Across the country, organizations that help victims of domestic violence and sexual assaultare facing a funding crisis like nothing they’ve seen before.
Shortfalls in funding from the federal Victims of Crime Act, known as VOCA, are slashing budgets. In Wisconsin, some nonprofits have lost more than 80% or more of that funding.
Although the VOCA cuts were expected, the Trump administration’s pauses or cancellations of other grants and programs, firing of key staff and sweeping executive orders have compounded the situation. Some of the actions have been paused or reversed in court, but the uncertainty has caused chaos, advocates say.
VOCA cuts have declined steadily since 2018
Nationally, VOCA funds have declined steadily since 2018. The pool of money comes from fines and penalties collected in federal criminal court cases, not taxpayer dollars.
Congress addressed the funding formula in so-called “VOCA Fix” legislation in 2021, but it will take years before the fund is fully replenished, if at all.
Pandemic aid and a bipartisan $10 million stopgap measure delayed the deepest cuts in Wisconsin. Those temporary solutions ended last fall.
Over the past five years, the Wisconsin Department of Justice provided about $44 million annually to local victim service providers.
The amount plummeted to $13 million annually, starting last October.
Some nonprofits have sought to use other grants to replace VOCA
One nonprofit in Wisconsin, Embrace, used a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to stabilize its 2025 budget, almost replacing the VOCA amount.
Embrace’s executive director, Katie Bement, estimated about one-quarter of staff costs are covered by the rapid rehousing grant.
But the funding streams are very different.
VOCA enabled Embrace to serve between 600 to 800 victims in-person annually, doing everything from changing locks to buying shoes for a survivor’s children. HUD funding is far less flexible — more than half must be spent on direct rental assistance — and allows Embrace to serve only 14 families, Bement said.
New federal grant restrictions are the subject of a new lawsuit
Domestic violence advocates are concerned about recent language added to federal grant requirements tied to the president’s executive orders.
Updated grant listings from the federal Office on Violence Against Women, for example, now say organizations cannot spend grant money “promoting gender ideology” or “activities that frame domestic violence or sexual assault as systemic social justice issues rather than criminal offenses.”
Those requirements are the subject of a recent lawsuit filed by coalitions of victim-service providers across the country, including two in Wisconsin.
“The new harmful restrictions put grant recipients in impossible situations, asking them to certify that they comply with limitations on their ability to operate as Congress has required — specifically targeting vulnerable populations — or risk penalties under the False Claims Act,” according to a news release from the coalitions.
The Trump administration has stood by the executive orders in earlier court cases and has said domestic violence survivors’ needs would still be met, regardless of federal staff cuts and funding pauses.
Wisconsin lawmakers consider budget request to fund victim services
It’s possible help may come from the state.
Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, has proposed $66 million in the next state budget for crime victim services to help cover the VOCA shortfall. It’s unclear if the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee will move the proposal forward. The committee is working throughout June to craft the budget.
Even if the funding becomes law, it’s only for the two-year budget cycle.
Where to find help: The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233. End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin has a statewide directory of resources at endabusewi.org/get-help.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about VOCA funding cuts for crime victim services