Baldwin Pushes DOJ to Help Address Steep Decline for Crime Victims Fund

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) called on the U.S. Department of Justice to help address steep cuts to a critical fund that assists victims of crime. The Crime Victims Fund (CVF) is used to provide services to victims of crime in Wisconsin and across the country, but the Wisconsin Department of Justice estimates that its CVF victim assistance funding will be cut by 41% in Fiscal Year 24, nearly $10 million less than the year prior.

“Organizations across Wisconsin rely on this funding to provide support to victims of crime, including victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. Sadly, Wisconsin continues to suffer from an epidemic of domestic violence, and these funds are vital to assist the adults and children harmed by these crimes,” wrote Senator Baldwin in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland. “The Department must do everything in its power to ensure that these organizations and the victims they serve have the resources they need.”

In Wisconsin, the CVF provides funding for victim compensation and assistance, including grants to organizations that provide direct services to victims of crime like safety planning, community service referrals, counseling, crisis intervention, and legal advocacy. The CVF, created under the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), is financed by fines and penalties paid by persons convicted in federal cases, as well as gifts, donations, and bequests by private parties. However, due to a steep reduction in incoming funds to the CVF, state and Tribal victim assistance programs that rely on these resources are facing major budget shortfalls in Fiscal Year 2024 and may be unable to meet the needs of victims of crime.

Senator Baldwin successfully included her legislation to help provide more resources to the CVF as part of the VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act, which passed in 2021. Senator Baldwin’s measure identified the “deposit fix” to redirect monetary penalties stemming from agreements to delay or forego prosecution into the CVF. While Senator Baldwin’s work was a historic effort to stabilize the fund, adding an additional $1 billion to the CVF between 2021 and 2023, more is needed to meet the basic needs of Wisconsin victims.

The decrease in funding comes as Wisconsin is experiencing the largest increase in domestic violence deaths in two decades, setting a new record in 2022. The Wisconsin Department of Justice has projected that its Fiscal Year 2024 victim assistance CVF award will be nearly $10 million less than its Fiscal Year 2023 award, a 41% reduction in funding that will harm organizations, communities, and families across the state.

Additionally, because of the unpredictability of criminal penalties and private donations, state and Tribal victim assistance programs that rely on CVF funding to help victims cannot plan for the size of the awards they will receive. Senator Baldwin also called on the DOJ to provide more visibility regarding deposits into the fund, including implementing a system to track payments from successfully concluded cases that may result in deposits into the CVF.

“I urge the Department to work with me and others in Congress to identify other long-term solutions to direct additional funds into the CVF. Successful prosecutions can both hold wrongdoers accountable and result in deposits to the CVF,” concluded Senator Baldwin. “I urge the Department to keep the important implications of its work in mind and partner with Congress to identify sustainable funding sources to support victims of crime.”

“VOCA funding is vital to ensuring that services are available to victims of crime,” said Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul. “Unless a sustainable funding solution is put in place soon, there will be potentially devastating cutbacks to victim services, leaving some crime victims without sufficient support and our communities less safe.”

“Children’s Wisconsin appreciates Senator Baldwin’s long-standing leadership and commitment to ensuring the sustainability of the Crime Victims Fund. This funding is critically important to programs that provide care and services to children impacted by abuse, neglect and violence across the state. Crime Victims Fund dollars help to support medical assessments, crisis intervention, and connection to other resources, including mental health and other victim services that promote safety and healing for kids and families. We are deeply concerned about the projected decline in funding and the impact it will have on access to services for Wisconsin’s most vulnerable children,” said Karen Timberlake, Senior Vice President and President of Child Well-Being of Children’s Wisconsin.

“Sojourner is grateful for Senator Baldwin’s leadership in addressing the needs of domestic violence survivors in Wisconsin. Crime Victim Funds allow Sojourner and partners to address the housing, food and support needs of thousands of survivors in Wisconsin. We believe that the projected cuts in Crime Victim funds will have a devastating impact on survivors across the nation. This reduction in funding will erode the safety net of services desperately needed by survivors, ultimately leaving people less safe, more at risk and in lethal situations without access to resources,” said Carmen Pitre, President & CEO of Sojourner Family Peace Center.

“People experiencing domestic violence are killed needlessly every year in Wisconsin, with alarming frequency, and we know how to prevent it. No survivor of violence should have to take the courageous step of leaving an abusive relationship without the safety & support offered by domestic violence advocates & programs. Without this critical funding, that is precisely what is and will continue to happen,” said Jenna Gormal, Public Policy Director at End Domestic Abuse WI.

A full version of this letter is available here and below. An online version of this release is available here.

Dear Attorney General Garland:

I write to express my concern regarding the steep decline in Victims of Crime Act funding that the State of Wisconsin is expected to experience in fiscal year 2024 and to ask for your assistance in identifying additional, sustainable sources of revenue for the Crime Victims Fund (CVF). Organizations across Wisconsin rely on this funding to provide support to victims of crime, including victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. Sadly, Wisconsin continues to suffer from an epidemic of domestic violence, and these funds are vital to assist the adults and children harmed by these crimes. The Department must do everything in its power to ensure that these organizations and the victims they serve have the resources they need.

In 2022, Wisconsin experienced the largest increase in domestic violence deaths in two decades – setting a disturbing new record for the state. The tragic toll of this crime coincides with a deeply concerning reduction in funding from the CVF to states. The Wisconsin Department of Justice has projected that its Fiscal Year 2024 victim assistance CVF award will be nearly $10 million less than its Fiscal Year 2023 award, a 41% reduction in funding that will harm organizations, communities, and families across the state. The End Domestic Violence Wisconsin’s Homicide Report 2022 states plainly this stark reality: “there is not enough funding to meet the basic needs of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in Wisconsin,” and the same is true of all adult and child victims of crime across the state.

While I am proud that the “deposits fix,” enacted as part of the VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act of 2021 and first identified in my Edith Shorougian Senior Victims of Fraud Compensation Act, has directed an additional $1 billion in revenue to the CVF between 2021-2023, more is needed to ensure that the fund can meet the needs of Wisconsin crime victims. To that end, I request your assistance to further stabilize the fund and identify additional sources of revenue that could appropriately help to grow its balance.

I urge the Department to continuing advising its litigators of the availability of the CVF as a repository for fines, fees, and other penalties to ensure that the Department understands how its work affects the CVF. I additionally urge the Department to provide more visibility regarding deposits into the fund. The lack of predictability relating to proceeds makes it difficult for Congress and states to plan without greater insight into potential future revenue to the CVF. To create more transparency, the Department should implement a system to track payments from successfully concluded cases that may result in deposits into the CVF. Lastly, I urge the Department to work with me and others in Congress to identify other long-term solutions to direct additional funds into the CVF. Successful prosecutions can both hold wrongdoers accountable and result in deposits to the CVF. I urge the Department to keep the important implications of its work in mind and partner with Congress to identify sustainable funding sources to support victims of crime.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.