Ask the U.S. Congress to support an increase in Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding for 2024 

NEWS

Please take a few minutes to contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives now and ask for their support for an increase to the VOCA cap for FY2024.

The Crime Victims Fund (CVF) was established by the Victims of Crime Act (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 subgrants 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.

The proposed funding cap for the CVF, which funds VOCA, may be significantly lower for FY2024. The cap took a significant cut from $4.4B in FY2018 to $3.5B in FY2019. In FY2020 the cap was set at $2.541B and dropped to $2.015B in FY2021 following an increase in the cap to $2.6B in FY2022. The cap decreased again in FY2023 to $1.9B.

For FY2024, the President included a $1.2B cap to VOCA in his budget. Further cuts in the VOCA cap could significantly impact funding to CASA/GAL state organizations and local programs and ultimately children in need.

Please take a few minutes to contact your members of Congress now and ask for their support for increasing the VOCA cap for FY2024. Their support is critical to keep VOCA funds flowing to CASA/GAL state organizations and local programs in the year ahead.

Thank you very much for your time and support of vulnerable children in need.