A Letter to MA Legislators: Support the VOCA Bridge

Dear Aaron Michlewitz, Chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means and Michael Rodrigues, Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means,

We are providers of services and support to victims and survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence in Massachusetts. We respectfully write to you today with an urgent need for your support of critical victim service funding.

We join in coalition to emphasize the urgency and critical need to fulfill the VOCA Bridge, a multi-year $60 million funding request to the Massachusetts Legislature to mitigate impending cuts to the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) programs to maintain vital services.  While the terrain of future federal funding remains uncertain in this time of great divisiveness, here in Massachusetts, we are grateful that we are united with our legislative partners in our commitment to preserve services for survivors.

To date, the Legislature has allocated $40 million of the total request to support the VOCA Bridge. This funding will maintain services and staffing in FY25, but an additional $20 million is necessary to stabilize essential victim service programs in every county of the state and ensure that access to high-quality, trauma-informed services remains accessible amid catastrophic reductions in federal funding.

VOCA dollars are a primary funding source for services for all victims of crime in Massachusetts. As you may be aware, federal VOCA funding awards administered by the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance (MOVA) have steadily declined in the last six years. The projected federal funding allocation for the next year represents a 40% decrease from current awards. This means there is significantly less funding available for crime victim support services, despite the reality that the demand for services has increased.

The annual Massachusetts VOCA awards have sharply decreased in the last six years from $69.2 million in 2018 to just $27.9 million in 2023. These cuts immediately impact over 70 programs in Massachusetts providing services and support to survivors. Included below are impact statements from our members on the many modes of healing and support that are possible because of this stream of funding–and the reality of the devastation that will impact survivors if this funding gap is not mitigated for survivors in the Commonwealth.

Sexual assault and domestic violence providers offer support and resources to survivors every day throughout the Commonwealth. We know precisely how cuts in VOCA dollars will affect survivors and the staff that support them. This funding is essential to the stability of our field. Without it, survivors’ needs will not be met, jobs will be at stake, and innovation and new ideas to support victims of these types of violence will stagnate because agencies will not have the resources to investigate new best practices.

The community-based organizations working with survivors of intimate harm know that survivors–your constituents–must navigate multiple systems that are often oppressive and overlapping. Many of our clients face not only sexual or intimate partner violence, but also housing instability, poverty, racism, and immigration concerns.

Without access to support for their trauma, as well as case management and legal advocacy that many of our agencies provide, thousands of survivors are at risk for many other types of harm that severely impact them, their families, our larger communities, and the Commonwealth.

All the agencies providing services to survivors across the Commonwealth are doing substantial work on very limited budgets and with limited staff.  The impact of the pandemic has left a lasting mark on the SA/DV workforce.  Those who opt-in to doing lifesaving and trauma-heavy work must be retained. Losing even one FTE due to budget cuts in organizations with a limited workforce means a drastic impact on survivor services.

Without a state investment to supplement reduced VOCA funding, services to about 100,000 victims annually are at risk, especially impacting those in our most marginalized communities who need immediate, accessible, free resources for safety, support, and healing.

Funding the $20 million gap through the VOCA bridge would also provide the type of financial stability that our field needs to ensure the staffing levels necessary to support survivors across the Commonwealth. We deeply appreciate the allyship of the Legislature in supporting survivors and supporting services. We ask that this commitment extend to address this critical need and ensure the sustainability of victim services throughout the Commonwealth. There is no better time to ensure that programs have the necessary funding to support survivors in need.

We urgently ask you to support survivor services by fully funding the remainder of the VOCA Bridge. Thank you for your consideration.

We are providers of services and support to victims and survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence in Massachusetts.

 

Debra Robbin- Executive Director, Jane Doe Inc.	Jane Doe Inc. (JDI) the Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, is the federally recognized sexual assault and domestic violence coalition for Massachusetts. We work to amplify the voices of all who are impacted by sexual and domestic violence and to undo the social injustices that perpetuate an abuse of power. We work with our coalition members and a host of public and private partners to create policies and explore innovative solutions that improve the lives of survivors.
Isa Woldeguiorguis – Executive Director, Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC)	The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) interacts with an average of 15,000 survivors of sexual violence each year. Nearly a third of our staff are fully or partially funded through VOCA funds, representing a bulk of our client-serving roles such as clinicians who can communicate with survivors in their native language, case managers who help survivors trying to find safe housing, bilingual attorneys who approach cases with a trauma-informed perspective, and emergency service experts who train volunteers to work with people in crisis. Without this support, BARCC would have to significantly cut services, reducing clinical sessions, providing fewer accompaniments for survivors who report to police, and training fewer hotline volunteers. This will most heavily impact those survivors and families who have nowhere else to turn – BIPOC, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people, homeless people, immigrants, non-English speakers – who will fall through the cracks without BARCC services.
Sandra Blatchford – Director, South Shore Resource and Advocacy Center	SSRAC is a Victim Service organization providing services to domestic violence survivors, homicide bereavement services, and victim services for individuals who have been impacted by an impaired driver/crash. We have been providing center and community-based domestic violence services for over 44 years, and VOCA funding has been increased as one of our primary funders for those services. MOVA funds our SAFEPLAN program and VOCA is our primary funder for our domestic violence hospital-based program, homicide bereavement, and our victim service program for those impacted by an impaired driving crash. The funds are vital for victims.
Stacy Malone – Executive Director, Victim Rights Law Center	Victim Rights Law Center provides free, trauma-informed, survivor-centered legal services for victims of rape, sexual assault and stalking throughout Massachusetts. Survivors need access to a lawyer to help them stay safely in their jobs, schools, and homes. The VOCA Bridge Gap funding is critical to ensure a survivor can secure a lawyer in their own community to help them rebuild their lives following sexual violence.
Joanne Timmons, MPH – Domestic Violence Program Manager, Boston Medical Center	Boston Medical Center relies on VOCA funding to support critical direct services to children and adults who have been harmed by domestic violence as well as violence in the community. Survivors of homicide, the family members of community violence victims, and survivors of sexual assault and human trafficking also receive critical advocacy, counseling, financial, and other supports. If the gap in VOCA funding is not filled by the state budget, victims of violence and abuse will be at high risk for many health and safety consequences that these vital services aim to alleviate.
Suzanne Dubus – CEO, Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center	We use our VOCA funding to support child victims of domestic violence and their adult caregivers with a variety of services such as support groups, individual advocacy, and therapy, helping them access other resources such as housing, food, and assistance with paying for heating and transportation. We offer language access services and legal advocacy and representation as well.
Masada Jones – Executive Director, The Center for Hope and Healing	We are a healing center that supports survivors of sexual assault. These funds allow us to operate our 24-hour hotline, offer one-on-one counseling sessions, and support groups to the most underserved and underrepresented populations in Greater Lowell.
Beth Leventhal – Executive Director, The Network/La Red	The Network/La Red provides services statewide for LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic violence. VOCA funds pay for our 24-hr hotline, emergency safe home, transitional housing, support groups, and individual advocacy. Without VOCA Bridge funds, we will have to drastically cut these desperately-needed services.
Janis Broderick – Executive Director, Elizabeth Freeman Center, Inc.	Elizabeth Freeman Center provides services to help survivors of domestic, dating and sexual violence in Berkshire County get safe, stay safe, and recover. Since COVID, we have seen a 290% increase in calls to our hotline and greater levels of danger, incredible need and horrific homelessness. Our VOCA funding supports our SAFEPLAN Program in four courts as well as our LGBTQ and Rural Access Projects. Without BRIDGE funding, our budgets could suffer a crippling 30% cut with devastating results.
Lysetta Hurge-Putnam – Executive Director, Independence House Inc.	Independence House helps all domestic violence and sexual assault victims and their children by creating opportunities to find safety and become empowered through crisis intervention, advocacy, counseling, referrals, prevention outreach, education, and inspiring change in our community. Our vision is to see domestic and sexual violence come to an end. Filling the VOCA bridge gap is essential to helping survivors access free, comprehensive, community-based, high-quality, and person-centered support and life-saving services on Cape Cod for victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence. VOCA funding is the sole source of support for child sexual assault victims ages 5-11; for tween /teens who are survivors of domestic, sexual, and dating violence, and for adult survivors aged 18-80, especially in the mid, upper, and lower cape towns. VOCA funding provides access to safety and trauma-informed support and ensures that survivors can access services in their community and drastically reduce isolation which contributes to and enables victimization.
Stephanie Brown – CEO, Casa Myrna Vazquez	Casa Myrna believes every relationship should be safe and healthy and works to end domestic violence through intervention, awareness, and prevention in Boston. Because of the cuts to VOCA, we have had to limit our intervention supports to survivors that include advocacy and safety planning, emergency shelter, legal advocacy, counseling, and homelessness prevention. Future cuts will mean that hundreds of survivors go without the support they may need to be free of abuse.
Delphine Mooney – Executive Director, On the Rise, Inc.	On The Rise works with unaccompanied adult women/trans/non-binary clients from Greater Boston who are homeless/formerly homeless and need a level of support/services that mainstream, targeted programs do not provide. Our clients’ challenges usually include a history of trauma and/or abuse. OTR’S VOCA program provides free support & advocacy to victims who face barriers to other services because of their multiple challenges. Our VOCA advocates connect with victims at OTR’s Safe Haven, a place where clients can meet basic nutritional, hygienic and safety needs while receiving flexible support to address issues related to trauma, addiction, mental and physical health, domestic and sexual violence, disabilities, immigration, legal problems and poverty. When they leave homelessness, the VOCA advocates then help clients transition into homes and communities and continue the relational, wrap-around approach to programming that clients have come to know at OTR. The vast majority of unhoused women and gender expansive people are survivors of trauma and abuse predating their homelessness, and links between homelessness, poverty, abuse, addiction and mental illness are well documented. Our participants have difficulty accessing traditional victim service agencies because of their myriad issues and mistrust of service providers. Without OTR’s VOCA program, many of these crime victims would not be able to access the services they need.
Sara A. Stanley, Esq. – Executive Director, Healing Abuse Working for Change (HAWC)	VOCA funding is a critical support for HAWC’s legal services. Providing an advocate in court and a free attorney can mean the difference between someone being able to enforce one’s rights and living in danger. Please support the VOCA Bridge and ensure this life saving legal services remain in place.
Carmen Nieves – Executive Director, Alianza DV Services	Alianza DV Services (formerly Womanshelter/Companeras) is dedicated to assisting, supporting and empowering those whose lives are affected by battering and domestic abuse. Located in Western Massachusetts, Alianza was founded in 1980 to provide an emergency, confidential domestic violence shelter for women and their children, and to offer support groups and safety planning to domestic violence survivors in the community. Since its founding, Alianza has provided emergency shelter to more than 15,000 women and children, and assisted another 22,000 women, children and men through its court and community-based programs.
Marianne Winters – Executive Director, Safe Passage	Safe Passage is focused on the impact of DV on survivors and their families while engaging our community in prevention throughout Hampshire County. Our VOCA funds, reduced by 30% have been directed toward accessibility to those most marginalized. This cut has reduced our capacity to reach those in Immigrant, Latinx, Rural, Disabled, and LGBTQ+ communities build safety and wellbeing. This has not only hurt the organization, but more importantly, contributed to the isolation and oppression faced by survivors from these under-served communities.
Kourou Pich (CEO), Claudia Carias (Director of Finance), Jasmine Pimentel-Perez (Director of Programs and Services), Charles Horenstein (Program Evaluation Director), and Juliana De Simone (Contracts and Grants Manager), HarborCOV	This funding plays a vital role in not just services we provide, but the ability to retain strong staff long enough to provide quality services that will get results. Please give this funding as much consideration as you can. Thank you for your time!
Dawn Sauma – Co-Executive Director, Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK)	VOCA funds ATASK multilingual and multicultural DV Advocate/case managers who provide direct service in over 20 Asian languages. Our staff reach an underserved, invisible victim population that is regularly revictimized by providers that don’t speak their language or understand their culture. We request vital funding to support Asian victims with services that the community deems is meaningful and successful to them.
Jennifer Frazee – Executive Director, A Safe Place, Inc.	A Safe Place is the domestic violence and rape crisis center serving the island of Nantucket. Survivor services through A Safe Place are available 24-hours per day and are provided completely free of charge. Our VOCA/MOVA contract funds our free Trauma Therapy program for survivors in need of specialized, trauma-informed mental health services.
Lisa Lachance Hartwick – Director, Center for Violence Prevention and Recovery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	The Center for Violence Prevention and Recovery is a program of the social work department of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. As an integrated program, which responds to a range of interpersonal violence situations, our mission of meeting each survivor meaningfully will be impacted by the VOCA shortfall. Last year the program had a 10% cut, which sounds not too bad, until you realize that is one staff person who could assist real survivors in real time. This year, in anticipation of another cut, we will again have less, just when there is more need for advocacy and therapeutic interventions post assault. Best practice says we should get to people quickly with evidence based interventions, and Trauma Informed practices, let’s do that and not cut VOCA again and allow survivors to suffer again. They’ve already suffered and we can do something about the recovery part of their journey.
Rev. Mary Margaret Earl – Executive Director and Senior Minister, UU Urban Ministry and the Renewal House shelter	We provide safe shelter to survivors of domestic violence, and wraparound services so that survivors can heal and build the lives they want for themselves. VOCA funds enable us to hire skilled and capable staff who support survivors’ journeys, help them find healthcare, housing and jobs.
Julia Kehoe – CEO, Health Imperatives Inc.	Health Imperatives’ mission is to improve the health and well-being of low-income or vulnerable families and individuals in Southeastern Massachusetts. For nearly 5 decades, Health Imperatives has delivered urgently needed services that promote safety and well-being, and reduce health inequities and disparities, to 20,000 people each year, including victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.
Maria Crooker-Capone – Executive Director, Alternative House	The mission of Alternative House is to facilitate the creation of a society in which violence and oppression will no longer exist. As a means to this end, we offer access to shelter, support, children’s programming, legal, housing, and community advocacy for all victims of domestic violence (and their children) who seek our help. We are committed to empowering all survivors to self-sufficiency. We do not discriminate against any race, class, culture, age group or sexual orientation. In addition, we provide community education and support to reform societal attitudes that permit violence and oppression against anyone. These funds are critical to continuing our work, our partner’s work, and the State’s work to end domestic violence.
Deborah Collins – CEO, Brookview	No comment provided
Priya Murali – Executive Director, Saheli Inc.	Saheli provides cultural & language specific services to South Asian and Arab survivors of domestic violence. Saheli services range from domestic violence counseling, emergency financial assistance, housing stabilization, economic empowerment, mental health support, and legal advocacy.
Meg Stone – Executive Director, IMPACT	IMPACT works with abuse survivors with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a group that is seven times more likely than nondisabled people to experience sexual violence. Our work helps survivors recognize safe and unsafe relationships, and have the information they need to feel safe and comfortable accessing health care. Since 2020, a major part of our work has been helping disabled survivors recognize and resist online scams. Immediately after the Shelter in Place orders went into effect, we saw an immediate and drastic increase in our clients being targeted on dating apps and social media sites. Some of the scams were financial, but others tried to get people with disabilities to meet them. Four years later, the prevalence of online exploitation remains high and individuals with intellectual disabilities need specialized and tailored services in order to effectively engage in safety planning.
Victoria Helberg – Chief Executive Officer, RESPOND INC.	RESPOND INC is a multi-service domestic violence prevention agency. VOCA funds our work with the high-risk teams and our programming at the Suffolk County House of Correction. These are one-of-a-kind programs, providing services to domestic violence survivors as they navigate the justice system. They are a critical part of our work.
Kim L. Dawkins – President & CEO, Pathways for Change, Inc.	Pathways for Change, Inc. (Pathways) is an independent rape crisis center that provides 24/7 crisis support services to Survivors of SV (and their significant others) in ASL, English, Portuguese and Spanish. Our services include a 24-hour voice hotline, the statewide 24-hr ASL hotline via video phone (VP) for Deaf/HoH; hospital, police and court accompaniment; safety planning, group and individual counseling as well as prevention education, professional training and community outreach across 47 towns/cities within Central Mass. A loss of VOCA Funding would devastate our Multicultural/Multilingual Counseling Program as it funds 12 staff in an agency of 23.
Stephanie Howard, Ph.D. – Director of DV Services, Children’s Charter Division of The Key Program, Inc.	Our VOCA funding is used to provide critical mental health services to the growing Spanish speaking immigrant population in the Metro West area, many of whom are survivors of complex trauma including intimate partner violence. The funding is essential to our ability to meet the needs of this community and offer a comprehensive array of supportive services that are not bound by or dependent upon the limits of insurance, which many of our constituents don’t even have.
Arelis Gandarilla – Director of Community-Based Domestic and Sexual Violence Services, YWCA Northeastern Massachusetts	The YWCA NEMA provides free and confidential services to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and their non-offending family members and friends. Filling the VOCA bridge gap is important to our organization and the population we serve as many of our clients are within the marginalized population who benefit from the support, resources and accompaniment we provide through these funds. MOVA funds our SAFEPLAN Services which assist survivors seeking Restraining Orders and Harassment Orders from those causing them harm. Many of the clients who identify as Latinx and are not proficient in English have expressed how much they appreciate this service as they would have more than likely walked away from the process without the support of our SAFEPLAN advocate. Navigating the judicial system alone can be a very frightening and confusing process and when you add other barriers such as language, literacy, culture etc., this process can seem unfathomable. This is one reason as to why filling the bridge of the VOCA/MOVA funds is important as our SAFEPLAN Advocate provide support to ease any nerves and confusion that a client may have in regards to this process. Additionally the VOCA funds our Child Advocacy Program which provides services to children 12 and under who have experienced child sexual abuse. We provide in person support to the child survivor and their guardian during the forensic evidence collection and provide counseling support to both child and guardian. Unfortunately we continue to see the need for this services as we continue to see the number of children victimizing other children which informs us that those children victimizing have been victims themselves. Sexual assault affects the entire family and the services provided through the VOCA/MOVA funds are imperative to these families receiving these services and any family who may experience these forms of trauma. The YWCA NEMA urges you to please consider supporting the filling of the VOCA/MOVA bridge gap. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
Sarah Gyorog – Executive Director, Transition House	Transition House is a leader in the field in addressing domestic violence through intervention and prevention. We serve people of all ages and backgrounds. We work toward social equity and system change to end the perpetuation of harm and violence. With deep roots in Cambridge, Massachusetts for over 45 years, our model is embraced as a shared responsibility and an ongoing priority to end domestic violence in our community. VOCA funding covers crucial support to the Cambridge community, including safety planning, crisis intervention, court advocacy, clinical support for adults and children, housing support and a transition living program housing over 12 survivors annually.
Susan Ross, Esq. – Executive Director, The Second Step	The Second Step has 3 core programs serving survivors of domestic violence: Steps to Justice (STJ) legal services, Transitional Living Program (TLP), and Prevention, Intervention & Education (PIE). MOVA is the primary funder of STJ and substantially funds TLP and PIE. If the gap is not bridged, these critical services will be reduced, survivors will be put at risk of harm because they are not able to escape violence at home.
Paulo Pinto, MPA – CEO, Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers – MAPS	MAPS is a community-based health and social services organization focused on serving Portuguese-speaking immigrants and their families, as well as others, to help them build healthy lives and successful communities. VOCA funding sustains our DVSA program in supporting survivors and their families, in order to keep our communities safe.
Elizabeth Schön Vainer – Director, Journey to Safety, Jewish Family & Children’s Service	Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JF&CS) serves people of all faiths and backgrounds through an array of “high touch”, person-centered social service programs. Journey to Safety (JTS) is the JF&CS response to domestic abuse. Our free, confidential, culturally and linguistically informed services have supported survivors since 2000, regardless of their religion, culture, or ethnicity. Survivor support is available in both English and Russian and includes safety planning, crisis intervention, trauma-sensitive domestic abuse counseling, emotional support, legal assistance composed of attorneys and advocates, court accompaniment, immigration help, basic needs, housing, and coordination with other communal resources. Staff also conduct prevention activities such as training, outreach, and awareness building. Without the VOCA Bridge funding, JTS be forced to greatly reduce or eliminate relocation funds, legal services, emergency food cards and workshops designed to support parents co-parenting with an abusive ex-partner. The impact will result in survivors not having access to justice and life-saving resources and support.
Diana Mancera – President & CEO, New Hope, Inc.	New Hope provides free and confidential trauma-informed services and support to survivors of sexual and domestic violence services , as well as programs for persons who cause harm in their relationships in 41 communities in Southeast and South-Central Massachusetts.  We serve adults and children of all identities and racial/ethnic backgrounds, and are committed to centering un-served, underserved, and inadequately served populations, and practices that promote racial and gender equity. We seek to elevate persons who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, persons living with disabilities, LGBTQAI+ identified persons, and immigrants. Our vision is a simple one – that every person has the right to live a life free of violence and exploitation. Cuts in VOCA dollars means fewer advocates and counselors, available to provide support, information, and options in the aftermath of sexual and domestic violence. Waiting on the federal and state government to fix this is simply not possible. Victim and survivors need support now. Our income stabilization program supports the basic needs each of one of us have – rental assistance, food, gas, electricity, cellphone bill – without this funding survivors are in danger. When funding is cut, staffing is cut, programs are cut, and when programs are cut, organizations like us are faced with some really difficult decisions. We haven’t been able to give a raise to our staff in years. On average, an advocate makes between $33 – 35 thousand dollars, in MA, the 3rd most expensive state in the country, which doesn’t get you anywhere. As an organization who advocates for underrepresented communities, and as an organization who prides itself in centering advocates and their families, New Hope doesn’t want its staff to just get by, we want them to thrive, and these wages are not thriving wages! The consequences of this cut are going to have a ripple effect. There will be much longer wait times to get counseling and advocacy for survivors, with less capacity for services, less access to care, and no ability to meet their basic needs. Please help us help them, by approving all of the much-needed funding to VOCA. Thank you.