Funding

• The Crime Victim Fund helps an average of 3.7 million victims of all types of crime every year.
• The Fund comes from the collection of Federal criminal fines; not taxpayers.
• Congress has repeatedly pledged that all amounts deposited into the Fund would remain available for victim services.

The Victims of Crime Act of 1984 is the Federal government’s principle means of providing support for programs that serve victims of all types of crime. Each year, Federal criminal fines, forfeitures and special assessments are deposited into the Crime Victims Fund (the Fund). These offender generated revenues — NOT TAXPAYER DOLLARS — are used to support these programs:

• Children’s Justice Act — to improve the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases;
• U.S. Attorney’s victim/witness coordinators — to provide assistance to victims involved in Federal criminal prosecutions by funding 170 FTE United States Attorney Office victim assistance coordinators;;
• F.B.I. victim assistance specialists– to help victims during Federal criminal investigations by funding 112 FTE victim assistance specialists;
• Federal victim notification system — to provide automated notification to victims of the status of Federal criminal investigations and prosecutions and the offender’s status in the Federal prison system;
• OVC discretionary grants — to support national scope training and technical assistance and to provide services to victims of Federal crimes;
• State compensation formula grants — to supplement State funds used to reimburse victims of violent crimes for medical expenses, mental health counseling, lost wages, loss of support and funeral/burial costs;
• State victim assistance formula grants — to support direct victim assistance services — such as counseling, emergency shelter, rape crisis centers, help in participating in the criminal justice system. Approximately 3.5 million – 4 million crime victims receive these services by more than 4,000 agencies annually;
• Antiterrorism Emergency Reserve — to replenish a special $50 milllion reserve to assist victims of domestic and international terrorism and mass violence.

However, beginning in FY 2012, congressional appropriators began diverting money in the Crime Victims Fund to support other programs that are not authorized under the VOCA statute. This included a portion of the Office of Justice Programs management and administrative costs, and:

• Since FY 2015, $10 million per year for the Justice Department Office of Inspector General
• Since FY 2016, transfer to the Office on Violence Against Women ranging annually from $326 million to $497.5 million
• 3 percent of the VOCA cap set aside for tribal grants in FY 2018 and 5 percent in FY 2019.

Prior to FY 2000, all of the money deposited into the Crime Victims Fund from the collection of Federal criminal fines, forfeitures and assessments, was allocated the following fiscal year according to a formula in the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) statute. Because of wide fluctuations in the amount deposited, beginning in FY 2000, Congress began imposing a limitation or “cap” on the amount of Fund deposits that could be obligated the following year. Congress said it was delaying use of the deposits above the cap in order “to protect against wide fluctuations in receipts into the Fund, and to ensure that a stable level of funding will remain available for these programs in future years.” [Conference Report 106-479] Congress also amended the VOCA statute to reflect the preservation of all deposits for future VOCA programs.