Looking ahead: What the loss of crucial funding will mean for child crime victims in Kansas • Kansas Reflector

In an ideal world, my job wouldn’t exist. Children’s Advocacy Centers would be superfluous. Crime would never touch our communities.

The reality is very different.

Last year, Children’s Advocacy Centers of Kansas provided more than 8,500 services — from forensic interviews, to mental health care, to advocacy services — to 4,400 children facing the severe aftermath of victimhood. The reality is that the 17 accredited CACs in the state serve children from infancy to 18 years of age, of all races and walks of life, guiding them through the criminal justice system as they heal from their traumas.

For years, Kansas CACs have been crucial for children and their families in the aftermath of violent crimes such as sexual assault, physical abuse, witness to violence, child sex trafficking. In some of their toughest moments, the centers offer solace and support. CACs are instrumental in helping victims navigate the harrowing journey toward recovery and justice.

But now, their services are in jeopardy. Budget cuts loom and the threat of shutdown is real.

As the executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Kansas, my mission has been to promote excellence in child abuse response and prevention through training, support, and statewide mobilization of our member CACs. This effort aims to create centers of distinction dedicated to supporting children and families through some of the most traumatic circumstances in their lives. Rather than leaving child victims to shoulder the burden of seeking justice and facing victimhood alone, our victim services professionals provide the crucial support these young victims need. However, to continue offering these indispensable services, CACs require adequate funding.

The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), and through it the Crime Victims Fund (CVF), has assisted CACs in their crucial work for decades. Unlike taxpayer-funded initiatives, VOCA provides a sustainable federal funding source that bolsters numerous service providers dedicated to aiding millions of crime victims each year. Through this critical support, countless children and their families have found solace during their most difficult moments.

I’ve seen firsthand the way our services step into these young lives. A girl was sexually abused by her babysitter’s husband when she was only 3 years old. Her mother reached out to her local center the next day and from that first moment, the child was ushered into the recovery process by the committed staff. Over the next few years, she was given everything necessary to overcome her trauma. Now, after the resolution of her case, the girl is still in contact with her Family Advocate and offers her story to demonstrate how vital CACs are for these children and their families.

CACs are ceaseless advocates for crime victims, dedicated to ensuring they receive the necessary time and resources to heal and rebuild their lives.

This year, VOCA grants saw a $600 million federal cut. Across the board, the nation’s nearly 1,000 CACs are being forced to consider making cuts or shutting their doors.

Kansas is lucky to have received state support through the Governor’s Grants Program, adding an additional $1.8 million to the fiscal year 2024 budget and $1.1 million to the projected budget for fiscal year 2025, stabilizing programming and ensuring uninterrupted services to the children and families at all 17 Kansas CACs. While grateful for the increase stateside, our centers remain underfunded to meet the current need for services in our communities.

This vital injection into CAC funding won’t save it all. VOCA cuts will still leave thousands without essential services like victim advocacy, mental health services. These survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse will not have the same access to services or the support that we have provided for decades.

Already, Kansas CAC’s are unable to reach 32% of the state. Further limitation of our services will see that percentage grow, cutting off countless children that need to reach our doors, it will result in shrinking staffs, shutting down satellite centers and leaving our rural communities to fend for themselves without the funds to establish their own CAC. The Kansas Legislature has taken care to keep doors open in our urban and rural communities, but we are still around $4 million short to meet the demand.

At the end of the day, VOCA cuts mean that child victims will have to carry the trauma of their abuse alone.

Before addressing long-term reform in CVF funding, we must stop the bleeding from cuts that directly impact victims and survivors. That is exactly what U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) proposes with the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act of 2024. This bill is intended to maintain current service levels nationwide and provide more time for the CVF to close the funding gap. But most importantly, it will allow CACs throughout the U.S. to continue operations at the highest level.

The reality is that to end the programs for these young crime victims would be to abandon them. We owe crime victims more than that.

Kasey Dalke is executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Kansas. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.