An attendee looks at a series of banners for National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Candlelight Vigil on the National Mall on April 24, 2024, in Washington, D.C. The Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime held the event to pay tribute to victims and survivors of crime and individuals who provide service and support. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
As federal funding for crime victims dwindled in recent years, 35 states across the nation took action to keep domestic violence shelters open, sexual assault centers operating and child abuse counselors available to serve the youngest of victims.
Tennessee was not one of these states.
Now a looming budget crisis threatens the future viability of scores of Tennessee nonprofits that operate hotlines, protect seniors from elder abuse and work with prosecutors to secure evidence against perpetrators of human trafficking.
Collectively these organizations serve more than 95,000 victims in Tennessee each year, according to the state’s Office of Criminal Justice Programs.
“Many states have dedicated victim service funding in their budgets. Tennessee doesn’t,” said Jennifer Escue, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence.
“We’re really worried that programs across the state might have to close their doors open. We know they would have to drastically reduce their services,” Escue said. Rural organizations that rely most heavily on the federal funding have fewer private-sector resources to tap, and victims who depend on them will suffer the most, she said.
Escue said victims are facing a “double whammy” in funding losses.
The Victims of Crime Act, or VOCA funding, which relies on the fees and fines collected in federal court, has seen a drastic drop in collections as prosecutors have made a concerted shift to accept more plea deals — a trend that preceded the current Trump Administration.
A short-term infusion of COVID-era funding helped bridge the gap, but those funds have now ended.
In 2018, the federal government distributed more than $67 million to Tennessee’s Office of Criminal Justice Programs, which in turn, gave grants to 128 agencies across the state to serve crime victims.
By 2024, that number had dropped to $16 million.
Advocates are expecting to see up to 40% more in cuts come July from the already slashed federal crime victims fund, a steep loss that could spell the closure of small nonprofits in rural areas that rely on the funding for up to 80% of their budgets.
Last fall, victim-serving agency leaders met with Gov. Bill Lee’s staff to make their case for $25 million in recurring state funding needed to keep organizations’ doors open.
“We received an indication from leadership of the General Assembly and the governor’s office that it was being considered,” said Stephen Woerner, executive director of Tennessee Children’s Advocacy Centers.
But that hope was short-lived. The governor’s budget, unveiled earlier this month, includes no funding for victim organizations.
“We were disappointed,” said Woerner.
Woerner’s organization operates 46 centers across the state that employ specialized counselors who work with children who have been abused, neglected or sexually assaulted.
The counselors conduct forensic interviews designed to prevent further trauma while eliciting information used in prosecuting perpetrators. The counseling continues for the victims and non-offending family members after the abuse has ended. The services are provided free of charge.
Ultimately what we’re going to see happen is victims of crime don’t get the care they need and an increase in cycles of generational crime, and it’s going to make law enforcement’s jobs much more difficult.
– Rachel Freeman, president and CEO, Sexual Assault Center
The organization received $5.5 million annually from the federal crime victims fund at its peak; this year, it received $2.1 million.
“Child advocacy centers will close their doors if we can’t shore this up,” he said. “If a child advocacy center closes, it means that a child is going to have to drive anywhere between an hour and two hours away. That’s step one.”
“It means we have fewer interviews, because families are not able to do that, especially in rural Tennessee. The Department of Children’s Services is going to have a harder time (protecting children). And for district attorneys, fewer interviews means fewer prosecutions.”
Woerner’s organization has joined more than 120 others in issuing dire warnings to Lee and members of the General Assembly that saud without an infusion of $25 million in state funding, “the consequences will be catastrophic.”
“Our shelters, crisis hotlines, and outreach programs are often the only lifelines available. Without stable funding, we face service cuts and closures,” read a letter to lawmakers from the Tennessee Victim Service Providers Alliance, an umbrella group of victim serving organizations hastily formed to advocate for state funding.
The letter noted that many of the services they provide, including sexual assault exams and forensic interviews of children suspected of being abused, were mandated by the General Assembly but included no state funding to carry them out.
Lee this week declined to say whether he will reconsider including funding for victim services in a supplemental budget to be introduced this spring.
“The Tennessee Victim Service Providers Alliance represents key organizations that serve Tennesseans well, and we appreciate their partnership,” a statement from Lee’s office said. “Gov. Lee continues to work with the General Assembly on budget priorities, and the administration’s budget amendment will be finalized in the coming months.”
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Rachel Freeman, president and CEO of the Sexual Assault Center in Nashville said her organization is better positioned to raise private sector funds than smaller nonprofits in rural areas lacking resources to make up for funding cuts.
Nevertheless, she said, the ongoing cuts have proved challenging.
About half of the nonprofit organization’s $5 million budget comes from the federal VOCA funding. Freeman is preparing for cuts of between 10% and 40% this year.
Without state dollars, the funding loss will be “disastrous for our state,” she said.
“Ultimately what we’re going to see happen is victims of crime don’t get the care they need and an increase in cycles of generational crime, and it’s going to make law enforcement’s jobs much more difficult,” she said. “That’s a vicious cycle that’s going to be more disastrous for our state.”
The federal funding cuts will also be felt in local government, police departments and district attorney’s offices that provide victim counseling and advocacy.
The Metro Nashville Office of Family Safety lost two of its 12 counselor positions last year as federal funds contracted and expects to lose two more if no state funding is provided, said Diane Lance, director.
The Nashville governmental agency helps victims of interpersonal violence obtain orders of protection, create safety plans for themselves and their children and provides crisis counseling.
“These therapies are for ‘I have been raped,’ ‘my mother was shot and killed by my dad.’ We’re trying to get them through the immediate emergency,” Lance said.
Without state funding, “they’re not going to get the help they need. Already with domestic violence shelters, 40 percent of the time they can’t take you in. And now there’s so many funding cuts you won’t have a crisis advocate. So good luck trying to stay safe for you and your children.”
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