Colorado’s crime victim service system is built on a financial house of cards — one that is poised to collapse. That collapse will affect each of us. Taking action now to build a stronger foundation for victim services is good for individuals and communities across our state.
Crime victimization is common — and on the rise in Colorado. As a clinical psychologist who has done trauma research for more than two decades in Colorado, my team has documented far-reaching consequences of crimes such as domestic violence, sexual assault and trafficking. Survivors face a host of harms, from physical health problems to psychological distress, food and housing insecurity, absenteeism from work and academic difficulties. These consequences translate into critical service needs for crisis support and counseling, housing, medical care and legal advocacy to name a few.
When these services are available, they make a real difference. For example, my research team documented that connecting survivors with victim services in the aftermath of domestic violence translated into less depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and fear a year later. Lessening the mental health burden of crimes is important to individuals — and to our communities, whether measured in health care costs or workplace impacts.
Though crime victim services are essential to mitigating the impact of crime on individuals and communities, Colorado and other states have long relied on an unpredictable funding model tied to the federal Victims of Crime Act, or VOCA. In 1984, VOCA created a national Crime Victims Fund, through which the federal government distributes money to the states. In turn, the states grant funds to agencies offering direct services to victims.
Here in Colorado, VOCA funding is administered by the State’s Division of Criminal Justice. Through a competitive grant process, community-based agencies, such as domestic violence shelters, and government agencies, such as police departments, can apply for funding to provide services directly to victims.
The unpredictability comes from the fact that the Crime Victims Fund is made up of fines collected for federal white-collar crimes. This means that doing the right thing for survivors in our Colorado communities each day requires that enough people commit, get caught and prosecuted, and ultimately pay fines for federal crimes. For years, this model has led to boom-or-bust unpredictability in the Crime Victims Fund. Today, we’re facing a bust with predictions that VOCA funding will be cut by an estimated 40%-50% in Colorado. This means a decrease from $23.4 million in VOCA awards in 2023 to an anticipated $13.8 million in 2024.
Cuts in VOCA funding will hurt victims, service agencies and communities. Consider what my research team learned when we evaluated changes in funding for victim services in Colorado from 2015 to 2019.
We analyzed grant reports and interviewed program directors from across the state to figure out what, if anything, changed during a boom period, when states across the country saw increases in VOCA money around 2017. This translated to $56.7 million in VOCA awards in 2018. We found that increases in VOCA funding for victim services were associated with measurable change in terms of increases in the number of clients served and expansion of essential services, such as criminal-civil legal system assistance. As more and more clients arrived at agencies across the state with increasingly complex needs, program directors told us how essential VOCA funds were to providing services and collaborating more effectively with other service agencies.
Even in the years when VOCA funding increased, however, agencies could not keep pace with the growing needs in their communities. Now those same agencies are facing dramatic cuts in VOCA funding, which will mean denying services that make a difference in the aftermath of crime.
This isn’t a problem just for survivors and agencies. It’s a problem for all of us because our communities are diminished when students, employees, family members and neighbors cannot meet their potential because of harms that went addressed after crimes.
You and I have a stake in victim services. It’s time to call on state legislators to make a one-time investment to head off the immediate crisis that will unfold in the coming fiscal year with 40%-50% cuts in VOCA funding.
But counting on short-term fixes isn’t enough. Colorado needs a predictable source of state funding for victim services. The Crime Victim and Survivor Services Funding Security Act (House Bill 1349), introduced by Majority Leader Monica Duran, puts us on a path to that goal.
The bill refers a ballot measure to voters for an 11% excise tax on the gross taxable retail sales of firearm dealers, firearms manufacturers and ammunition vendors for all firearms, firearm precursor parts and ammunition sold in the state. If approved, the collected revenue would fund an estimated $45 million in crime victim service grants. Beyond those grants, the revenue would provide an estimated $5 million for local Victim Assistance and Law Enforcement, $5 million for mass tragedy response and prevention as well as $2 million for safety programs in shooting ranges.
Ensuring communities can meet the needs of crime victims is the right thing to do for many reasons, including to head off other costly problems such as homelessness. Without adequate, consistent funding for victim services, we’re leaving survivors as well as health care agencies, schools and workplaces to bear the invisible costs of crime alone.
Anne DePrince, Ph.D., is a distinguished professor of psychology at the University of Denver and author of “Every 90 Seconds: Our Common Cause Ending Violence against Women.”
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