Lang
7/12/21
The Iowa City-based Domestic Violence Intervention Program is closing its outreach offices in southeast Iowa due to federal budget cuts.
That’s according to a report in the Burlington Hawk Eye. The newspaper reports that the DVIP will be closing its offices in Burlington, Keokuk and Mt. Pleasant. DVIP representatives cite funding lost due to the Victims of Crime Act signed into law under the Trump administration, which cut federal funding of such programs by 10%. That amounts to a loss of $84,624 in funding for DVIP this fiscal year. Next year, the organization could lose another $230,000 in federal money. The 2017 law diverts money from fines and penalties from the Crime Victims Fund and puts it into the general fund of the U.S. Treasury.
A bipartisan bill currently working its way through Congress, the Victims Of Crime Act Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act of 2021, would restore some of that funding. But even if passed and signed into law, the money would not be available for another two years.
The Burlington, Keokuk and Mt. Pleasant DVIP offices are set to close on August 1st.