Support funding that helps child victims of crime
Child crime victims have relied on the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) as a vital lifeline for decades. Victim services professionals from the 41 Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACS) that cover all counties in Illinois have stepped up to provide irreplaceable support and resources to every child that walks through their doors.
VOCA has assisted millions of victims in the aftermath of violent crime, sexual assault and domestic abuse. Its significance in aiding victims’ recovery cannot be overemphasized.
However, the fund is built on the backs of federal prosecutions; it is a fickle beast and has dwindled for years. Moreover, VOCA has faced severe cuts with each fiscal year. Illinois CACs can’t plan strategically for long-term services, and our capacity to fully support victims is undercut. Thanks to the support of state leaders, we have been able to make ends meet so far, but that cannot continue to reach every child we need to.
This year, VOCA saw a $600 million cut and for Illinois, a cut that deep will be devastating.
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Now, there looms a threat to each of our CACs, who will have to assess their systems and make hard decisions about which resources are the most important for the victims.
Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Ak., along with Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., and other colleagues, propose a temporary solution with the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act of 2024.
This bill will infuse necessary dollars into the fund until a permanent solution is found. Durbin, echoing our urgency, said recently, "The Crime Victims Fund is a lifeline for survivors and their families. The state programs supported by this fund, like the CACs of Illinois, provide a chance for victims to recover and rebuild their lives. I’m proud to have put forward a bipartisan legislative solution that will help to further strengthen the Crime Victims Fund, and I will continue to work with Senator Murkowski and our partners in the House to get this bill signed into law, just as we did with the VOCA Fix bill in 2021."
Ending programs for young crime victims would mean forsaking them. The entire Illinois community stands ready to bolster our CACs and the families they serve.
Kim Mangiaracino, executive director, Children's Advocacy Centers of Illinois
Thinking ‘bigly’ about classic literature
When contemplating one of the presidential candidates, I — and I'm sure others — have thought about the following:
As to that candidate’s persona, the following description of the anti-hero in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby" ... A big, hulking bully, wealthy by inheritance. A womanizer responsible for several deaths. Someone who has a "nibble on the edge of stale ideas," including replacement theory.
As to that candidate’s speeches, the lines from Shakespeare’s "Macbeth"... "A tale told by an idiot. Full of sound and fury. Signifying nothing."
As to the rationale of those who support that person’s candidacy, Joseph Conrad’s description from "The Heart of Darkness"…"The fascination with the abomination."
Life does imitate art!
William P. Gottschalk, Lake Forest