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Crime victims’ safety net unraveling with continued cuts

By , Daily Memphian Updated: March 16, 2025 4:00 AM CT | Published: March 16, 2025 4:00 AM CT

The organizations behind the community’s crucial but mostly invisible safety net — crisis hotlines, domestic violence shelters and help for victims of child abuse — say they are in trouble. 

For the past two years, they’ve been a casualty of funding cuts. And July 1 the next hammer will fall, decimating services another 25% at least, unless Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee steps in. 

Services for crime victims are largely funded through fees paid by people found guilty in federal criminal cases through the Victims of Crime Act, or VOCA. But since 2018, that funding has fallen more than 75% as both the Trump and Biden administrations focused on getting plea deals instead of taking cases to court.

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Jane Roberts

Jane Roberts

Longtime journalist Jane Roberts is a Minnesotan by birth and a Memphian by choice. She's lived and reported in the city more than two decades. She covers business news and features for The Daily Memphian.

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