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Missouri providers urge committee to create statutory victims fund as VOCA funding falls
Summary
Service providers and advocates urged the Children and Families Committee to advance House Bill 24-18 to establish a Missouri Crime Victims Fund, citing recent VOCA declines that they say could create a $15 million shortfall and threaten services for as many as 140,000 victims statewide.
Representatives of shelters, child-advocacy centers and victim-service agencies told the House Committee on Children and Families that the state must create a statutory mechanism to stabilize services in the face of federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding volatility.
Representative Kathy Jo Loy introduced House Bill 24-18 as a framework to allow future appropriations to the Department of Social Services for victim services if federal VOCA deposits decline. Loy said the bill does not appropriate funds today but creates a mechanism so the state can respond quickly if federal support is cut.
Several witnesses described recent and projected declines in VOCA funding. Jessica Wolbright, executive director of Saint Martha's (Catholic Charities St. Louis), told the committee that Missouri has already experienced a reduction and faces a projected $15 million gap for FY27 if state support is not maintained. Courtney Thomas of Newhouse said cutting state support would be "structural destabilization" that could force agencies to reduce 24/7 staffing and shelter operations.
Speakers from child-advocacy centers and CASA programs emphasized rural impacts and the risk of losing frontline personnel: one witness said losing 15 million in state support could equate to a 50% cut in available VOCA funding and the loss of thousands of direct services. Tim Garrison, representing county prosecutors, noted that many prosecutor offices rely on VOCA grants to hire statutorily required victim advocates and said the group planned to work with officials to try to absorb cuts.
Ending: Witnesses urged statutory backing so the state can provide stabilization funding in the event of federal shortfalls; committee members asked questions but no committee vote on HB 24-18 was recorded in this transcript.
