For decades, Albemarle Hopeline, and victims' services agencies like ours across the country, have been steadily and consistently funded through grants from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). The Crime Victims Fund (CVF) was created by Congress in 1984 to provide Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grants to state, territorial, and local programs that assist victims of crime. CVF funding is non-taxpayer money generated by fines and penalties from federal prosecutions and non-prosecution and deferred prosecution agreements. The CVF has been drying up over the past several years, resulting in stark cuts to more than 4,500 grant-funded agencies across the U.S.
In North Carolina, VOCA grants have been steadily reduced from $103 million in 2018, to just $25 million in FY 2024. State officials predict that for FY 2025, there may be between $3 and $15 million available to the more than 150 victims' services providers across the state. This includes domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, and child advocacy centers, among others.
In FY 23-24, Albemarle Hopeline received more than $426,000 in VOCA grants, which support our core services such as shelter and court advocacy, but also specialized services such as legal representation for victims seeking domestic violence protection orders, and specialized outreach services to the Hispanic community.
Hopeline is expecting, at minimum, a $170,500 budget shortfall for fiscal year 2025. This could be considerably worse at upwards of $300,000 depending on funding released and state priorities for releasing those funds.
Needless to say, this is a devastating blow for a nonprofit organization which provides a lifeline for victims in a rural community. While our organization will seek as many resources as possible to help fill this gap, we need the support of our community to ensure continuation of services to victims. To lose funding that has been so stable, that was created by Congress for the specific purpose of funding services like ours, is staggering.
You can read more about VOCA, and the impacts that these grant reductions are having across the nation, in this article from the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV)
