Melanie Hooker is the executive Director of the Domestic Violence Coalition in Van Buren County.
“Anybody who's been a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, stalking, dating violence, elder abuse, anything. They can come to our office for free,” Hooker said.
The Coalition provides supportive counseling, legal assistance, education on domestic violence, resources for independent living and other services for victims. But lately, they’ve been having trouble. “We can't afford rent," Hooker said. "So, we're trying to find alternative ways of potentially being mobile instead of having in-the-office space.”
That’s because the organization, like many other victim service organizations across the state, relies on funding from a federal program that’s been struggling in recent years.
VOCA
It’s called the Crime Victims Fund, and it was created when the Victims of Crime Act, or VOCA, was passed in 1984.
When someone is convicted of a federal crime and has to pay a fine, the money goes into the Crime Victims Fund, where each year it is distributed to every state and given to organizations that help victims, like domestic and sexual violence shelters, hotlines and more.
Johanna Kononen is the director of law and policy at the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence, which represents over 70 domestic and sexual violence programs.
“This isn’t taxpayer money," Kononen said. "To make it as simple as possible, I like to say this is bad guys paying for victim services, which is really the best possible solution.”
Kononen said the fund has fluctuated over several presidential administrations. Currently, the Trump administration has issued some policies that deprioritize certain crimes like white-collar crimes, which historically have resulted in large criminal fines and large deposits to the fund.
“Varying priorities of Departments of Justice, their appetite for prosecuting particular types of crimes. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic really impacted this,” Kononen said.
After the pandemic, the fund plummeted. Kononen says that’s because no trials were going on - it reached a record low of just over $1 billion in 2023, $12 billion less than its height in 2017. In the past two years it’s gone up a bit, but Kononen says it still hasn’t rebounded fast enough to keep up with current costs.
“The cost of providing services has not remained steady. It has gone up, but the amount of money that has been allocated to provide those services has remained the same or has gone down,” Kononen said.
For example, this year, Michigan received over $60 million less in VOCA funding than in 2018. At the same time, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation has increased roughly 28% since then.
"We're losing people left and right"
Hooker said her organization uses VOCA funding to help victims file personal protection orders, obtain temporary phones to help get them away from their abusers, find safe housing and more.
“Take VOCA away, I have one advocate doing 700 clients a year. When I first started, I was the sole advocate under VOCA and there was no other advocates. I could only help 270 people a year," Hooker said.
Hooker said right now, she and other board members are considering giving up their salaries, and her staff have declined to take raises and even offered to give up their health insurance because of the funding deficit.
“My staff is looking for other jobs. They don't know if they're going to have a job. You know, and it's like that across the state. We're losing people left and right - and I don't blame them,” Hooker said.
Hooker and others said they’re worried that as funding dwindles, so will services.
Services for children and adults
Lacey Ryan, an officer with the Mattawan Police Department and a Domestic Violence Coalition board member, said VOCA funding can also be used to work with law enforcement and help connect victims with services.
“The big one is us being able to reach out whenever we need to," Ryan said. "I wish it was more utilized that there is the DVC and they are are able to help. There's also offender programs, juvenile programs, things of that nature."
Melissa Werkman is the president of Children’s Advocacy Centers of Michigan.
“We provide training, policy, and technical assistance support to the 40 child advocacy centers across the state,” Werkman said.
CACs exist to provide a safe space for children to be interviewed and examined by law enforcement and medical professionals after they have been sexually or physically abused. Sometimes they serve as a space for a child to testify without having to appear in court.
These Centers also rely on VOCA, and Werkman says the cuts have meant many CACs are overburdened and many children and their families are forced to wait for support services.
“We're also not serving all the kids in the communities in Michigan that we should be. We're missing a lot of them,” Werkman said.
Right now, Werkman said, many CACs are operating a waitlist for forensic interviews, which is an interview conducted by a trained professional with a child who has been abused. She says if things don’t change, some CACs may have to close their doors.
This year, Governor Gretchen Whitmer recommended using $50 million of the state budget to help fill the VOCA gap. But organizations across the state say that won’t be enough - and have launched the “75 saves lives” campaign asking state lawmakers to approve $75 million in funding from the general fund. Kononen said it would provide a much-needed cushion.
“Truly all of our programs are already operating on a shoestring and maintaining services that are already a patchwork," Kononen said. "It would be easier for programs. It would be better for survivors, it would be better for victims.”
But the state House proposed reducing funding for Michigan’s Crime Victims Rights Fund by $4 million from last year — down to $26 million. The proposed state Senate budget didn’t include a final amount.
The legislature has until September 30 to finalize a budget. With just weeks to go before the new fiscal year begins, victim services groups remain in limbo.
