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Did you know that victims of violent crime, including sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, could soon face severe delays or even lose access to support services altogether due to massive cuts in federal Victim of Crimes Act (VOCA) funding?
This important but volatile source of funding has been the backbone of victim services for many years. But VOCA, which depends on forfeitures, fines and settlements from federal crimes rather than tax dollars, is both unpredictable and has been in decline since 2018. Adding to the injury, VOCA was cut another 40% this year.
Frankly, our response to crime victims should not depend entirely on a single unstable resource like VOCA to fund crucial services like advocacy, therapy and other assistance that survivors and family members need to rebuild their lives.
State legislators have provided important one-time backfill in each of the last four years. Their partnership has helped stave off the most severe cuts to services.
But this one-time backfill runs out in June. At that point, all community victim service providers, including KCSARC, face a funding cliff that threatens our collective ability to respond to every victim when they seek help.
We can't fathom turning away any victim. And we won't stand by and just let it happen. We need your help.
Together, we can raise our voices loud and say "not on our watch!"
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