Crime Survivor Support Act

Summary#

This bill encourages States to review and revise laws so survivors of violence get healing, safety, and support. It lists rights survivors should have, including trusted community help, quick and flexible emergency financial help, stable housing protections (including the ability to break a lease or protection from eviction), paid and job-protected leave, debt forgiveness related to the victimization, legal help for housing, job, immigration, or family issues, options for community-based accountability instead of criminal prosecution, and protections from arrest, conviction, or punishment when criminalization is related to the victimization. The bill also says those rights should not depend on reporting to or cooperating with police, and should not be limited by race, immigration status, prior arrests or convictions, or other listed factors.

The bill creates a federal grant program run by the Office for Victims of Crime to give funds to community-based organizations to operate flexible cash assistance programs for survivors and their family members. Grants are for 4-year periods, and the program aims to minimize paperwork, allow a range of payment methods, and exclude grant cash from eligibility tests and federal taxable income. The Attorney General must make the first awards within 9 months of enactment, subject to available appropriations. The bill also authorizes grants to States for survivor surveys administered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and requires annual reporting by grantees and periodic reports to Congress.

What it means for you#

  • Survivors: Community groups could provide direct, flexible cash help and services quickly, and the bill lists several rights survivors should receive. Cash received through the grant program would not count as income or assets for many means-tested programs and would be excluded from gross income for federal tax purposes, per the bill.
  • Community organizations: Nonprofit, nongovernmental, and Tribal organizations that primarily serve survivors can apply for 4-year grants to run cash assistance programs. Grantees may use up to 20 percent of funds for program administration.
  • States: The bill urges States to review survivor rights but does not itself change State law. States can get grants to run surveys of survivors to learn about needs and service gaps.
  • Employers and systems: The bill describes a right to paid, job-protected leave for survivors, but it is a statement of federal intent and encouragement for States to ensure these rights; it does not itself create a federal leave program in the text provided.

Expenses#

  • The bill authorizes $40,000,000 per year for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to implement the community grant program in section 3.
  • The bill authorizes $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 and 2031 to fund State-level supplemental victim surveys in section 4.
  • The Office for Victims of Crime may reserve up to 8 percent of funds each year for administering the grant program. Grantees may use no more than 20 percent of their grant for staffing, training, operations, and evaluation.
  • Grant awards are subject to future appropriations. No publicly available information on an official cost estimate or CBO score is included in the bill text or metadata provided.

Proponents' View#

The bill text states that supporters want survivors to receive healing, safety, and support after victimization. It promotes flexible, low-barrier cash assistance distributed by community-based organizations, protection of survivor rights irrespective of reporting or immigration status, and collection of state-level survey data to understand survivor needs.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.