Vermont victim-services funds face multi-fund shortfalls; agencies ask legislature for $2.9 million in base and contingency support

The Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services and partner victim-service organizations warned the Judiciary Committee on Oct. 12 that three state special funds and federal grant reductions are creating immediate shortfalls for programs that support crime victims across the state.

Jennifer Pullman, director of the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services, told the committee that the center’s three special funds — the victim’s compensation special fund, the restitution special fund and the domestic and sexual violence fund — “are continuing to look at declines, continuing to experience deficits.” She said the victim’s compensation fund is showing a projected deficit of $562,000, the restitution fund a projected deficit of $324,000 and the domestic and sexual violence fund a projected deficit of about $93,000.

Why this matters: The shortfalls affect direct payments to victims, statewide victim-advocate positions and grants to local nonprofit programs, Pullman said. She emphasized the compounding effect of a recent $1.1 million VOCA (Victims of Crime Act) funding loss and asked the legislature to consider general-fund support to avoid cuts to a network of programs that provide crisis hotlines, legal services, child-advocacy centers and trafficking response work.

“Right now we are asking for a million and a half dollars for general fund dollars, either one time or by base,” Pullman said, adding a specific request for $600,000 for the compensation program and $115,000 to support the center’s administrative costs. She said the $1.5…