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Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) today reintroduced the bipartisan Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act with Representatives Ann Wagner (R-MO), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Jim Costa (D-CA), Stephanie Bice (R-OK), and Derek Schmidt (R-KS). This bill redirects unobligated funds collected through the False Claims Act to the Crime Victims Fund through Fiscal Year 2029, stabilizing the Crime Victims Fund during recent declines.

“Victim services organizations depend on the Crime Victims Fund to provide critical support for survivors of domestic and sexual violence, child abuse, stalking, and other crimes,” Congresswoman Dingell said. “This legislation will prevent the devastating impact of depleting deposits into the fund, enabling victim services organizations to continue helping those who depend on them to heal and move forward.  Congress must ensure that the CVF receives robust, stable funding that equips victim services with adequate staffing and capacity.”

 “Across the nation, child advocacy centers, rape crisis centers, and domestic violence shelters—organizations that help victims when they are at their most vulnerable—are enduring a devastating drop in funding,” Congresswoman Wagner said. “Due to the rapid decline in the Crime Victims Fund, these organizations saw their federal support cut by 40% last year. Many have been forced to triage their services, and some have had to close their doors entirely. They need our help now.  That’s why I am proud to introduce the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act, legislation that will address this issue head on, avert future cuts, and get relief for victim assistance programs in Missouri and throughout the country, all at no cost to the taxpayer. Without these resources, victims of the most depraved crimes will lose a vital lifeline that not only rescues them from their anguish, but gives them the opportunity to help law enforcement bring predators to justice. Congress must act without delay.”

Deposits into the CVF fluctuate annually depending on the cases prosecuted by the Department of Justice, and the CVF has seen a drastic decline in recent years. According to DOJ, the CVF balance dropped by 82.94% from $13.08 billion in FY2017 to $2.23 billion by the end of FY2024. As a result of this shortfall, Congress dropped the statutory obligation cap from $1.9 billion in FY2023 to $1.35 billion in FY2024. This $550 million cut in obligations resulted in each state seeing a 40% decrease in funding for victim assistance programs. These cuts are forcing programs that support victims of child abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault to either triage their services or close their doors entirely.

Read more background on the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act here.

“The Crime Victims Fund is essential for supporting victim service providers, ensuring they can continue offering critical aid and compensation to those affected by crime,” Congressman Costa said. “This bill would fix ongoing challenges by boosting funding for life-saving services—without adding to the federal deficit."

“As Kansas’ top law enforcement official for more than a decade, I know firsthand how crimes impact victims and their families long after cases are closed,” Congressman Schmidt said. “Replenishing the Crime Victims Fund with funds from those who sought to abuse taxpayer dollars is a commonsense solution to the shortfall the CVF is facing. I’m proud to join my colleagues to introduce this bill, which I hope will be swiftly passed and signed into law.”

“The Crime Victims Fund—which is entirely funded by fines from criminal convictions—ensures that victims of serious crimes receive court-ordered restitution and necessary support; however, the fund is quickly depleting,” Congressman Moran said. “Our Crime Victims Fund (CVF) Stabilization Act helps to guarantee that these innocent victims of violent crimes will continue to receive needed support by accessing an existing source, but new stream, of revenue.  Opening this new avenue of an existing source is at no cost to taxpayers. This legislation would simply redirect fines from False Claim Act convictions and direct those fines into the CVF, which will provide immediate relief to the over-burdened CVF and quickly provide aid to victims of violent crime.”

“This is a common-sense solution that ensures critical support for millions of victims across the country without burdening taxpayers,” Congresswoman Bice said. “By redirecting unobligated funds from fraudulent claims, we are able to continue to support those affected by violent crime. This bill will help keep doors open at child advocacy centers, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, and other essential programs, ensuring that no victim is left without support.”

Supporting Organizations

Matthew Huffman, Chief Public Affairs Officer at the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence: “MOCADSV is grateful to Representative Wagner for re-introducing the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act. This bill would provide a clear solution to the shortfall we are seeing with the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding, and help to ensure agencies providing support services to victims of crime don’t have to cut programs or staff. We thank Representative Wagner for her leadership on this issue, and for her commitment to support advocates and survivors.”

Lori Ross, CEO, FosterAdopt Connect: “In Missouri, FosterAdopt Connect uses VOCA funds to support individualized in-home behavioral intervention services for children in the foster care system who have experienced complex trauma due to abuse and neglect. Stabilizing VOCA is vital for the 875 vulnerable children and families served by FosterAdopt Connect and the thousands more served by other agencies across the country. VOCA resources are a lifeline, helping us deliver critical services like In-Home Behavioral Intervention and Kinship Navigation that strengthen families, reduce foster care disruptions, and support children who have experienced profound trauma through abuse and neglect."

Teresa Huizar, Executive Director of National Children's Alliance, the nation's largest network of care centers for child victims of abuse: "Every year, America's 961 Children's Advocacy Centers serve more than 380,000 abused kids and their families, including almost 10,000 abused kids and their families in Missouri. The VOCA funds under threat are the lifeline to reach these children with the crucial services that help them get back to being kids. This bill keeps agency doors open to crime victims who deserve our assistance. We thank Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) for her leadership on this critical issue, and thank her and Reps. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Stephanie Bice (R-OK), Jim Costa (D-CA), and Derek Schmidt (R-KS) for re-introducing the Crime Victims Act Stabilization Act to help bolster the VOCA lifeline for abused kids and their families. We urge all Members of the House to co-sponsor this bill and House Leadership to bring it to the floor so these critical dollars are available for the children, families, and communities that need it."

Nelson Bunn, Executive Director at the National District Attorneys Association: “For decades, the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) has provided critical services for victims of violent crimes. However, the fund's inconsistent and depleted funding has placed these services in jeopardy. The Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act offers an immediate remedy by directing additional deposits from False Claims Act recoveries into the fund, ensuring stability in the near term. The NDAA strongly supports the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act and applauds Rep. Ann Wagner for her leadership on this critical piece of legislation.”

Monika Johnson Hostler, President & CEO, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence: "The National Alliance to End Sexual Violence applauds the introduction of the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act by representatives Wagner, Costa, Moran, Dingell, Bice, and Schmidt. This common sense approach to stabilizing the Crime Victims Fund is a top priority for the one thousand sexual assault programs in our network. In our 2024 survey, almost 2/3 of those programs reported an increase in demand for sexual assault services while 40% reported a decrease in funding. This legislation will help ensure programs can continue providing services to victims of sexual assault."

Stephanie Love-Patterson, President & CEO, The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV): “Domestic violence shelters and local programs in every state, territory, and community are grappling with the devastating and compounding cuts to Victim of Crime Act (VOCA) funding. This non-taxpayer funding provides lifesaving services to millions of survivors and their children every year. The most recent 40 percent cut to VOCA is jeopardizing victim services and putting survivors in grave danger. The Crime Victim Fund Stabilization Act will provide much needed temporary infusion of resources to help stabilize the Fund, and give victim assistance programs the support necessary to keep their doors open. We are grateful for Congresswoman Ann Wagner’s relentless leadership to ensure survivors and their children receive the lifesaving support they need.”

Stefan Turkheimer, Vice President for Public Policy at RAINN: “The Crime Victims Fund ensures that survivors of sexual violence, and the organizations that support them, have access to vital resources that provide safety, justice, and healing. As the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, we strongly support the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act, which will provide a lifeline to survivors and help safeguard their access to the most essential services.”

Bill Bedrossian, President & CEO, Covenant House International: "The Crime Victims Fund provides vital resources to our Covenant House programs across the country and the shortfall in funding over the years has already resulted in the elimination of key positions and a scale back of services which are essential to supporting youth trafficking survivors.  We applaud Representatives Wagner, Moran, Costa, Dingell, Bice and Schmidt for proactively leading on this bipartisan issue to ensure we all can continue our fight to end trafficking and support the healing of survivors."

Meredith Jacobs, CEO, Jewish Women International: "The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) is the bedrock of America's victim service infrastructure. Communities across the country rely on VOCA funds to support victims of crime, including domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, elder abuse, and other crimes, and to help them rebuild their lives after experiencing devastating violence. Recent cuts to VOCA have threatened to deny critical victim services that help more than five million Americans every year find safety and healing. JWI applauds Representatives Ann Wagner, Nathaniel Moran, Jim Costa, Stephanie Bice, Debbie Dingell, and Derek Schmidt for introducing the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act to bolster VOCA grants and restore funding to victim services across the country."