The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), and through it the Crime Victims Fund (CVF), has assisted the recovery of millions of violent crime, sexual assault and domestic abuse victims. Its role in the support of victims’ recovery cannot be overstated.
For years, children and their families have turned to Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) and other victim service agencies, like the One Place Child Advocacy Center. These critical lifeline services have been made possible for so many people who need them by funding from VOCA and its advocates as they take the time to heal. Instead of leaving victims to shoulder the overwhelming burden of seeking justice on their own, our victim advocates step in to provide support.
Due to the nature of VOCA and its fickle funding sources like fines, settlements from federal criminal prosecutions and forfeited bonds, the pot has been drying up for years. With each year that the fund shrinks, the services must account for the change. That uncertainty prevents organizations like ours from doing the type of strategic long-term planning that would allow us to service more victims in more meaningful ways.
This year, despite a targeted effort by bill advocates across the full nonprofit spectrum, the CVF has seen a $600 million slash to its bottom line. Across the board, this will look like less financial support for victims of violent crimes, depleted legal resources in the pursuit of justice and fewer victims’ rights advocates.
For the One Place Child Advocacy Center this cut to VOCA will mean all of that and more.
In 2023, we served 221 victims of child abuse and neglect, and it has been our honor to do this work since opening the doors to our CAC in 2010.
Our multidisciplinary team of professionals responds to and investigates reports of physical abuse, sexual abuse, serious neglect, or violence. We conduct forensic interviews, provide sensitive medical exams, offer family advocacy, coordinate mental health care, and identify vital resources so children and families can begin to heal and build resilience.
The comprehensive medical exams are completed by medical providers rostered as trained child abuse experts through the Child Medical Evaluation Program at UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Pediatrics. Our Child Advocacy Center employs the only rostered providers in Onslow County.
Since our CAC opened, we have helped more than 7,882 people including child victims, siblings, and non-offending parents and caregivers with the supports that they need to recover from trauma.
We anticipate a cut of more than $200,000 to our operations. This means we will have to seek new funding sources to cover the cost of our mental health and medical staff and will impact our ability to offer the vital community support that Onslow County has come to expect from us.
In the face of these devastating cuts to VOCA, Children’s Advocacy Centers across the country, like the One Place Child Advocacy Center, are forced to make changes or shutter their doors. To end the programs for these young crime victims would be to abandon them. For many of the people we serve, this could be the start of a new obstacle to overcome. We owe crime victims more than that.
The entire staff of One Place will continue to provide the best support we can. We look to Congress and our state legislators to find a solution to help us sustain that support to the people that need it most this year and beyond.
