The Division of Criminal Justice, Office for Victims Programs (OVP), houses a number of programs to support victims of crime. The programs include grant funding, largely federally funded by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), for victim service agencies, support for local victim compensation and Victim Assistance and Law Enforcement (VALE) programs, victim rights compliance, supporting statewide anti-human trafficking efforts, and supporting statewide responses to sexual assault.
The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), enacted in 1984, has been a key source of financial support for programs that provide services to victims of crime. Federally funded entirely through monetary penalties paid by federal offenders, VOCA directs these funds to the Crime Victims Fund (CVF), which is then distributed to states. These funds are allocated to district attorney offices, nonprofit organizations, and other agencies funding services such as counseling, shelter, legal assistance, and crisis intervention for victims of violent crimes. Importantly, these funds come from criminal fines and forfeitures, not from taxpayer dollars.
In recent years, the amount of money available through the VOCA program has been declining, leading to significant reductions in federal funding for victim services across the country. The decline in VOCA federal funding is primarily due to a decrease in the amount of money collected from fines and penalties imposed on federal offenders. VOCA is entirely dependent on these monetary penalties, and as federal prosecutions and fines have decreased, so has the pool of available funds. While this trend affects states nationwide, Colorado is experiencing the impacts of these cuts firsthand. The Office for Victims Program, which oversees the allocation of VOCA federal funds in the state, is working to adapt and continue providing services in the face of such a significant shortfall.
In 2024, Colorado’s Office for Victims Programs (OVP) received just over $13 million in VOCA funds, a substantial decrease of approximately $10 million from its 2023 award. This reduction, about 43%, presents challenges for service providers who rely on these funds to continue offering support to crime victims.
In August of 2023, the Office for Victims of Crime announced the anticipation of another 45 percent cut in Federal VOCA funds for the federal year 2024 awards, directly jeopardizing Colorado programs tailored to help victims rebuild their lives. In the past several years, VOCA funding steadily decreased from a high of $56.7 million in 2018 to a low of $13.6 million in 2024 due to a lack of deposits into the federal Crime Victim Fund. The fund barely had enough money in the fund to award states at the cap that was set by Congress for Federal FY23.
Staff at the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) in collaboration with the Crime Victim Services (CVS) Board have been working on potential solutions and funding plans for the next funding cycle to try to find ways to mitigate these cuts. Working in partnership with the three statewide victim service coalitions, DCJ was allocated general fund dollars and ARPA funds by the legislature in the past few legislative sessions to offset the decreasing VOCA funds and grantees were able to receive similar funding to the prior years for the CY23-24 funding cycle. Grantees were awarded approximately $95.2 million over a two year period. A 45% reduction would equate to $52.3 million over a two year period.
In response to this growing crisis, in July 2024, the Crime Victim Services Advisory Board in Colorado recently took a temporary measure to stabilize services by extending funding for existing grantees for one year, instead of opening a new two-year competitive grant process. However, even with this stopgap measure, current grantees are forced to cut their funding by 27% for the 2025 fiscal calendar year. For many nonprofit organizations and victim service providers, these cuts will severely limit their ability to meet the needs of survivors in their communities.
Federal initiatives to stabilize the Crime Victims Fund have been slow to materialize. Stabilizing and replenishing VOCA funding is in the hands of Congress, where current discussions are ongoing about potential ways to stabilize the Crime Victims Fund. One proposal involves directing funds from the False Claims Act into the CVF, which could provide a more consistent revenue stream and reduce the program’s reliance on fines from federal offenders. However, this proposal has yet to be introduced for a formal vote, and no definitive legislative action has been taken to address the funding challenges.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, DCJ continues to collaborate with state coalitions such as the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance (COVA), the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CCASA), and Violence Free Colorado to explore long-term solutions for maintaining victim services. These organizations are working together to identify alternative funding sources and strategies to ensure that victims continue to have access to the support they need.
The reduction in VOCA funding has the potential to affect a wide range of services for crime victims. Many service providers rely heavily on these funds to offer critical support such as emergency shelter, legal advocacy, victim rights, and mental health counseling. The cuts may result in fewer resources for victims, particularly those in rural or underserved communities who have limited access to alternative services.
The impact of these reductions will vary across organizations and regions; but there is concern that the overall capacity of victim services may be diminished if funding levels continue to decline. Service providers may be forced to reduce staffing, limit the scope of services, or prioritize certain types of cases over others.
In an effort to illustrate how these cuts might impact various programs and counties within the state, the DCJ staff created a one-page fact sheets providing data on:
- the current programs funded by county,
- the number of victims served,
- the number of services provided, and
- the top three reported victimizations.
Additional information was compiled into a one-page sheet for agencies that provide statewide services, found on DCJ’s website. For additional questions regarding these projected reductions or the informational sheets, email your questions to cvsgrants@state.co.us.
While federal cuts are having a detrimental impact on victim services, it also creates an opportunity to shift funding toward supporting longstanding and new victim service programs. With the current state of federal VOCA funds and ARPA funds ending funding to support victims of crime will be insufficient.
View Federal VOCA Funding Factsheets by county for additional information.