With federal funding for crime victims in recent years declining, 35 states across the country have taken action to keep domestic violence shelters open, running sexual assault centres and making them available to child abuse counselors to serve the youngest victims.

Tennessee was not one of these states.

The looming budget crisis now threatens the future viability of scores for the Tennessee nonprofit that operates the hotline, protecting older people from elder abuse, and working with prosecutors to secure evidence against human trafficking perpetrators.

According to the state’s Office of Criminal Justice Programs, these organizations serve more than 95,000 victims each year to more than 95,000 victims each year.

“Many states provide victim services funding in their budgets, and Tennessee’s not,” said Jennifer Esco, executive director of the Tennessee Union, to end domestic and sexual violence.

“I’m really worried that statewide programs will need to close the doors. They know they need to significantly reduce their services,” Eske said. Rural organizations that rely most heavily on federal funds have fewer private sector resources to tap, and victims who rely on them will suffer the most, she said.

Eske said the victim faces “double whammy” in the loss of funds.

Crime Act, which relies on fees and fines collected in federal courts, or Voca funds, have seen a dramatic decline in collections as prosecutors made a coordinated shift to accept more plea deals.

Short-term infusions of funds in the Covid era helped to bridge the gap, but these funds are now over.

In 2018, the federal government distributed more than $67 million to Tennessee’s Office of Criminal Justice Programs. This has given grants to 128 agencies in the state to serve crime victims.

By 2024, that number had fallen to $16 million.

Advocates hope to see a reduction of up to 40% in July from the already reduced Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Last fall, agency leaders, via victims, met with Gov. Bill Lee’s staff and made a $25 million claim in repeated state funding needed to keep the organisation’s doors open.

“We received indications from the leadership of the General Assembly and the Governor’s Office that it is being considered,” said Stephen Warner, executive director of the Tennessee Children’s Advocacy Center.

But the hope was short-lived. The governor’s budget, released earlier this month, does not include funding for victim organizations.

“We were disappointed,” Woerner said.

Woerner’s Organization operates 46 centers across the state and employs specialized counselors who work with children who have been abused, ignored or sexually assaulted.

The counselor will conduct forensic interviews designed to prevent further trauma, extracting information used in the indictment of the perpetrator. After the abuse is over, counseling continues for the victim and unappointed families. The service is provided free of charge.

The organization received $5.5 million a year from the Federal Crime Victims Fund at its peak. This year I received $2.1 million.

“The Children’s Advocacy Center will close the door if it cannot supplement this,” he said. “If the Child Advocacy Center is closed, that means that children will have to drive anywhere from an hour to two hours away. That’s Step 1.”

“This means there are fewer interviews, especially in rural Tennessee, as families can’t do that. The Department of Children’s Services will spend time (protecting children), and for district attorneys, fewer interviews will result in fewer prosecutions.”

Woerner’s Organization joined more than 120 others as members of the General Assembly, who said “the outcome will be catastrophic” without injecting Lee and members of the General Assembly with $25 million in state funding.

“Our shelters, crisis hotlines and outreach programs are often the only lifelines available. Without stable funding, we are facing reduced services and closures.” Letter to lawmakers It is a victim umbrella group that was quickly established by the Tennessee Victim Service Provider Alliance to advocate for national funding.

The letter noted that many of the services they provide, including sexual assault tests and forensic interviews with suspected children being abused, are mandated by the General Assembly, but does not include state funding to implement them.

Lee declined to say this week whether he would reconsider the inclusion of victim services funding in the supplemental budget that will be introduced this spring.

“The Tennessee Victim Service Provider Alliance represents a key organization that often serves Tennessee and we are grateful for their partnership,” a statement from Lee’s office said. “Government Lee continues to work with the General Assembly on budget priorities, and the administration’s budgetary revision will be finalized in the coming months.”

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Rachel Freeman, president and CEO of Nashville’s Sexual Assault Center, said her organization would be better off raising private sector funding than small rural nonprofits that don’t have the resources to compensate for cuts in funding.

Nonetheless, she said the ongoing cuts proved to be challenging.

About half of the nonprofit’s $5 million budget comes from federal Boca funding. Freeman is preparing to cut from 10% to 40% this year.

Without the state’s dollars, the loss of funds would be “disastrous for our state,” she said.

“In the end, what we do is happen to crime victims without the necessary care, an increase in the crime cycle for generations, making the work of law enforcement even more difficult,” she said. “It’s a malicious cycle that’s going to be even more disastrous for our state.”

Federal funding cuts can also be felt in the offices of local governments, police departments and district attorneys, which provide victim counseling and advocacy.

The Metro Nashville Family Safety office lost two of the 12 counselor positions last year due to the federal fund contract, and two more counselor positions if state funds were not provided.

The Nashville Government Agency will help victims of interpersonal violence obtain protection orders, develop safety plans for themselves and their children, and provide crisis counseling.

“These treatments are for ‘I was raped’. “My mother was shot and killed by her father,” Lance said.

Without state funding, “They are not going to get the help they need. They already have domestic violence shelters and 40% of the time can’t take you. And now there are so many funding cuts where you don’t have a crises advocate. I wish you good luck trying to stay safe for you and your children.”