In 2025, 664 requests for emergency shelter from domestic violence survivors in Virginia went unmet because programs did not have room. That is a 63% increase since 2021. Over the same period, federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding directed to Virginia’s sexual and domestic violence agencies fell by more than half, from $25.1 million in State Fiscal Year 2020 to $11.5 million in SFY 2025. Virginia’s General Assembly has stepped in with significant increases in state funding, though total resources remain below 2020 levels while costs have risen sharply. Federal funding losses are a major part of this story, and they are not the only part. This is the third post in our series on the Survivor Advocacy in Virginia 2025 report.
The Number That Should Concern Every Virginian
In our last post, we shared what survivors said when asked what would have happened without access to advocacy services: “I would have been homeless, dead, or in the hospital.” Those words land differently when you consider how many survivors reach out and aren’t able to access shelter.
Every year, Virginia’s Sexual and Domestic Violence Agencies (SDVAs) track a figure that measures the gap between what survivors need and what the system can provide: requests for emergency shelter that went unmet because there was no space available.
It is not a count of survivors who chose not to seek help. It is a count of survivors who reached out, asked for a safe place to sleep, and were told there was none.
| Year | Unmet Shelter Requests | Change from Prior Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 407 | — |
| 2022 | 708 | +74% |
| 2023 | 593 | -16% |
| 2024 | 727 | +23% |
| 2025 | 664 | -9% |
The 2025 figure of 664 represents a 63% increase over 2021. While 2025 came in below the 2024 peak, the trend across five years is clear: substantially more survivors are being turned away now than were five years ago.
Federal Funding: A Significant Loss, Partially Offset by Virginia
One of the most significant pressures on Virginia’s survivor services system over the past five years has been the collapse of federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding.
VOCA is a federal fund drawn from criminal fines and penalties rather than taxpayer dollars, and it has long been the primary federal source supporting crisis services for survivors of crime. The portion of Virginia’s VOCA allocation directed to sexual and domestic violence agencies fell dramatically over this period:
| State Fiscal Year | VOCA Funding to Virginia SDVAs |
|---|---|
| SFY 2020 | $25.1 million |
| SFY 2025 | $11.5 million |
| Change | -54% |
It is important to be precise here. Virginia’s total VOCA allocation is larger than these figures and supports a range of victim service providers across the Commonwealth. The numbers above reflect specifically the share that funded sexual and domestic violence agencies, which is the portion most directly tied to the services documented in this report.
Virginia’s General Assembly responded. As federal dollars fell, the Commonwealth increased state investment substantially:
| SFY 2020 | SFY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Federal VOCA funding to SDVAs | $25.1 million | $11.5 million |
| Virginia state funding | $2.5 million | $10.0 million |
| Total | $27.5 million | $21.5 million |
State funding for survivor services quadrupled over five years. That increase deserves recognition. It reflects sustained advocacy by SDVAs and the Action Alliance, and a General Assembly and administration willing to act.
Even so, total funding fell roughly 22% over the period, from $27.5 million to $21.5 million.
In 2026, the Action Alliance and our member agencies asked the General Assembly to consider an additional $6 million per year to restore services that have been cut since 2020. The General Assembly and the Governor included $3 million per year in the final budget. That is a meaningful step in the right direction, but it does not fully close the gap.
One further complication: the cost of delivering services has risen alongside everything else. Over this same five-year period, the cost of living increased roughly 24-25%. Restoring the service capacity Virginia had in 2020 would therefore require substantially more than simply returning to 2020 funding levels. In real terms, that restoration would require approximately $11 million in additional annual funding beyond current levels.
The Broader Picture: Why Survivors Are Turned Away
Funding is a critical part of this story. It is not the whole story, and Virginia’s advocates are careful about that distinction.
The decline in service capacity documented in this report has developed alongside several other pressures that shape whether survivors can find safety:
The affordable housing shortage. Emergency shelter is meant to be temporary. When survivors cannot find affordable permanent housing, they stay in shelter longer, which reduces the number of families a program can serve over the course of a year. Virginia’s average shelter stay in 2025 was 43 nights. In a functioning housing market, that number would be lower and turnover would be higher. The shelter capacity crisis and the housing affordability crisis are directly connected.
Wages that do not support independent living. Leaving an abusive relationship often means establishing an independent household. For survivors earning $15 an hour or less, that is arithmetically difficult in most of Virginia. Economic dependence keeps people in dangerous situations, and it extends the length of time survivors need support after they leave.
Barriers to healthcare, mental health care, and dental care. Survivors frequently need medical and behavioral health services in the aftermath of violence. In rural Virginia especially, those services can be difficult to access, unaffordable, or simply unavailable. When survivors cannot get the care they need, advocates spend more time on system navigation and survivors take longer to stabilize.
Erosion of the broader safety net. Changes in federal policy affecting food assistance, healthcare coverage, housing subsidies, and immigration protections all shape survivors’ options. When those supports weaken, more of the burden falls on the local SDVA, which is often the last remaining door for a person in crisis.
These factors compound. A survivor who cannot access affordable housing, cannot support a household on their wages, cannot get mental health care, and has lost access to public benefits is a survivor who needs far more from an advocate, for far longer, than a survivor in a community with a stronger safety net. Multiply that across thousands of cases, and the effect on system capacity is substantial regardless of what happens to any single funding stream.
What the Data Do Show Clearly
Some things the 2025 data establish without ambiguity:
- Need has not declined. Hotline contacts rose 2% from 2024 to 2025, even as advocacy and shelter services contracted.
- Capacity has declined. Over five years, face-to-face advocacy services fell 13%, emergency shelter stays fell 16%, and hotline contacts fell 9%.
- Agencies have absorbed as much as they can. Across Virginia, SDVAs have cut positions, consolidated roles, managed waiting lists, and sought alternative funding. That absorption capacity has limits, and the unmet shelter data suggest those limits have been reached in many communities.
| Year | Total Served | Total Shelter Nights | Hotline Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 32,258 | 243,058 | 77,529 |
| 2022 | 32,261 | 239,441 | 78,966 |
| 2023 | 30,996 | 233,705 | 72,985 |
| 2024 | 29,257 | 232,988 | 68,680 |
| 2025 | 27,898 | 229,020 | 70,136 |
What Comes Next
Virginia has demonstrated that state investment can partially offset federal losses. The quadrupling of state funding between 2020 and 2025, and the additional $3 million per year secured in 2026, show what sustained advocacy can accomplish.
Continuing that progress requires two things. First, restoring the capacity that has been lost, which given rising costs means going beyond a simple return to 2020 funding levels. Second, addressing the surrounding conditions that determine how far each dollar goes: housing, wages, healthcare access, and the strength of the broader safety net.
Survivor services do not operate in isolation. Their capacity depends both on their own funding and on whether the communities around them can offer survivors a viable path forward.
Read the Full Report
- 📄 Download the full Survivor Advocacy in Virginia 2025 report (PDF)
- 📄 Read the official press release (PDF)
How many domestic violence survivors were turned away from emergency shelter in Virginia in 2025? 664 requests for emergency shelter went unmet in 2025 because agencies did not have capacity to accommodate them, a 63% increase since 2021.
How much VOCA funding do Virginia’s sexual and domestic violence agencies receive? The portion of Virginia’s federal VOCA allocation directed to sexual and domestic violence agencies fell from $25.1 million in State Fiscal Year 2020 to $11.5 million in SFY 2025, a 54% decline. Virginia’s total VOCA allocation is larger and supports a broader range of victim service providers.
Has Virginia increased state funding for survivor services? Yes. State funding for sexual and domestic violence services increased from $2.5 million in SFY 2020 to $10 million in SFY 2025. In 2026, the General Assembly and Governor added a further $3 million per year, in response to a request from the Action Alliance and member agencies for $6 million.
Is total funding for survivor services in Virginia higher or lower than in 2020? Lower. Combined federal and state funding fell from $27.5 million in SFY 2020 to $21.5 million in SFY 2025, a decline of roughly 22%. Because cost of living rose 24 to 25% over the same period, restoring 2020 service capacity would require approximately $11 million in additional annual funding.
Why are fewer survivors receiving services if need has not declined? Multiple factors are at work. Reduced funding has forced agencies to cut positions and manage waiting lists. At the same time, the affordable housing shortage extends shelter stays and reduces turnover, low wages make independent living difficult for survivors leaving abusive situations, and barriers to healthcare and public benefits mean survivors need more intensive support for longer periods.
This is the third post in our series on the Survivor Advocacy in Virginia 2025 report. Read Post 1: the full report overview, Post 2: what survivors say about the impact of services, Post 4: what we know about the perpetration of violence, Post 5: firearms and intimate partner violence, and Post 6: prevention.
You Deserve Safety and Support
Virginia Statewide Sexual and Domestic Violence Hotline Call: 800.838.8238 | Text: 804.793.9999 | Chat: www.vadata.org/chat Free. Confidential. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. 365 days a year.
Help Us Close the Gap
Virginia’s advocates are still showing up for survivors every day, even as resources shrink. Join us in making sure they can keep doing so.
- Become a member of the Action Alliance
- Make a donation to support survivors across Virginia
- Subscribe to any of our newsletters that match your interests