Wausau Women's Community - Photo by WSAU
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and State Representative Pat Snyder headlined a roundtable discussion on Tuesday regarding victim services funding at The Women’s Community in Wausau.
The discussion centered on the need for continued funding from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), which Kaul said has declined in recent years. “The Wisconsin Department of Justice, which administers VOCA, was able to distribute $44 million per year. In the current federal fiscal year, that number has dropped to $13 million- a reduction of over $30 million or 70%.”
Kaul adds that the state had used ARPA dollars to keep the funding level at about $44 million over the last two years, but those have also dried up. He and Snyder are hopeful that the state can make up that difference as part of the next two-year budget, then lobby for increased funding from the federal level. “[Those cuts] have meant significant reductions in funding to victim service programs all over the state.”
The AG also emphasized that the reductions aren’t due to recent cuts at the federal level. “Nobody made a decision to invest less money in victim services. VOCA funding comes through a formula that has to do with funds recovered in federal criminal cases. Those funds have dropped dramatically over the last several years.”
Snyder said this is one issue where he tells his colleagues to leave their “R’s and D’s” at the door. “As Chairman of the Children and Families committee, I tell my members ‘kids aren’t political.’ It’s the same thing here. This isn’t a political thing. This is something that needs to be done to make sure that the most vulnerable in our society are getting the things they need.
“If you’ve ever had the experience of being with someone that has been through domestic violence or sexual abuse, it’s terrible. It’s traumatic. It’s something that will stay with them for the rest of their lives,” added Snyder.
Both Kaul and Snyder said they hope the next two-year state budget will allocate enough funding to keep the programs going through 2027 and give them more time to lobby for additional federal funding.
“Try to get to $68 million with one-time funding. Then, in two years, we will try to advocate with our federal representatives to get back to funding [this] like they used to. If not, we will address it then,” said Snyder.
Others at the table included new Marathon County District Attorney Kyle Mayo and Wausau Police Captain Ben Graham. Women’s Community Executive Director Jane Graham Jennings said her message to the group was that you can pay for these services now and allow the victim to heal, or pay for them later while officers are investigating a homicide or suicide.
“The more contacts a victim of domestic abuse has with an advocacy agency, the better off their long-term safety and support is. That is critically important. We literally save lives, and it’s not hyperbole when I say victim services save lives,” said Graham Jennings.
Comments