As federal funding for crime victims plummets, advocates ask WA lawmakers for help
Last edited Tue Oct 8, 2024, 02:26 PM - Edit history (1)
Sherrie Tinoco has never been more frightened about the future of her work helping survivors of domestic violence than she is right now.
That’s because the main funding source for victim services in Washington is projected to be cut in half before the end of next year. It’s called the Victims of Crime Act State Plan, and it funds services for around 52,000 crime victims a year. About 70% of all victim services funding flowing through Washington’s Office of Crime Victims Advocacy comes from the state plan.
A few years ago, the state plan was funded entirely through federal dollars from the Victims of Crime Act. But the federal money has been steadily declining — from $74.7 million at its high in 2018 to about $17.8 million last June, the lowest amount in a decade. Rather than taxes, the dollars come from fines, forfeited bonds and other financial penalties in certain federal cases, which makes the federal funds volatile.
“In the time that I’ve been in the field, we’ve lost five domestic violence programs in the state of Washington,” Tinoco told lawmakers during a September state Senate Law & Justice meeting on the issue. Tinoco has worked at Emergency Support Shelter in Longview since 2005.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/10/07/as-federal-funding-for-crime-victims-plummets-advocates-ask-wa-lawmakers-for-help/