URGENT: Take Action to Save VOCA!

Take Action to Save VOCA!

Hello everyone,

The current landscape is not looking good for VOCA. We have to mobilize like we did for our state funding investment! We need everyone to be active, make phone calls and send emails! We did a call in day on November 8 but need on-going contacts and phone calls. Please activate your communities, your Board members, your stakeholders - everyone! If we do NOT have a fiscal solution to VOCA there will be a 40% cut to all states.

We have two asks:

CALL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS NOW (AND KEEP CALLING)

Please call your congress members and utilize the following script:

“This situation is dire for survivors in your community. Please take action to prevent a devastating $700 million cut to the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). Victims and victim service programs will suffer greatly unless Congress acts. We ask that Congress invest adequate resources to ensure level funding for VOCA in the final FFY24 budget without cutting other programs that victims and survivors rely on.”

With your script include specific information and hard numbers about exactly what your program will lose.

Include your name and role at your program
Include any hard numbers – such as:
Percentage of revenue that will be lost
Real numbers of what that percentage means (for example 40% is $300,000 dollars or what ever it is)
Positions and titles of what will be lost
Specific programs and services that will be lost
If you can, calculate the number of survivors who will not be served.

You can call the Capitol switchboard and ask to be transferred to your Representatives’ and Senators’ offices at this number: (202) 224-3121

There is also a phone call toolkit that you can utilize, which can be found HERE.

Find your Representatives!

Find your Senators!

ENGAGE IN SOCIAL MEDIA (POST AND REPOST FREQUENTLY)

Utilize the social media toolkit below.

Tag your Congress members and our two Illinois Senators in your posts.
Schedule regular ongoing posts.
Share and tag.

Download Social Media Toolkit HERE!

Background

The Victims of Crime Act’s (VOCA) Crime Victims Fund (CVF) is a non-taxpayer source of funding that supports thousands of victim services providers serving millions of victims annually and is funded by monetary penalties associated with federal convictions and certain criminal settlements.

Deposits fluctuate annually based on the cases that the Department of Justice successfully prosecutes and settles. Deposits have been low for several years, impacting the balance of the CVF.

Appropriators decide how much to release from the CVF every year for VOCA grants. Statutorily, this money funds specific DOJ programs and state victim assistance grants, and supplements state victim compensation funds.

It is important to have money in the CVF to provide a buffer for lean years. Unfortunately, if there are too many lean years in a row, the CVF will not be able to provide that buffer. That is the situation we are currently facing.

Because funds in the CVF are very low, the amount Appropriators will release is low and as a result, states are or will be experiencing enormous cuts to their awards. Every state manages their grant cycles differently. Most states have either already cut funding to victim service organizations or will do so this coming fiscal year.

For Illinois, if VOCA were to be reduced another $700 million this would be another 37% decrease in available funds for Illinois. This is in addition to the other 50% decrease we have already received. For domestic violence specifically, Illinois will be down to $6.3 million from $21 million.

Thank you for using your voice to help survivors of domestic violence and the programs who serve them.

If you have questions, please contact Christine Raffaele, ICADV Director of Policy and Systems Advocacy.

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