PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — A nonprofit running a facility to help victims of child abuse and gather evidence against people accused in Martin, St. Lucie, Okeechobee and Indian River counties could possibly close.
Guardians for New Futures said its Child Advocacy Center is facing a $300,000 deficit after a cut in federal funding, according to an email from a public record request,. It's asking the counties it serves to add it as a budget item to allow it to continue serving children across four counties.
"We are striving to become a line item on each counties budget to ensure the work of the CAC is not disrupted due to State or Federal funding cuts," the group's president Debbie Butler wrote in an email to Martin County commissioners and its administrator. "Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) cut our funding leaving us with a $300,000 deficit for this fiscal year. While this had nothing to do with our performance, but a cut in funding across Florida's CACs, it is still a challenge."
The center said it provides victim advocacy, forensic interviews, medical examinations, mental health services, prevention and education along with transportation services for victims of abuse as opposed to services being spread across six locations. According to their email to commissioners, it serves about 950 children across four counties.
Executive Director Stephanie Castellanos said she became aware of funding issues in September. She said her facility is facing a larger cut compared to other Child Advocacy Centers across the state because it opened two years ago.
"We're fairly new," Castellanos said. "We've only been open for about 22 months. We're receiving the major cuts. It's like, 'OK, these individuals haven't been serving victims for very longtime. They do no need the funding.' So we are experiencing that heavy, that major cut."
She also said her new organization hasn't been in grant cycles.
The Victims of Crime Act of 1984 is the primary source of funding for victim services, according to the National Association of Attorney Generals. It funds those services through offenders convicted of federal crimes.
But with fewer people going through the federal court system due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there's less money available. The organization wrote a letter asking Congress to add funding, like in 2021, or else victim service programs would go defunct.
"Without prompt action to support the VOCA Fund, many victim service programs throughout the country may be forced to close, and the victims and survivors those programs serve could be left without services and support, endangering their safety and wellbeing," it reads. "These burdens are likely to fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable victims, including members of rural, underserved or impoverished communities."
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody signed the letter in February. She urged Congress to stop diverging funds from the program in December 2023.
"Florida has approximately $37,000,000 less to distribute this fiscal year and approximately $77,000,000 less to distribute in fiscal year 2024," she said in a December news release.
"There's less money," Castellanos said. "Every year, it's been cut down. This is a federal cut."
She said the cuts would result in fewer therapists and larger case loads for family advocates. Debbie Butler, president of Guardians for New Futures, said on a phone call Tuesday it would mean the facility would close.
Castellanos said she's hopeful the situation will get better.
"We're going to just keep communicating what we do and who we are to the community," she said. "Believing that a miracle is going to happen on our end."
