Looming budget cuts threaten critical victim services across California | Opinion

This week, we honor National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. As we take this opportunity to recognize the strength and resilience of survivors, we must also reckon with the urgent threat facing victims in California: looming cuts to critical victim services across the state.

Since it was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, the federal Victims of Crime Act fund has been the largest funding source for victim services in California and nationwide. Yet, in recent years, this funding to states has been slashed, including a 31% cut last year, from $1.9 billion in 2023 to $1.35 billion in 2024.

Since 2017, California’s funding has dropped 60%. While the the federal Victims of Crime Act budget for the next fiscal year hasn’t been released, victim service providers are anticipating another 45% cut to state grants. The situation is even more dire now, as additional federal grants for victim services have been decimated under the new administration, leaving many organizations with even fewer resources to support survivors.

Last year, the California legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom stepped up to address the back fill — but only for one year. Now, we need them to act again and prevent catastrophic cuts to victim services in our state.

I have spent my career working to secure justice for victims, as a former judge and now as the district attorney of Contra Costa County. That work would not be possible without the incredible victim advocates in my office and the dedicated community partners who provide critical care to survivors of crime — partners whose very existence is now threatened by devastating funding cuts.

If the state doesn’t step in to address decreases in this funding, in my office alone we’d be forced to cut nearly half of our Victim-Witness Assistance Program, which supports victims of crime through the legal process and connects them with services and resources to help them heal.

The impact of cuts to the Victims of Crime Act will be felt across our state. Organizations rely on this funding to provide counseling, housing services, crisis response and support in navigating the legal system. For example, the California Rape Crisis Center gets 90% of its funding from this budget and could be forced to lay off more than half of its staff without it. WEAVE, a Sacramento nonprofit supporting domestic violence survivors, has 10 grants that are partially or entirely funded through the Victims of Crime Act, including its 24/7 Sexual Assault Response Team.

In 2022, these programs helped more than 816,000 survivors. The consequences of funding cuts will be dire: Where will a survivor of domestic violence go when there are not enough shelter beds? What will happen to an individual in crisis when there is no one to pick up the phone at an emergency hot-line? How will a child who has been abused cope without access to a mental health professional?

This is a future that is simply unacceptable. Support for survivors is not optional; it is essential to helping people navigate the legal system, rebuild their lives and heal from the harm they’ve experienced.

“The staff at the rape crisis center lifted me from the ground where I was left to die,” Elvira Herrera, a survivor of sexual and domestic violence, shared in The Orange County Register. “I had an advocate accompany me during the court process and having her next to me made me feel safe and not alone... Without support from that advocate and others like her involved in my case, I would have never been able to overcome the horrific violence I experienced.”

Victim service providers across California help hundreds of thousands of people like Herrera every year. Where will survivors turn if our leaders don’t act? When victims don’t get the resources they need to heal, they are at greater risk of revictimization, homelessness and involvement in the criminal legal system.

The good news is that the legislature has already invested in a long-term solution to stabilize funding for victim services amid further cuts. The California Victims of Crime Act, authored by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel and signed into law last year, will provide sustainable funding for victim services through civil penalties paid by corporations found guilty of misconduct. However, this fund will take time to grow, and victim service providers need immediate and direct financial support to prevent a disruption in services for survivors. That’s why Contra Costa County joined hundreds of organizations to ask the legislature to provide $176 million every year for five years for victim services.

Our budget is a reflection of our values, and California has the power to step up where Congress has fallen short.