A bill moving through the Louisiana Legislature would offer critical funding support to sexual assault survivor centers, which currently receive no direct state funding and are scrambling to stay open amid federal budget cuts.
House Bill 163, introduced by State Rep. Kellee Dickerson, R-Denham Springs, and backed by sexual violence prevention advocates, would impose additional fines on people convicted of sexual assault and related crimes, including human trafficking, prostitution and rape.
The revenue from those fines would go into a dedicated fund that would be distributed to organizations that provide services for domestic violence and human trafficking survivors. Additionally, 50% of the funds would go specifically to designated sexual assault centers across Louisiana.
Sexual assault centers play a critical role for survivors of sexual violence, providing crisis management and counseling services, as well as legal assistance and hospital accompaniment — like sitting with a survivor and supporting them while they get a forensic exam and in the difficult aftermath of their assault.
While Louisiana does pay for some elements of sexual assault response, like forensic exams and kit tracking, those costs are covered by the state’s Crime Victims Reparations Fund. There isn’t any state funding for the services provided by sexual assault centers.
“This is a channel where there’s a fine on abusers who have perpetrated sexual violence that then goes back to help pay for the services for those that have been affected,” said Rafael de Castro, executive director of Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault (LaFASA), which supports the bill.
While the additional funding sexual assault centers in the state would receive if the bill is passed would be helpful, de Castro said it’s not nearly enough to cover federal funding cuts.
LaFASA used to receive and distribute federal funding to 11 accredited sexual assault centers in the state. The group’s largest funding sources came from the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) and the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). Earlier this year, federal funding for VOCA was cut by 40% and the OVW removed information on funding opportunities, both of which LaFASA and the centers the group distributes funding to rely on.
To help make up for budget shortfalls caused by federal funding cuts, LaFASA and other organizations put in an appropriations request for $2 million in state funding to support sexual assault centers. This would come close to covering the amount cut, de Castro said, but it’s uncertain whether or not that request will be granted.
“Without that money coming in, our centers and us as a coalition are not going to be able to survive,” de Castro said.
This week, the OVW posted a notice of funding opportunity for the Sexual Assault Services Formula Program, which LaFASA can apply for. But many of the grants LaFASA depends on have not been posted.
Sexual assault centers in Louisiana are currently operating on less than a third of the funding they had two years ago, de Castro said. Still, the groups are working to support survivors.
“In 2024, our accredited centers responded to 5,310 phone calls. They accompanied 759 survivors to forensic medical examinations,” de Castro said. “As those federal dollars go away, we need to find sources of funding for those services, and this is definitely going to be helpful.”
It’s not clear how much funding would be generated if the bill is passed into law. The new legislation would take the existing “Exploited Children's Survivor Special Fund,” where fines for three sex-related offenses have raised just over $10,000, according to Monica Taylor, director of the Governor's Office of Human Trafficking Prevention. The proposed law would rename the fund to “Survivor Special Fund,” and would generate revenue from fines from convictions of 23 sex-related offenses.
“I don't think that there's going to be a huge amount of money there. This is not going to be something that’s going to be able to sustain any of the folks that we're giving money to,” said Taylor, who’s office helped Rep. Dickerson write the bill. “It's not even going to make up for some of the losses that they've had in VOCA cuts or any of that kind of stuff.
“But for some, especially some of your smaller non-profit NGOs, this can be the difference between closing their doors and not.”
With little to no opposition, the bill passed unanimously through committee and now moves to the house floor for debate. If passed, it’ll go to the state senate for discussion, and if approved there, onto Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk for signing.
This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Alabama, WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana and NPR. Support for public health coverage comes from The Commonwealth Fund.
