Vermont victim-services agency warns of $1.1M VOCA loss, asks for $115,000 to shore up grants administration

Jennifer Pullman, director of the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services, told the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 25 that the center faces a steep drop in federal and special revenue and asked the committee for $115,000 in general-fund support for grants and financial administration.

Pullman said the largest federal grant the center receives, Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding, fell from $3,000,000 last year to an estimated $1,900,000 for the coming fiscal year, a decline she quantified as a $1,100,000 loss. She also told the committee three federal ARPA grants that currently provide $777,000 to Vermont will end on Sept. 30 and that special fund revenues have been declining for years.

Why it matters: the center distributes most of its funding to local service providers. Pullman said the center administers roughly $10,000,000 in grants statewide, issues more than 240 individual subgrants to about 60 programs, and currently passes through roughly $2,300,000 to subgrantees without retaining administrative dollars. She warned that falling grant dollars threaten programs that provide court advocacy, child‑abuse response, human‑trafficking case management and other frontline services.

At the hearing Pullman gave several specific program figures to illustrate the scale of services supported by those grants: the victim compensation program advances payments to eligible victims and typically pays about $500,000 a year in claims; the restitution program pays roughly $84,000 a year from a special fund supported by a 15% surcharge on criminal fees and fines; and VOCA supports 46 programs statewide. Pullman said the compensation fund faces a projected $562,000 deficit.

Pullman described the center as a quasi‑state agency with 19 staff (three part‑time) that is required by statute to run victims compensation and restitution programs and that also manages a grants program. She said the center received a 3% increase in the governor's proposal but that most of its budget requests were not funded by the executive branch.

On administrative capacity Pullman said the center has little general‑funded administrative support: "we currently pass through $2,300,000 to subgrantees without taking a single dollar for administrative support," and asked the committee for $115,000 to fund staff to handle grants administration, financial work and backup for the finance director who was unexpectedly absent from the hearing. She told the committee that because the center has no state employees it proportionally bears more of non‑salary increases such as insurance costs.

Committee members pressed for details and tradeoffs. Representative Jim Harrison asked whether other states have cut programs and whether Vermont should concentrate on core functions; Pullman said Vermont's centralized model lets the center set baseline service standards and perform strategic planning but that the center has shifted some core positions (for example, victims' advocates in state's attorney offices and law‑enforcement victim advocates) onto general funds in recent years to stabilize services.

Pullman described program pressures beyond funding declines: victims present with more complex needs including substance misuse, mental health burdens and housing instability, and homicide deaths multiply compensation costs because each eligible surviving family member may file a claim. She said VOCA declines and ARPA expirations put subgrantees at risk of hiring freezes, unfilled positions and, potentially, service reductions.

No formal vote or committee action occurred during the hearing. Pullman said she would follow up with answers to specific budget and staffing questions the committee raised and that the center's handouts contain additional line‑item details.

Ending: Committee members thanked Pullman and said staff (liaison Trevor Squirrel) would coordinate follow‑up questions.