Assemblyman Joseph M. Giglio, R-Gowanda, heard dozens of heartbreaking stories from domestic violence victims during last year’s hearings across the state by an Assembly minority task force he leads.

Earlier this week, the Assembly Minority Task Force on Preventing Domestic Violence released its findings and recommendations to help victims and advocates.

One of the top recommendations was to declare domestic violence a public health issue.

“By listening to victims and experts, our conference feels we have a strong list of recommendations that will take immediate steps to protect victims and their loved ones,” Giglio said.

The domestic violence issue is so important that Giglio said he plans to meet soon with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Minority Leader Brian Kolb to outline the task force’s recommendations, some of which could be implemented in the 2018 state budget.

He’s also reaching out to those who may be interested in sponsoring similar domestic violence legislation in the Senate.

“We want to work with the other side of the aisle to try to move forward in our house (Assembly),” Giglio said in an interview Thursday.

The approach to fighting and dealing with domestic violence requires updating laws, adequate funding for agencies helping victims, new training for law enforcement, help for councillors and housing for survivors.

Giglio said, “Housing is a big thing.” When a victim makes the decision to leave an abusive relationship, there are often children and sometimes pets to consider.

Funding for family justice centers like the Mary Travers Murphy House in Buffalo will be important to help victims, Giglio said. “We have to come up with a way to fund these centers,” he said. “It is a place where you can get help.”

“We want to have an immediate impact,” Giglio said. “We don’t care who gets the credit. I just want these things to move forward.”

By using the Mary Travers Murphy House model of making services for domestic violence victims under one roof, similar results could be achieved in communities across the state, Giglio said.

“I am optimistic we can get a lot done in this session and move forward on this,” Giglio said.

This continues efforts in the Assembly over the past several years to make progress on helping domestic violence victims.

Tougher enforcement of orders of protection and new technology will be part of the new initiative as well. Another part of the effort will be public information and education programs.

Besides declaring domestic violence a public health crisis, Giglio listed some of the task force’s other recommendations:

“My colleagues and I have done extensive work, talking with victims, counselors and law enforcement to develop a method to bring back hope and security to those victims,” Giglio said.

Giglio said he also got input from several family court judges.

“The one place you should feel completely safe is in your own home and I am resolved to ensure that feeling is brought to every person in our state,” he said.

(Contact reporter Rick Miller at rmiller@oleantimesherald.com. Follow him on Twitter, @RMillerOTH)