06/08/2026
CVC staff are with advocates and survivors from across Pennsylvania at the Capitol to make a simple point: victim services are essential public safety and public health infrastructure, not optional line items.
For six years, state funding for many victim service programs has not received an increase—and in some cases, services have been left out of budget priorities entirely. During that time, costs have risen, demand has grown, and survivors have continued to need counseling, advocacy, accompaniment, shelter support, and legal-system navigation.
Behind every budget decision is a person: a sexual assault survivor seeking counseling, a family grieving a homicide, a child who needs advocacy, a victim trying to stay safe. When victim services are underfunded, survivors wait longer, staff burn out, and communities lose critical support systems.
We’re asking lawmakers to act. Include victim services in the state budget as a core public safety investment. Provide a meaningful funding increase after six years without one. Protect access to survivor-centered services in every community.
To everyone who showed up today—survivors, advocates, partners, and allies—thank you for raising your voices. Survivors deserve more than recognition; they deserve resources.
