Strategies to Ensure Equitable 
Programming: Understanding 
the VOCA Victim Assistance Rule 
and Funding Opportunities at 
the State Level 

Heather Warnken, OVC/BJS Visiting Fellow 

The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author 
and do not reflect the official views or position of the U.S. 

National Resource Center for Reaching Victims logo

Thank you 

Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime
2 

Introductions 


Heather 
Warnken 

Heather Warnken, J.D., LL.M., is a 

Visiting Fellow at the Department of 
Justice, working across OVC and the 
Bureau of Justice Statistics in the first-
ever position designed to improve the 
dissemination and translation of data 
and research for the victim assistance 
field. She previously served as Legal 
Policy Associate at the Warren Institute 
on Law & Social Policy at UC Berkeley 
School of Law, where she led 
multidisciplinary projects to bridge the 
gap between research, policy, and 
practice, including two statewide needs 
assessments on improving access to 
services and compensation for 
underserved survivors. 

Heather Warnken, smiling portrait.

Resource Center Goals 

To better meet the needs of underserved survivors by 
increasing the capacity of service providers to effectively 
identify, reach, and serve 

underserved survivors in ways that are: 

culturally-appropriate 
linguistically-specific 
trauma-responsive 
accessible and welcoming 

inclusive 


Communities of Focus/Lead Orgs 

Community Organization 
Children National Children’ s Advocacy Center 
Formerly Incarcerated Vera Institute of Justice 
Historically Underserved Women of Color Network 
LGBTQ FORGE 
Men of Color Common Justice 
Older Adults National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later 
Life 
People with Disabilities Vera Institute of Justice 
People with Limited Casa de Esperanza, National Latin@ 
English Proficiency Network 
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Lay of The Land 


What is OVC? 

• OVC is charged by Congress with administering 
the Crime Victims Fund (CVF). 
• Through formula and discretionary grants, OVC 
supports a broad array of programs focused on 
helping survivors in the immediate aftermath of 
crime and as they rebuild their lives. 



Crime Victims Fund 101 

• Intended to ensure stable funding for victim 
services. By law, amounts not spent are 
kept in CVF for victims in future years. 
• Different from other OJP appropriations 
• Not taxpayers dollars… CJS fines and fees 
• Short and long-term implications? 







VOCA Funding 


Chart: In 2014, the fund had 745 million dollars, and in 2018, the fund had 4.4 billion dollars. Dollars decreased in 2019 to about 3.4 billion. 
Source: Crime Victims Fund 


VOCA Funding 2020 

• FY 2020: $2.641 billion, including 
• $435 million transferred to OVW 
• $10 million for the Inspector General’s Office 
• 5% Tribal Set Aside ($132 million) 




• States have tremendous discretion to set 


• Represents 21% reduction from FY19 ($3.53 
billion) 

priorities, innovate and fill gaps. 


The quadrupling of victim assistance funding has 
allowed states to fund more victim service organizationsand to provide more subgrants to those organizations 

Chart: the number of subgrants funded has steadily increased from FY2012 at $379.7 million to $3.3 billion, and the number of organizations fudned also increased 
$379.7$425.2$456.1006.7219.9846.5328.10253.312,000 Number of 
Subgrants Funded 
10,000 
8,000 
Number of 
Organizations 
6,000 Funded 
4,000 
2,000 
$2, $2, $1, $3, $2, 
-
FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016 FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 
CVF – Impact and Influencers 

• More than 90% of OVC funds are awarded to states 
and territories each year through Victim Assistance 
and Victim Compensation formula grants. 
• Discretionary programs also play an important role 
in informing OVC and the nation -including SAAs -
re: innovation and what is possible; influencers of 
the field. 
• E.g., National Resource Center! 





Understanding VOCA: 
Assistance v . Compensation 


Assistance v. Compensation 

• VOCA victim assistance: awarded through SAAs as 
subgrants to state agencies, community-based 
organizations, and other local service providers to 
support direct services. 
• VOCA victim compensation: grants awarded to 
support reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses 
victims may have resulting from the crime. Largely 
supplemented by CVFs at the state level. 



VOCA Formula Victim Assistance 
and Compensation Programs 

• FY 2018: awards totaled more than $3.4 billion 
• $128 million in compensation formula grant funds; 
$3.328 billion in victim assistance formula grant funds 



• FY 2019: awards totaled more than $2.39 billion 


• $139 million in compensation formula grant funds; 
$2.253 billion in victim assistance formula grant funds 


Center for Victim Research: Who Experiences Violent Victimization and Who Accesses Services? Findings from the National Crime Victim Survey for Expanding our Reach
New NCVS Report 

Policy v. Reality 


Key Findings 

• Only 9.6% of victims of serious violence 
overall report access to services in most 
recent period (up from 8.9% 1993-2009). 
• Age 12-17: 11.6% 
• Age 18-34: 7.9% 

• 42% of victims of serious violence overall 
choose not to report serious victimization to 
the police. 


Who is most likely to become a victim? 
Race and Ethnicity differences 

• Blacks’ risk for serious violence have remained 1.5-

2x greater than whites. 
• Hispanics’ risk 1.2-1.5x greater than whites. 
• Non-Hispanic American Indians 2.4x (140%) greater 
than whites. 
• Persons who report multiple race backgrounds 4.1x 
(310%) greater than whites. 



Impact of Multiple Risk Factors 

Highest Rate Groups 
Risk of serious violent 
victimization for persons less than 
35 years of age living in urban 
areas, with annual household 
incomes less than $25,000: 
Black Female: 13.1; Male: 15.4 
Hispanic Female: 9.7; Male: 11.4 
White Female: 11.5; Male: 13.5 
Other Female: 10.5; Male: 12.3 

Lowest Rate Groups 
Risk of serious violent victimization 
for persons 55 years of age or 
older living in nonurban areas, with 
annual household incomes of 
$75,000 or higher: 
Black Female: 1.3; Male: 1.6 
Hispanic Female: 1.0; Male: 1.2 
White Female:1.1; Male: 1.2 
Other Female: 1.1; Male: 1.3 


Risk on a Continuum 

Taken from highest to lowest risk, black 
males under age 35 who live in urban 
households with incomes under $25k have a 
risk for serious violent victimization that is 
nearly 15 times greater than that of females 
age 55 or older living in nonurban households 
with incomes $75k and over. 


Who is Most Likely to Use Services? 

Victims who received Males (%) Females (%) 
assistance, by type of 
violence (2010-2015) 
All Serious Violence 5 14 

•Rape and Sexual ! 22 
Assault 
•Robbery 6 13 
•Aggravated Assault 5 11 

•Intimate Partner ! 26 
•Known/non-intimate 8 16 
•Stranger 4 6 
•Injured 8 18 
Not Injured •4 12 
Note: (!) indicates insufficient number of sample 

cases for reliable estimation 


Crime Reporting and Service Access 

 Serious Violence Victims 
who received assistance, 
by whether it was 
reported to police 
2000-
2009 
(years) 
2010-
2015 
(years) 
Reported to Police 14 13 
Not Reported to Police 4 5 
Note: this excludes victims who did 
not know whether police were 
notified. 


Medical Care and Service Access 

• 2010-2015, 36% of victims of serious violence 
suffered bodily injuries; 
• 56% of injured victims report receiving medical 
care for those injuries. 



• Victims are more likely to access services when they 
receive medical care for injuries; 


• However, even in these instances, only 16% 
(down from 18% in 2000-09). 


New Rule 


VOCA Rule Change: Intent 

• Allow states more flexibility with funding to 
innovate and tailor programming. 
• Expand the type of services that states can 
fund with VOCA Assistance dollars. 
• Provide states opportunity to address gaps 
in services such as those identified in V21 
report. 



Highlights of Changes in the Rule 

• Mental Health Counseling/Care 
• Transitional Housing 
• Relocation 
• Substance Use Treatment 
• Civil Legal Services 
• Forensic Interviews 



Highlights of Changes in the Rule 
(Continued) 

• Services for incarcerated survivors 
• Restorative Justice 
• Multi-system Interagency, Multi-disciplinary 
Response 
• Exposure to violence as form of direct 
victimization 
• Technology and Innovation 
• Evaluation of Sub-recipient Programs 



BJS Victim Services Statistical 
Research Program: Efforts To Gather 
Data on VSPs 

Chart: Victim Service Providers (VSPs) 
National Census of VSP (NCVSP) 
National Survey of VSP (NSVSP) 
NCHS Hospital Survey 
Law Enforcement Survey 
Prosecutor Survey 
Ongoing Frame Development
Victim Service 
Providers (VSPs) 
National Census of 
VSP (NCVSP) 
National Survey of 
VSP (NSVSP) 
NCHS Hospital 
Survey 
Law Enforcement Survey Prosecutor Survey 
Ongoing Frame 
Development 

First-ever Report of its kind; Data ready 
for use! 

Screen Shot of the Statistical brief from the Department of Justice from November 2019: Victim Service Providers in the U.S. 2017

Breakdown of Victim Service Providers (VSPs) Nationwide 

Type of organization Number Percent 
Total 12,196 100 
Non-profit/faith-based 5,505 45.1 
Governmental 5,297 43.4 
• Prosecutor’s Office 2,220 18.2 
• Law Enforcement Agency 1,886 15.5 
• Other 1,191 9.8 
Hospital/medical/emergency 358 2.9 
Tribal 262 2.1 
University or college campus/educational 245 2.0 
Informal 179 1.5 
For-profit 138 1.1 
Unknown 212 1.7 
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State Strategies 


Takeaways

•The importance of relationship-building withVOCA Administrators, critical for fosteringcollaboration, transparency, and access tofunding opportunities.
•What are the needed policy, practice andfunding changes necessary for reaching andsupporting all victims – especially those whohave traditionally been most harmed, least


helped?


Takeaways (continued)

•The importance of holding SAAs accountable in utilizingthese tools, engaging in collaborative strategic planningand equitable funding decisions:
•Honoring the expertise of front line service providers,
community members and directly impacted survivors
•Including at the design and decision-making table ofwhat data we collect and what programs we pursue.




•Establishing durable frameworks for assessing need andidentifying underserved victims, notwithstanding fundinglevels.



Thinking Differently About Harm 

•Poverty
•Racism
•Sexism
•Xenophobia
•Homophobia
•Transphobia
•Homelessness &
Displacement


•Ableism
•Ageism
•Misogyny
•Ethnocentrism
•Food Insecurity
•Colonialism
•Felony Disenfranchisement



Where Can I Find KeyDocuments? 

VOCA Rule 
• 
• Side by Side Comparison Chart of 
VOCA Guidelines 
• National Association of VOCA Assistance 


Administrators Directory 


Resources (continued) 

Who Experiences Violent Victimization andWho Accesses Services: Findings from theNational Crime Victimization Survey forExpanding Our Reach
•BJS Webinar on the NCVSP/NSVSP collections
•National Census of Victim Service Providers:
•


Making the Most of Data


Questions? 

Woman carrying a question mark

Grant Information

This project is supported by the Vera Institute of Justice 
and was produced with funding from grant award #2016-
XVGX-K015, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, 
Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. 
The opinions, findings, and conclusions or 
recommendations expressed in this virtual training are 
those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent 
the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of 
Justice. 


THANK YOU! 
Contact Information 
Heather Warnken, J.D., LL.M., Visiting Fellow 
heather.warnken@usdoj.gov 
202-598-6479