An opinion piece recently published in the Minnesota Star Tribune highlights the need for long-term crime victim services funding within the state, especially as proposed budgets fail to address the imminent need for funding given shrinking federal funds for victims of crime.
Crime victim services are necessary and life-saving, and an important part of Minnesota’s public safety infrastructure. We need direct services for victims of crime, we need advocates to listen to victim-survivors and make them feel safe, and we need training and technical assistance that supports providers in the important work they do.
As one of the six anti-violence coalitions serving the state—which includes the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition (MIWSAC), Violence Free Minnesota (VFMN), the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MNCASA), the Minnesota Alliance on Crime (MAC), Mending the Sacred Hoop, and the Minnesota Children’s Alliance—MIWSAC urges Minnesota legislators to expand funding for crime victim services, and urges our members, supporters, and allies to contact their representatives to support funding for crime victim services.