National Network to End Domestic Violence Applauds the Signing of the FY 2022 Omnibus Spending Legislation and Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act

March 15, 2022

For Immediate Release: March 14, 2022
Contact: NNEDV Director of Development and Communications
communications@nnedv.org; 203-952-6028

Washington, D.C. — Today, President Biden signed the fiscal year 2022 omnibus appropriations bill, which included the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Reauthorization of 2022 and much-needed funding increases for domestic violence programs. First enacted in 1994, VAWA creates and supports comprehensive, cost-effective responses to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.

“The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) and our 56 member U.S. state and territorial domestic violence coalitions celebrate the reauthorization of VAWA and the signing of the fiscal year 2022 omnibus spending package. This bipartisan VAWA reauthorization includes groundbreaking provisions to strengthen and modernize the law, toward the goal of ensuring all victims are served and supported. The additional funding will also help respond to survivors’ immediate needs. Enacted together, these two measures substantially increase both survivors’ ability to address immediate needs and their access to long-term security, now and for years to come,” said Deborah J. Vagins, NNEDV President and CEO.

“NNEDV has worked side-by-side with our member organizations and so many incredible partner organizations to ensure this VAWA reauthorization provides survivors, the thousands of local programs that serve them, and communities with much-needed resources for housing, legal assistance, alternatives to criminal responses, and prevention programming. The legislation also includes new economic justice provisions and bolsters access for survivors of all genders by strengthening non-discrimination law and creating an LGBTQ services program. The law also restores tribal jurisdiction so tribes can hold non-Native perpetrators accountable, improves existing housing protections and increases access to emergency and short-term housing, and creates dedicated investments in culturally specific service providers to ensure survivors of color are supported. These lifesaving protections and additional services will give survivors greater access to safety and justice on their path to healing,” Vagins continued.

While VAWA reauthorization improves our nation’s response to survivors, annual funding ensures communities have the resources they need to address survivors’ immediate needs. Funding in the FY22 appropriations legislation reflects much-needed increases in NNEDV’s priority funding areas, including the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), VAWA programs, and the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). The investments included in this bill will help make significant strides towards filling in the gaps in services and supports exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure survivors have access to the full spectrum of resources and options they need to protect themselves and heal after violence and abuse.

FVPSA funds emergency shelters, crisis lines, counseling, victim assistance, and other vital services for more than one million domestic violence victims and their children each year. The $17 million increase to FVPSA will ensure more survivors can access services when they need them. Restored funding to VOCA will help rebuild victim services that have been cut over the last several years due to drastically declining allocations. The newly allocated $10 million in funding for the VAWA Culturally Specific Service Program will help survivors in Communities of Color who face barriers in accessing services. Increases to other key VAWA grant programs, including Sexual Assault Services Program (SASP), Transitional Housing, and Legal Assistance for Victims help provide critical services to support survivors as they move from short-term safety to long term-security. Together, these investments help maintain and expand services at a time when communities are struggling to meet the increase in demand. 

“President Biden has a legacy of over 25 years of leadership advancing survivors rights in our nation. NNEDV is deeply grateful to the President and to the Senate and House VAWA Reauthorization bill lead sponsors Senators Feinstein (D-CA), Ernst (R-IA), Durbin (D-IL), Murkowski (R-AK), and Representatives Jackson Lee (D-TX), Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Nadler (D-NY). We also thank the leadership of the House and Senate, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, and the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, for their commitment to bringing this legislation forward as part of the omnibus. NNEDV is very appreciative that they have prioritized the needs of millions of survivors,” said Monica McLaughlin, NNEDV Public Policy Director.

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The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) represents the 56 U.S. state and territorial coalitions against domestic violence. NNEDV is a social change organization with a mission to create a social, political, and economic environment in which domestic violence no longer exists. NNEDV works to make domestic violence a national priority, change the way society responds to domestic violence, and strengthen domestic violence advocacy at every level.