Federal Cuts Mean Loss Of Service, Staff At Victim Resource Centers

Local agencies that support crime victims are searching for ways to cut costs – including eliminating services and staff.

Funding through the federal Victims of Crime Act (VCOA) was cut by an average of about 7 percent this year.

The cuts make up about 9 percent of the budget for Cuyahoga County's Witness/Victim Service Center, mostly to the Defending Childhood program.

The program, which screens children for trauma after their exposure to violence and connects them with therapy options, previously helped about 1,000 children each year, said the center’s manager, Jill Smialek.

"Of all the children who are referred, we are going to have to potentially cut back somewhat, or be a little less liberal with how many children we let into the program," she said.

Federal funding under VOCA has actually gone up in recent years, Smialek said, allowing the Cuyahoga County center to pursue more programming.

“These cuts are hitting a little bit closer to home, because we’ve become accustomed to being able to use VOCA funds for innovative programming,” she said. The cuts will not affect the victim advocacy program, which serves about 4,500 people every year, Smialek said, but the center expecting even more cuts next year.

Smialek’s center is not the only victim advocacy group in Northeast Ohio to feel the pinch of the federal cuts. For Cleveland’s Domestic Violence and Child Advocacy Center, the cuts total roughly $141,000 for fiscal 2020.

Executive Officer Melissa Graves says the federal act provides funding for four of her agency’s programs, including the domestic violence emergency shelter and child advocacy center.

Graves said the center has had to make some staffing cuts.

“And that comes at a time where we need more domestic violence and child abuse services in the county, not less,” Graves said.

The organization serves about 20,000 people every year, and receives funding from additional sources, including donors. But Graves said the center is already looking into ways to diversify revenue sources.