Funding cuts hamper CASA

Congress has cut victim assistance funds 22 percent over the past two federal fiscal years under the Victims of Crime Act. The administration's 2009 budget request would cut another 20 percent from VOCA victim assistance funding. The VOCA Fund is a separate account generated by federal criminal fines, forfeitures and special assessments, not taxpayer revenues. These cuts are especially disheartening and frustrating when you consider that this fund is expected to have a balance of $2 billion at the end of 2008.

VOCA funds are distributed to states through annual allocation and are used at the local level for essential victim assistance programs such as Court Appointed Special Advocates, Child Advocacy Centers, sexual assault programs, elder abuse programs, domestic violence centers and DWI programs. In Texas, the Governor's Office has been the state administrative agency for these funds and a supportive and collaborating partner in providing funds to victim programs across the state. They now face the thankless task of having to pass down these cuts that will significantly and negatively impact programs serving victims of crime.

VOCA funds have been a vital means of support for CASA for the Highland Lakes Area, a nonprofit agency that aids abused and neglected children in Blanco, Burnet, Lampasas, Llano and San Saba counties. CASA has recruited and trained volunteers that have assisted over 1,300 children that were removed from their homes by the state due to abuse or neglect. Continued federal cuts will significantly impact CASA and other victim assistance agencies' ability to provide the level of services needed for the growing number of victims needing services.

Please join in urging Congress to restore VOCA funding and appropriate $770 million to VOCA in the FY 2009 federal budget. VOCA has been a dedicated non-taxpayer fund source for crime victims since 1984, and there are more than enough available funds to adequately appropriate the amount requested. Crime victims deserve more in available services, not less.

The impact is far-reaching. Loss of federal funding could result in loss of jobs, decreased services and an increased need for community financial support. Taxpayers will end up paying for the consequences in more ways than one. VOCA funds were dedicated for crime victims; if not used appropriately, we all become victims.

Penny McCullough

Executive Director CASA for the Highland Lakes Area