CalVCB meeting spotlights risk to Trauma Recovery Centers as funding outlook falls

SACRAMENTO — The California Victim Compensation Board heard detailed presentations and public testimony July 17 on the Trauma Recovery Center model and grant administration process and was warned the program faces steep funding declines that could force cuts or closures.

The board convened a special meeting to hear from providers, technical‑assistance partners and state fiscal staff about how Trauma Recovery Centers, or TRCs, operate and how grant awards are made. Deputy Secretary Justin Howard of the Government Operations Agency told the board projections tied to Proposition 47 savings and the effects of subsequently passed Proposition 36 have cut the program’s near‑term revenue by tens of millions of dollars.

The shortfall matters because state statute and past practice channel a share of savings from Proposition 47 to TRC grants, and several TRCs report they rely heavily on state funding to operate. Without a change in revenue or allocation policy, staff said, fewer centers will be funded and services to survivors are at risk.

The TRC model, developed at the University of California, San Francisco, provides multidisciplinary, community‑based services that combine assertive outreach, case management and trauma‑focused mental health care for survivors of violent crime. “The TRC model…