Advocates and survivors emphasize the need for long-term solutions to stabilize critical victim services
SACRAMENTO – Today, Governor Newsom signed a final budget agreement that includes $50 million in one-time funding to maintain, in dollar terms, funding for essential services for survivors of violent crimes.
While this funding stabilizes funding for crime victim services for another year, survivors and advocates warn that this solution is temporary as they brace for continuing funding uncertainty and deal with rapidly rising costs while receiving the same funding amounts for the last three years.
Holly Fleming, of the California VOCA Advocacy Alliance, issued the following statement:
“Survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, human trafficking, and other violent crimes, especially immigrants, LGBTQ+, Black, Native and Indigenous, and unhoused communities, are some of the most vulnerable in the state. By funding crime victim services, California’s leaders show that all Californians deserve safety and healing after experiencing violence.
For one year, this will fund safety-net services that countless Californians depend on every day, like mental health support after sexual assault, shelter after fleeing domestic violence, legal support after escaping human trafficking, and advocacy after child abuse.
Unfortunately, after this year, programs and survivors will face another year of uncertainty. The demand for these services will continue, and survivors and advocates should not have to continue to share stories of personal trauma to justify the importance of crime victim services.
We must find a long-term solution to this problem. California cannot continue to underfund and threaten crucial services that nearly 700,000 Californians rely on more than 5.3 million times each year during the most traumatic and dangerous experiences of their lives.
We urge state leaders, including the incoming Governor, to prioritize California’s crime victims and provide stable, ongoing funding for them. The California VOCA Advocacy Alliance will continue to advocate for survivors until the state commits to sustainable funding for shelter, forensic exams, counseling, and other necessary support for victims.”