Services for survivors of domestic violence are funded through a variety of mechanisms on the federal, state and local governmental levels and from the private sector. 

Federal Sources of Funds

On the federal level, there are three main sources of funding.  These are:

• Violence Against Women Act: VAWA creates specific programs and authorizes that certain amounts of money be spent.  These programs range from police and judicial training to supervised visitation to housing to counseling and other victims' services.  VAWA monies are used for programs that serve both men and women.

        For an excellent summary of all of the programs, please see NNEDV's page and for more information on the budget process,          please see NNEDV's Appropriations Process.

•  Victims of Crime Act: VOCA is a fund that was created by Congress and is funded exclusively by fines and penalties paid by federal criminals (no taxpayer dollars).  The fund is intended to pay for victims' services, including services for survivors of violence.  The fund also compensates victims for out-of-pocket expenses associated with the crime (ie: hospital bills).  Each year, Congress sets a cap on the amount that can be spent from the fund and then each state is allocated monies to be spent on services within the state. Currently, 4400 agencies rely on VOCA funds to serve over 3.8 million victims per year.

         More information can be found here.

•  Family Violence Prevention Services Act: FVPSA monies are appropriated for each state and then the state distributes the monies.  FVPSA provides funds for increased trainings for police, prosecutors and court officials as well as for direct services for victims.  FVPSA is an important source of funds for shelters. 

        More information can be found here.

 Campaign for Funding to End Domestic and Sexual Violence

The Campaign for Funding to End Domestic and Sexual Violence is national coalition of over twenty-five organizations has joined together to advocate for increased funds to protect survivors.  For 2009, the President has proposed creating a block grant for all of the services rather appropriating money for each program individually.  Block granting would have the result that California would be competing against a domestic violence shelter in Rhode Island for the same funds -- small programs could suffer devastating losses.  In addition, President Bush's budget proposes a cut of over $111 million in funds, from $399.8 million to $280 million dollars.  This, along with proposed cuts to the Victims of Crime Act Fund budget, would result in a 20% budget cut for many programs -- a cut that would mean the closure or scaling back of these essential services.

For more information on the Campaign and to see the FY 2009 Briefing Book, please see NNEDV's website.