana has ranked in the top five states for homicides between intimate partners since 1997, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
One out of 100 Louisiana residents – approximately 45,000 people – had a spouse or dating partner threaten them with a firearm in the past year, Wineski said.
There were 181 deaths in Louisiana that were the result of intimate partner violence between 2020 and 2022, according to a state health department report. More than 65% of the victims were women, and three-quarters of the deaths were caused by a firearm.
The health department started monitoring domestic violence deaths three years ago through a new state domestic violence fatality review panel, which studies specific cases of domestic violence homicides. Based on its investigations, the panel makes recommendations on how to prevent domestic violence deaths.
While the new state funding is appreciated, Wineski said some of it has had to backfill federal funding that has been cut. Over the past five years, Louisiana domestic violence shelters have lost $4 million in federal money.
Access to affordable, interim housing continues to be a barrier to victims leaving their abusive partners. Emergency shelters take approximately 45 days to house survivors, and many people need another temporary place to stay before they fully independent, Wineski said.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides money for one to two years of rental assistance for domestic violence survivors. Wineski’s organization also uses an $800,000 annual grant it receives from the state to provide housing assistance on a short-term basis for people leaving shelters.
But the $800,000 is at risk of going away, Wineski said. The money comes from Louisiana’s criminal justice reinvestment fund, which was tied to savings achieved through drops in the state prison population that occurred when Gov. John Bel Edwards was in office.
Gov. Jeff Landry has sought to undo many of the criminal sentencing changes Edwards made, which could reverse the prison population drops. With Landry’s support, lawmakers have enacted longer prison sentences that could dramatically increase the number of state prisoners.
Wineski said she hopes legislators will find another source for the money.
