Washington crime victim service providers are urging state lawmakers to close a looming funding gap as federal Victims of Crime Act money has fallen sharply, threatening services that help survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
In Grays Harbor County, for example, Beyond Survival advocate Sara Owen said she is “almost always on the clock,” monitoring a 24-hour crisis line and supporting survivors through court and hospital visits. With few nurses in the county trained to perform sexual assault exams, Owen sometimes spends up to six hours a day driving clients to Olympia or Tacoma to find an available nurse, leaving one other worker to manage the rest of the caseload.
Advocates say the staffing and service reductions reflect the decline in VOCA funding that Washington nonprofit providers rely on. They say Beyond Survival once had five full-time advocates in Grays Harbor County, but that funding has dwindled as Congress changed how the program is financed and as federal prosecutions dropped—particularly for white-collar crimes, which have historically generated much of VOCA’s revenue.
The federal funding cut has also reverberated through related parts of Washington’s support system. Within the last year, organizations say they laid off therapists and advocates, increased caseloads, reduced emergency financial assistance for survivors, and—according to the Washington Department of Commerce—turned away thousands of people from domestic violence shelters. Children’s advocacy centers that conduct trauma-informed forensic interviews and provide mental health resources have slashed programs and are at risk of closing, and providers say rural hospitals could face layoffs and closures as the limited supply of sexual assault nurse examiners already strains local capacity.
Washington’s governor, Bob Ferguson, has proposed allocating $12 million toward crime victim services next fiscal year—about $9 million short of what providers say is needed. Sherrie Tinoco, public policy director at the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said the funding request is aimed at preventing “the entire system” from collapsing, saying: “That ask, really, for this year, is just to not have the entire system collapse,” and adding that “that system is actively breaking.”
Providers and the state’s Commerce Department are asking for $21.38 million for this year’s budget, saying that amount is the minimum needed to maintain the state’s current victim-services infrastructure. Under the state Commerce Department’s assessment, starting in July—when the next fiscal year begins—groups would have to operate with about 47% less funding. The state has also stepped in over the last several years, allocating $20 million last year to crime victim services, but providers say the state’s supplements have not kept pace with inflation and rising costs.
In some areas, the changes already have affected facilities and medical care. A children’s advocacy center closed in Grays Harbor County last year, and the Providence Abuse Intervention Center—which provides medical care for child abuse victims in Grays Harbor and four other counties—announced it would close at the end of 2025. Providence Swedish later reversed that decision, saying in a Jan. 7 statement that services will continue “without interruption” under a new model, though providers said they still expect reductions in medical services and staff.
Advocates say a shrinking safety net also is being shaped by changes to how prosecutors fund victim advocates. A 2023 law prompted courts to stop ordering most offenders to pay a $250 to $500 state crime victim penalty, which previously helped support victim-advocate programs. Lauren Davis, a Washington state representative, described how her case relied on a victim advocate for more than two years after she sought a court-ordered protection order in 2021 and said advocates remain essential when cases drag on. Davis introduced a bill on Jan. 13 that would reinstate a mandatory state crime victim penalty at a higher rate for offenders who are able to pay. She said, “Nobody’s coming to the rescue. There’s been no additional backfill. All of these positions have been laid off,” and added, “It’s not acceptable.”
Longer-term proposals also have stalled amid budget constraints. Davis and Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, introduced legislation last year modeled on a Maryland law that would stabilize victim services funding by requiring the state treasurer to deposit money into a new victim services account each year. Nonpartisan legislative staff estimated the measure would cost around $155 million to stabilize funding through 2031, and Davis said it did not advance mostly because of that price tag. Dhingra said she would fight to ensure at least the $21.5 million minimum organizations need.
Providers also are looking to federal changes, though many describe them as temporary. In 2021, Congress passed a law known as the “VOCA Fix” that adds new revenue to the federal fund from deferred prosecution agreements and pretrial deals used for white-collar crimes. Federal lawmakers also introduced a VOCA stabilization bill in 2025 that backers said would provide a temporary funding boost through 2029, which Paula Reed, executive director of Children’s Advocacy Centers of Washington, said they hoped would pass.
Some providers say they are preparing for the possibility that federal funding could remain unreliable or come with conditions. Cheri Kilty, CEO of YWCA Yakima, said the organization chose not to apply for a Violence Against Women Act award it previously received, saying: “We’ve chosen to serve our community and not accept that money,” and “We’re not going to turn anybody away because of their immigration status or however they self-identify.”
As Washington waits for the final state budget, providers said the system’s interdependence makes further cuts particularly dangerous. Reed said the network is “so interconnected” that removing one part does not get replaced elsewhere, adding: “At some point, there’s a breaking point. And I think that is where we are.”
The story was originally published by InvestigateWest and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
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