California victim support services face funding cuts, with VOCA funds declining 78% from 2018 to 2024. State backfill helps, but the future remains uncertain.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For another year in a row, crime victim advocates are reeling with budget uncertainty from the state.
Crime victim support services primarily rely on federal funding under the Victims of Crime Act, which has been in place since 1984. Money from fines, penalties, or bond forfeitures from people or corporations found guilty of crimes.
Because funding depends on criminal penalty allocations, the total amount distributed to states can vary year to year.
“Unfortunately, over the last several years, the balance in the crime victims fund has been declining, and has gotten significantly lower than we had seen,” said Krista Colon, the executive director of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence.
Those funds are critical for crime victim support services. They are used to run all the state’s rape crisis centers, witness protection programs, and go toward helping end human trafficking and child abuse.
California’s VOCA allocation was reduced from $153 million to $87 million from 2023 to 2024, the primary source of funding for the dozens of victim resource programs throughout the state. From 2018 to 2024, California experienced a 78% reduction in VOCA funding, according to the California Budget and Policy Center.
It rebounded in 2025, reaching nearly $143 million.
For Julie Bornhoeft, chief strategy officer for the Sacramento-based organization WEAVE, which is focused on helping survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, the lack of certainty creates an obstacle. It not only limits their ability to help survivors and plan for any expansion to services.
“The reality is: domestic violence is occurring every day in this community. Law enforcement is responding. And, we see the situations where it escalates into a homicide,” said Bornhoeft. “And we want to be able to prevent those. We want there to be resources for anyone who needs the help to be able to get what they need quickly.”
During the last few years of budget uncertainty for the programs, California provided just over $100 million in backfill funding for 2024 and a similar amount for 2025.
At the same time, California established a state version of VOCA to create a multiyear solution; however, backers of the new program said it will take a few years for funds to be compiled.
“We’re also incredibly grateful the state of California has recognized the risk and the long-term damage that could be done with the loss of this funding, and they have stepped in for multiple years, and there’s gratitude for that, and it’s a balance, we would love to see it resolved at the federal level,” Bornhoeft said.
However, in the governor’s January budget proposal, Newsom did not include funding for crime victim support services. Although the budget is not finalized for months, advocates say the uncertainty means they must plan their budgets without knowing whether the state will again step up to provide support.
“These are people who have experienced crime, and although we’re asking the state to make up declines in federal funding, these are Californians, right, and it is the state’s duty and obligation to care for the people of California,” Colon said.
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