Advocates urge restoration of VOCA and kit-testing funds as DLS flags grants-management and CICB changes
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Summary
DLS told the Public Safety and Administration Subcommittee that the Governor's Office of Crime Prevention and Policy's fiscal 2026 allowance totals $331.1 million but recommended several deletions and restrictions tied to grant balances, VOCA requirements and sexual-assault-kit grant funds. Agency leadership defended staffing for the Criminal Inj
The Governor—s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy (GOCAP) presented a fiscal 2026 allowance of $331.1 million while DLS highlighted multiple concerns about grants management, claims-processing capacity and the durability of federal victim-funding streams.
DLS analyst Madeline Miller told the subcommittee that GOCAP reverted $3.4 million in general funds and returned about $1.1 million in unused federal awards at closeout and that grant-monitor staffing remains thin: the agency reported a ratio of roughly 149 subawards per grant monitor in fiscal 2024. DLS said the agency—s goal is 50:1 and estimated that with planned hires the ratio could fall to about 74:1.
Miller also focused on the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB) and recent changes enacted by Chapter 705 of 2024, which shorten processing timelines and broaden claimant eligibility. DLS recommended withholding $100,000 in general funds pending an agency report on CICB operations and asked GOCAP to account for returned federal funds and steps to better encumber awards.
Sexual-assault-kit testing and the kit-testing grant fund were the other prominent budget items. DLS noted planned transfers under BRFAA language that would move funds out of special-kit accounts to the general fund and warned that transfers could limit future grant awards for testing. Miller also said federal VOCA awards have declined in recent years and that FY26 funding would require a larger state general-fund supplement unless statutory requirements are changed; a budget provision in BRFAA would reduce the mandated state VOCA appropriation to $35 million in FY26 if enacted.
GOCAP Executive Director Dorothy Lehi said the agency released a VOCA NOFA in FY25 that was ‘‘100% competitive for the first time in 6 years’’ and reported it got awards out on time for FY25. Lehi said GOCAP disagrees with a DLS recommendation to delete three new positions in the victim services unit that are designated to support CICB; she said the positions are needed because Chapter 705 will increase eligibility and shorten required processing timelines.
A panel of victim-service providers and coalitions urged the subcommittee to restore proposed VOCA cuts and protect kit-testing funds. Amanda Rodriguez (Turnaround), Stephanie Powers (Care Healing Center), Jennifer Pollitt Hill (Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence), Lisa Jordan (Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault) and Jennifer Whitten (LifeBridge Health) described rising demand for hotlines, counseling and shelter and warned that restoring funding was essential to prevent service reductions, rising wait lists and closed beds.
Lehi told the committee GOCAP released a VOCA NOFA earlier in the cycle for FY26 and that staff are taking steps to improve monitoring, noting an audit team now conducts desk and site visits. She also pushed back on DLS staff-deletion recommendations saying vacancy designations and conversion plans limit the agency—s ability to reallocate existing PINs to CICB work.
DLS recommended a mix of deletions and restrictions in its bill analyses and asked for an annual report on VOCA expenditures and outcomes due November 1 if certain budget-language changes move forward. The subcommittee requested follow-up information from GOCAP on CICB annual reporting, returned federal awards, and planned grant-monitor staffing.
