What is the funding crisis facing victim service providers?

However, the funding those providers depend on to acquire the proper staff and resources is rapidly drying up.

Without significant intervention, this funding decrease will cause a sizable impact on nearly every victim service nationwide.

The upcoming reductions primarily stem from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant, a federal funding mechanism supported by fines and penalties deposited into the federal Crime Victim Fund.

According to Colorado Office of Victim Programs Manager Kelly Kissel, the amount of fees contributing to the fund has repeatedly dropped over the past several years, resulting in a “historic and critical low” for the 2025 fiscal year.

“It is likely that agencies will have to cut staff and/or programming to keep their doors open during this shortfall,” Kissel said.

She added that some initiatives have mitigated that cut: one-time budget increase requests from Colorado legislators and Gov. Jared Polis, the state’s use of the pandemic-era State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds and a federal VOCA fix from 2021.

Between those federal and state initiatives, Kissel said the initially anticipated VOCA funding cut has shrunk from 45% to 27%.

Kissel said the office is making several efforts to assist those depending on the grants, such as hosting webinars and sending regular newsletters that provide information and updates on the funds and potential alternatives.

Still, service providers through the community and Mesa County DA’s Office anticipate the funding shrink will substantially affect their ability to provide victims of crime with the desired extent of care and depth of resources.

Hilltop’s Latimer House is one of the few providers with a guaranteed supplement for that budget cut, but that doesn’t mean the service will leave the next fiscal year unscathed.

MORE THAN A HOME

The Latimer House is most commonly recognized as an emergency safe house for those escaping intimate partner violence. However, Hilltop Vice President of Community Programs Hollie VanRoosendaal said the program is much more than a safe house.

According to VanRoosendaal, the program offers crisis intervention through its hotline, medical case management, community case management, victim advocacy, and prevention through education.

“We’re not here to steer them in a certain direction,” VanRoosendaal said. “We’re here to inform them of their options and empower them so that they can make the decisions they want and need to make for their life.”

While the safe house component of the Latimer House is located in Grand Junction, every other aspect of the program is offered to residents of Mesa, Delta, Montrose, and Ouray counties. According to Latimer House Program Manager Kal Greenman-Baird, the large service area enables them to ensure as many people as possible are safe, regardless of whether they live in a rural area or not.

They said that in 2023, Latimer House staff answered 2,724 crisis calls and conducted case management for 138 adults and 64 children. Greenman-Baird said 80 adults and 53 children resided in the safe house for a total of 1,810 nights through the course of last year.

“It really does fluctuate, but most of the time we’re at capacity, or when (the building is at capacity), we’re putting people in a hotel or motel to still meet that need because we don’t want to turn people away,” Greenman-Baird said.

For the Latimer House, VanRoosendaal said they are anticipating around a 40% cut, or $100,000 less, in next year’s VOCA funding. According to VanRoosendaal, they are largely pursuing supplementary funding through private donations and foundations. However, the Latimer House does have a last-resort backer: its parent organization, Hilltop Community Resources.

HOPE ON THE HILLS

“Hilltop allows us to go into these negative budgets,” VanRoosendaal said. “They will handle it so that we can continue running these services because it’s the heart of what we do at Hilltop: it’s helping us create connections so we can build a community where everyone belongs.”

Hilltop is a regional provider and coordinator of human services, ranging from infant and maternity assistance to brain injury care programs. Between its many programs, the nearly 75-year-old organization is well-recognized and supported by foundations, donors, and grants in the Western Slope.

Still, VanRoosendaal said they would focus supplemental money from Hilltop on advocacy and direct support via staff while relying on private donors to fund other components, like supplies for participants.

She said that Latimer House guests don’t always have their essentials after fleeing from a dangerous situation, so clothes or a cell phone can be a major help.

While the Latimer House isn’t facing an immediate danger to its direct services, the same cannot be said about most of the other victim service providers.