Delivery Delay May Have Cost Social Service Group a Grant : Missed deadline: An application for $250,000 is denied despite pleas from applicant, lawmaker and Federal Express.

The package absolutely, positively had to be there overnight, as the Federal Express advertising slogan puts it. But because it wasn’t, administrators of the Santa Clarita Valley’s only haven for battered women figure they lost $250,000.

And they see no remedy in sight.

The saga of the wayward package began April 11 when the Assn. to Aid Victims of Domestic Violence hurriedly submitted an application to the state one day before the deadline for a $250,000 grant.

The association is struggling to keep a financially troubled center for battered women afloat and viewed the state grant as the center’s best hope of survival. But the package missed the deadline, arriving two days after it was raced to a Federal Express office in Van Nuys.

On Monday, the association learned that state officials rejected the grant application, despite pleas from the association, Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) and Federal Express itself.

“It is with deep regret that I must inform you that your proposal for the California Domestic Violence Assistance Program has been rejected,” wrote G. Albert Howenstein, executive director of the Office of Criminal Justice Planning, in a May 3 letter. Howenstein said the state could not extend the deadline, that agency policy statements make clear that late proposals cannot be accepted, regardless of the cause.

There was no guarantee the association would have received the grant, but Robin Shine Ackerman, a member of the association’s board of directors, said the program was a good candidate because it met all 13 basic criteria for such funding.

In a letter to the state, a Federal Express official acknowledged the company was responsible for the delay. “Please be assured this is not an example of the quality service we want to provide our customers, nor is it acceptable,” the letter said.

The state office awards grants on a three-year cycle, so the association will be unable to apply for 1993 funding until 1992. “That is what is so devastating about the situation,” said Ackerman. The rejection was the latest blow to the association, which provides counseling, a hot line and shelter for women and children seeking refuge from violent husbands and boyfriends. The botched delivery, Ackerman said, was an example of “Murphy’s Law to the nth degree.”

In its eight years, the center has served women who were threatened, beaten and even stabbed. The program was shut down temporarily in February after some expected grants fell through.

Association members also did not expect the demand for service to skyrocket last year, taxing the resources of the center, which requires $5,000 to $10,000 to operate each month, Ackerman said. The number of calls to the center’s hot line, for example, rose 217% to 900 calls last year, Ackerman said. Of those calls, 217 people required some continued service later.

The center now operates on a reduced scale, supported by income from a thrift store the association operates.

The grant application and three copies, weighing 9 pounds, were rushed to Federal Express April 11 shortly before 5 p.m., Ackerman said. Armand Schneider, a Federal Express spokesman, said he had not seen the state’s rejection letter and could not comment on the matter Wednesday. Ackerman, meanwhile, said the association is applying for other grants. As for Federal Express, “we would hope they would want to make good on the grant,” she said.

The company has been apologetic and even sent Ackerman a dozen roses, she said.

But Ackerman, public affairs director for a developer, said she was miffed recently when her monthly statement from Federal Express arrived at her Encino office. Among the items listed was a 9-pound package supposedly sent to Sacramento April 11.