Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield is asking state lawmakers to find millions of dollars to help keep funding alive for programs that benefit victims of sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence. The Trump administration is keeping those funds “hostage” from sanctuary states, Rayfield said.
Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton, CARES NW Director Jenny Gilmore-Robinson, Clackamas Women's Services Director Melissa Erlbaum, Clackamas County DA John Wentworth and Attorney General Dan Rayfield spoke about the impacts of the loss of VOCA funding.
Holly Bartholomew / OPB
Rayfield announced Monday that Oregon will join 20 other states and the District of Columbia in suing the Trump administration over new conditions outlined in federal contracts for states to receive funding through the Victims of Crime Act, also known as VOCA.
The new terms are a part of the White House’s broader effort to target sanctuary jurisdictions, such as Oregon, as the president seeks to increase deportations.
Rayfield announced the lawsuit the same day that the Sexual Assault Resource Center, one of the state’s largest sexual assault-specific survivor resource centers, announced it had halted all of its services due to funding uncertainty.
“These critical services can and will disappear overnight, leaving survivors without the support of communities and without a safety net,” Rayfield said.
Oregon uses federal money from VOCA to pay for nearly 150 victim service programs across the state. The attorney general’s office had planned to distribute $15 million to those services this year and another $3 million for crime victim compensation.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, states that the proposed changes to VOCA funding force states into an untenable position.
States have to “either forfeit access to critical resources for vulnerable crime victims and their families, or accept unlawful conditions, allowing the federal government to conscript state and local officials to enforce federal immigration law,” the lawsuit states.
While Oregon and the other states in the lawsuit hope that the courts will declare the Trump administration’s actions unconstitutional, Rayfield said court proceedings won’t provide immediate relief to programs in need now.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced the state was joining a lawsuit against the Trump administration over attempts to withhold VOCA funding from sanctuary states.
Holly Bartholomew / OPB
In the meantime, he is requesting state lawmakers backfill the lost VOCA funding to ensure victims continue receiving support. He acknowledged this was a large ask given Oregon’s current budget constraints.
The Legislature could choose to take up the issue in an emergency board session later this year or tackle it in next February’s short session, but likely not the upcoming special session on transportation funding, Rayfield said. On Monday afternoon, Rayfield disclosed he had not yet spoken with state legislators or Gov. Tina Kotek.
Clackamas County DA John Wentworth said without VOCA funding, his office would lose half its victim advocates.
Holly Bartholomew / OPB
In addition to programs like the now shuttered Sexual Assault Resource Center, VOCA sends money to county district attorneys offices for victim support during criminal cases.
Clackamas County District Attorney John Wentworth said his office would lose half of its victim advocate positions, while Washington County will lose a quarter of those jobs.
Washington County DA Kevin Barton recalled the case of a 5-year-old girl who struggled to speak in court about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father.
“It was a victim advocate and support from CARES Northwest that gave her the strength to be able to move forward and talk about what had happened to her so that a prosecutor like me could seek justice,” Barton said.
Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton spoke about the impacts of VOCA funding Monday, Aug. 18.
Holly Bartholomew / OPB
CARES Northwest provides child abuse evaluations, trauma therapy and family support services to 1,300 children in the Portland metro area each year. It will lose $600,000 or about 80% of its annual funding, according to executive director Jenny Gilmore-Robinson.
Gilmore-Robinson said the organization is “at the perfect storm of funding catastrophe” thanks to the loss in federal funds, increased competition for private grants, uncertainty from donors and cuts to Medicaid. Around 75% of CARES Northwest’s pediatric patients are served by the Oregon Health Plan.
Clackamas Women’s Services Executive Director Melissa Erlbaum described similarly dire straits for her organization due to already tight funding.
Erlbaum said Clackamas Women’s Services previously laid off 17 of its employees due to earlier decreases in VOCA funding.
Clackamas Women’s Services will remain open, Erlbaum said, though it may be with reduced hours and services.
“We will make sure that there’s somebody answering that call and providing as much support as we possibly can,” Erlbaum said. “We know how dangerous it is when someone is trying to leave (a domestic violence situation).”
