VOCA Funds for Elder Abuse Programs
VOCA funds may be used to help states that are looking to support all victims, including victims of elder abuse. The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) of the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs (OJP), published a final rule to implement the victim assistance formula grant program (Victim Assistance Program) authorized by the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (VOCA). VOCA authorizes OVC to provide an annual formula grant from the Crime Victims Fund to each State and eligible territory for the financial support of services to crime victims by eligible crime victim assistance programs.
EJI Webinar: How Victim of Crimes Act (VOCA) Funds Have Been Used Across the Country to Create or Enhance Elder Justice Programs
Susan Lynch, Senior Counsel for DOJ Elder Justice Initiative, and Kate Peterson, USDOJ Attorney, hosts a discussion on how VOCA funds have been used in various states to respond to victims of elder abuse.
Since 1984, VOCA funding has supported numerous services to crime victims throughout the country. In the last three years, Congress has increased the amount of funding from the Crime Victims Fund that is available to support crime victim programs. As a result, new programs are being developed to expand services to crime victims, including victims of elder abuse.
Topics include:
- An overview of how VOCA funding operates at the federal and state level
- Clarifications in the VOCA Victim Assistance Rule that expands allowable uses of VOCA Victim Assistance funding by states
- Examples of recently VOCA-funded elder abuse programs
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