Funding for domestic violence and sexual assault centers has dwindled in recent years, creating a budget crisis that advocates fear could have devastating consequences for crime victims. Now, more than 100 nonprofits across Tennessee have signed a letter asking the legislature to dedicate $25 million annually to victim services.
Advocates had hoped to see such funding come through in the governor’s budget. But when he unveiled his priorities at the State of the State earlier this month — without such funds — they began looking for other avenues for dollars they say are critical.
“Service providers across Tennessee are at a breaking point,” Stephen Woerner, the executive director of Children’s Advocacy Centers of Tennessee, said in a news release. “We’ve seen funding cuts pile up even as state laws mandate our services. But without the dollars to back them up, shelters won’t be able to stay open, crisis hotlines will go unanswered, and child victims of physical and sexual abuse will be left with nowhere to turn.”
Typically, organizations get grants through federal prosecutions, as required by the federal Victims of Crime Act. A decrease in the amount of court fees collected has resulted in a significant reduction. This year, Tennessee programs are facing a 30% decrease in VOCA funding, according to Jennifer Escue, the CEO of the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence.
“These are programs that are working in tight margins,” Escue told WPLN News. “A 30% cut is not one that they’re able to absorb right now. They’ve done all of the cutting possible. So, when we’re looking at this $25 million again across the state — for everything from child abuse to elder abuse — we’re really looking at funding that will just sustain the programing as it is.”
Recent actions by the Trump administration have these programs facing further uncertainty. On a national level, the disruption in federal funding has led to some rape crisis centers and programs cutting staff and restricting programming. For Tennessee organizations, Escue says funding questions have created a lot of confusion around which grants could be in jeopardy, leading organizations to establish contingency plans.
This has caused a lot of disruption for staffers working on the ground.
“The work that’s done at a rape crisis center or a domestic violence center is work that is done at the worst moments of someone’s life,” Escue said. “Then you add a layer of uncertainty about whether their job is still going to exist, or worry about the people who are living in your shelter — and are we going to be able to continue to offer these services? And what is going to happen if we have to close?
“It just adds more of a burden on to the people who are doing that direct work.”
The reduction in VOCA funds are expected to hit July 1. If more dollars aren’t secured by then— either on the state or federal level — things like court advocacy, emergency shelter hotlines, rape crisis services and sexual assault exams could have reduced availability and, in some places, total elimination. The consequences of this, Escue says, would be “catastrophic.”
“If there are no services for survivors, the police’s job, the prosecutor’s job becomes so much harder because they don’t have anything to offer,” Escue said. “They don’t have any resources for safety to offer survivors, which means that people are going to be less likely to report these crimes, which then means that they’re going to escalate and escalate, and communities are going to get less safe.”
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