Davis County reviews Children's Justice Center budget amid VOCA uncertainty and questions about 'Friends' donations

Davis County officials reviewed budget and funding priorities for the Children's Justice Center (CJC) on Oct. 3, focusing on an additional $30,000 from VOCA, one-time state capital funding for building doors and debate over how the CJC's affiliated "Friends" nonprofit spends donations.

Julie Stevenson, director of the Children's Justice Center, told the Davis County Budget Committee the CJC's mission is to provide "a safe, comfortable, neutral, and child-friendly atmosphere" where children receive coordinated services during abuse investigations. She said the center's multidisciplinary team includes law enforcement, child protective services, prosecutors, mental-health staff and nurses. "We have three full-time staff and then we have three part-time staff," Stevenson said, and the center served 524 children and a little over 1,000 parents or guardians in 2023; she said 2024 numbers are approaching 700 children and nearly 2,000 parents and guardians.

Stevenson described the CJC's reliance on federal victim-services grants, including VOCA and VAWA funds, and warned federal reauthorization is not guaranteed. "We need 260 seats to confirm that they're going to vote for it. And we're at 78," she said of congressional support for VOCA reauthorization, describing recent advocacy in Washington, D.C.

The committee reviewed a technical budget update after the Utah Office for Victims of Crime offered Davis County an additional $30,000 that had been returned by other agencies. Stevenson said the two-year VOCA award for the grant cycle shows $2,028,770 on the books; the supplemental $30,000 was confirmed by state staff and will be recognized as revenue in 2024 but not spent until January, with the county projecting to expend it by June 2025 and reflecting the change in the 2025 projection. Staff described line-item adjustments: personnel increases of roughly $31,000, parent-packet supplies set at $2,005.91 and a new contracted-fees line for therapy set at $4,060.

Stevenson also said the CJC received an additional one-time state allocation of $65,000 for facility needs. She identified front-entry and courtyard doors as priorities and said the county will treat the work as reimbursable capital expenditures; staff set a May/June deadline to complete purchases to satisfy spending timelines.

The committee addressed how to account for a $73,000 community donation from Clearfield High (given in 2023) that supported therapy; county staff instructed it not be recognized as current-year revenue and to zero out the revenue line to avoid double counting the fund balance.

County Attorney Troy Rollins praised the CJC as a statewide model and said the office values the center's interview quality and medical support. Rollins also raised concerns about the Friends of the Children's Justice Center, saying the nonprofit has a substantial fund balance but has repeatedly declined requests to support prosecution-related costs. "It still bothers me a little bit that they use the Davis County Children's Justice Center to raise money ... and not what we say we really need them to do," Rollins said, arguing the county has asked the nonprofit to help with direct prosecution costs and case-management expenses with limited success.

Stevenson said she has worked to educate the Friends board about permissible expenditures under the statute and that the board's membership has turned over in recent years. Committee members described the situation as a "double-edged sword": the Friends provide in-kind support and some operating funds but have not become a reliable source for certain prosecution-related expenses the county would like them to cover.

The committee did not record a formal vote on any new ordinance or budget adoption during this discussion; staff said they would update the budget documents to add the VOCA supplemental and the contracted-fees line and would adjust the revenue recognition for the community donation. Committee members moved on to other agenda items after confirming those adjustments would be made.

The meeting record shows the CJC budget discussion centered on protecting services for victims while navigating uncertain federal funding and addressing how affiliated nonprofits allocate donor funds. County staff said they will implement the line-item changes and update the county budget projection for 2025 accordingly.