Ask the U.S. Congress to Support an Increase in Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Funding for 2024
The Crime Victims Fund (CVF) was established by the VOCA of 1984 and is administered by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime. The Fund is financed by the collection of federal crime fines, forfeitures and special assessments rather than taxpayer dollars. The Fund helps an average of 3.7 million victims of all types of crime every year. The Fund is used to provide crime victim assistance grants in every state, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories. States, in turn, provide sub-grants to community-based organizations and public agencies that provide services directly to victims.
Court Appointed Special Advocate and Guardian ad Litem (CASA/GAL) state organizations and local programs across the country benefit from over $100 million in VOCA dollars annually. In recent years, deposits to the CVF have decreased dramatically, which, in turn, has diminished VOCA funds made available to states; many of which are passed through to CASA/GAL organizations. The dollars deposited to the CVF have decreased due to less federal fines and fees that fund the CVF and VOCA. As the deep concern over Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding cuts continues, we ask you to contact your legislators and tell them to increase VOCA funding.
Contact your members of Congress now and ask them to invest adequate funding for VOCA in the final FY2024 budget without cutting other critical Department of Justice grant programs that provide vital victim services and protect public safety.
CASA of the River Region depends on these dollars to fund our program and continue advocacy for children who have experienced abuse and neglect in Jefferson, Bullitt, Henry, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, and Trimble counties. Please help us get out the word that these funds are vital to helping children in our community. You can make a difference!