A Major Win for Victim Services—But the Work Isn’t Over

Children’s Advocacy Centers of California (CACC) is committed to ensuring that California’s CACs have the resources they need to provide life-saving services to children and families. One way we advance this mission is through legislative advocacy.

For the last 2 years, CACC partnered with the California VOCA Advocacy Alliance to urge lawmakers in Sacramento to maintain critical funding for victim services. In a major win for the state, the Governor approved the $100 million in one-time funding for victim service providers proposed by the Assembly and Senate. This investment means that more than 250 victim service programs—including children’s advocacy centers—will have another year of stable funding.

In 2021 and 2022 alone, more than 816,000 Californians relied on services supported by this funding. While we applaud state leaders, including the Governor, for prioritizing the needs of survivors, children’s advocacy centers and other victim service providers continue to face uncertainty. Annual budget negotiations create instability and make it challenging to plan and sustain essential programs.

CACC urges lawmakers to make survivors of child abuse—and all victims of crime—a permanent priority in the California budget. Stable, ongoing funding is critical to ensuring that these vital services remain available to every child and family who needs them.