RD257 - Report on Current and Projected Status of Federal, State and Local Funding for Victim/Witness Programs


Executive Summary:
Currently, there are 104 local grant funded Victim/Witness Programs and 4 statewide victim assistance programs. The Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) uses federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds, Victim/Witness Special Funds, and General Funds to make grants to support these programs. Federal VOCA funds are awarded annually to Virginia and federal fiscal year awards support programs in the following state fiscal year. For example, federal fiscal year 2010 (FFY2010) VOCA funds, awarded to Virginia in July 2010, are being utilized to support Victim/Witness Programs in State Fiscal Year 2011 (SFY2011).

Services provided by Victim/Witness Programs include explaining victims' rights, assisting victims in obtaining protective orders, explaining and helping victims apply for compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund (CICF), notifying victims of case statuses, court dates, and prisoner statuses, explaining the criminal justice process, accompanying victims to court and criminal justice related meetings, assisting victims in preparing victim impact statements, providing crisis intervention, and providing case disposition information. In SFY2009, these programs provided direct services to over 67,000 crime victims.

Having three funding streams supporting Victim/Witness Programs has clearly moderated overall funding volatility in recent years. Only when two of the three funding streams (federal VOCA and state Special Funds) declined at the same time (SFY2009) did programs see a significant decline in grant awards.

While having three sources of funding has mitigated volatility in total grant awards, operational costs have increased over time while grant awards have remained neutral. In fact, the SFY2011 total award ($9,229,824) is less than the total amount awarded to programs in SFY2006 ($9,307,990).

Level or reduced grant funding from DCJS over the last six years has placed increasing pressure on programs to cut costs and to seek local funding to augment grant awards. On average in SFY2011, 92% of DCJS grant awards are allocated to support personnel expenses of local program staff providing direct services to crime victims. This leaves very little money to support essential training, equipment, travel, and other operating costs.

Given the grant award limitations described above, DCJS encourages allocation of local funds to support Victim/Witness Programs and maintain current staffing levels and the delivery of essential services. However, given current economic conditions, many programs have also seen reductions in local funding allocations.

Federal Funding Outlook

The federal Office for Victims of Crime has not yet provided any information to DCJS regarding the amount of federal VOCA funds that will be available to Virginia in FFY2011. Congress sets the VOCA appropriation level annually and there often is significant variance between what is proposed and what is contained in the final federal budget. The FFY2011 appropriation level is unlikely to be determined before the November 2010 elections. Consequently, the adoption of the federal budget may be delayed and political and economic uncertainties make projecting the federal funding level difficult. While the balance in the federal Victims of Crime Fund is sufficient to increase state VOCA allocations, based on the limited information currently available, DCJS is estimating level federal VOCA funding in FFY2011.

State Funding Outlook

Due to the economic downturn, the General Fund appropriation supporting Victim/Witness Programs was reduced by $465,000 in SFY2011 to $2,635,000. DCJS is hopeful that continuing improvement in the economy will allow restoration of the General Fund appropriation to $3.1 million in future years.

The Victim/Witness Special Fund balance had been significantly depleted in recent years in order to maintain local programs and the delivery of essential services when federal VOCA funds were insufficient and no General Funds had yet been appropriated. However, with the appropriation of $3.1 million dollars in General Funds beginning in SFY2008, and DCJS' conservative approach to managing current obligations against the Victim/Witness Special Fund, the Fund operating balance has improved. Given current obligations and anticipated annual revenue collections, DCJS projects that Special Fund allocations can be maintained at the current level of approximately $3 million annually.

Local Funding Outlook

Findings from a survey regarding local funding support for Victim/Witness Programs, distributed in August 2010 to Victim/Witness Program Directors, include the following:

• Sixty percent (60%) of Victim/Witness Programs receive local funds, in addition to DCJS grant funds. Of these:

* Twenty five percent (25%) indicated that the percentage of their current total program budgets supported with local funds had declined, when compared to SFY2008.

* Seventy six percent (76%) indicated that they expect the level of local funding to stay about the same in SFY2012.

In anticipation of "level funding:"

• A quarter of Directors (25%) expect to be unable to hire additional staff, which has already led to overwhelming caseloads and a decrease in direct services for victims.

• Eleven percent (11%) of Directors report facing salary reductions or layoffs. Additionally, some Directors report having already forgone health benefits or having taken reductions in salary in order to maintain service delivery.

Unmet Needs

On the whole, programs face high demand for services but may have less capacity to provide services due to factors including: increasing program costs, flat or declining grant awards, declining or uncertain local funding, under-staffing, and limited budgets to support training of new and veteran staff.

Without additional state or federal resources, DCJS cannot address the following issues:

• Authorize modest increases in grant awards to cover more of the real cost of program operations;

• Continue Recovery Act funded positions in SFY2012, after Recovery Act funds are exhausted;

• Support approximately 30 additional FTE positions in under-staffed Victim/Witness Programs; and,

• Initiate new programs in six unserved localities.

Conclusion

The appropriation of General Funds beginning in SFY2008 stabilized the funding outlook for Victim/Witness Programs. However, while operational costs have increased over time, grant awards have not and the need for additional funding for Victim/Witness Programs also remains clear.