(Radio Iowa) - Iowa's Crime Victim Assistance Program -- facing a 42 percent cut in federal funding -- is getting a cash infusion of five-and-a-half MILLION dollars. 

The money comes from unspend federal pandemic relief funds forwarded to Iowa in 2021. Governor Reynolds and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird say it's one-time funding to ensure crime victims continue to get state support to cover the costs of temporary housing, lost wages and any medical expenses associated with the crime. 

Attorney General Bird says the looming federal cut to victim funding meant closing the crime victims hotline and reducing the number of coordinators who are assigned to help victims who are called to testify in court against a perpetrator. Over the past 12 months, more than 54-thousand Iowa crime victims got grants from the state's Crime Victim Assistance Program.

(Radio Iowa) - Iowa's Crime Victim Assistance Program -- facing a 42 percent cut in federal funding -- is getting a cash infusion of five-and-a-half MILLION dollars. The money comes from unspend federal pandemic relief funds forwarded to Iowa in 2021. Governor Reynolds and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird say it's one-time funding to ensure crime victims continue to get state support to cover the costs of temporary housing, lost wages and any medical expenses associated with the crime. Attorney General Bird says the looming federal cut to victim funding meant closing the crime victims hotline and reducing the number of coordinators who are assigned to help victims who are called to testify in court against a perpetrator. Over the past 12 months, more than 54-thousand Iowa crime victims got grants from the state's Crime Victim Assistance Program.

State officials use pandemic relief funds for Iowa's crime victim assistance program