Family Violence Prevention and Services Act: Grants, Hotline, and Reach

The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, enacted in 1984, is the only federal law that provides dedicated funding for domestic violence shelters, crisis hotlines, and community-based prevention programs. It moves money from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to states, tribes, territories, state coalitions, and specialized national organizations. For fiscal year 2026, Congress appropriated $245 million for core FVPSA programs, plus $20.5 million for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.¹

What the Law Does

FVPSA was originally passed as Title III of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. Its statutory purposes, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 10401(b), are to help states and tribes increase public awareness and prevention of family, domestic, and dating violence; provide immediate shelter and supportive services for victims and their dependents; support a national domestic violence hotline; and fund training and technical assistance for service providers.²

The program is administered by the Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services (OFVPS) within the Administration for Children and Families at HHS. OFVPS pushes money out two ways: non-competitive formula grants that flow automatically to eligible recipients, and competitive discretionary grants awarded to specific organizations.³

How FVPSA Money Is Distributed

Formula Grants to States, Tribes, and Coalitions

Most FVPSA funding moves through formula grants. Of the funds appropriated for shelter and services, at least 70% goes to states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and four U.S. territories, distributed by population. Each state, D.C., and Puerto Rico receives a base allotment of $600,000 plus a population-based share. At least 10% is set aside for American Indian tribes and tribal organizations, and at least 10% goes to state and territorial domestic violence coalitions.⁴

States then award subgrants to local nonprofits and public agencies. At least 70% of subgrant funding must support shelter and related expenses; at least 25% must go toward supportive and prevention services. Subgrantees provide a non-federal match of one dollar for every five dollars of federal funding. The law bars grantees from imposing income eligibility requirements or charging fees for services.²⁴

Discretionary Grants

FVPSA’s competitive grants fund specialized services for abused parents and their children, training and technical assistance resource centers, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Additional funds support national resource centers, evaluation and monitoring activities, and demonstration projects.³

Funding Levels

The 2010 reauthorization set an annual authorization of $175 million for fiscal years 2011 through 2015. Actual appropriations have grown since. Fiscal year 2019 provided $164 million for core FVPSA programs plus $10.25 million for the hotline. By fiscal year 2020, total funding reached $220 million. During the pandemic, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 added a one-time supplement of $180 million for core services, $18 million for tribal grants, and $49.5 million for culturally specific populations.⁵

For fiscal years 2024 and 2025, total FVPSA-related appropriations held at $268 million: $240 million for shelter and services, $20.5 million for the hotline, and $7.5 million for the DELTA prevention program. The final fiscal year 2026 budget provided $245 million for core FVPSA programs, a $5 million increase, along with $20.5 million for the hotline.⁴¹

The National Domestic Violence Hotline

FVPSA funds the National Domestic Violence Hotline, reachable at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE). The hotline operates 24 hours a day in 170 languages, offering crisis intervention, safety planning, and referrals to shelters, legal assistance, and other resources. Callers can also text “START” to 88788 or use an online chat.⁶

OFVPS funds the hotline through a single cooperative agreement, with the most recent award valued at up to roughly $17 million. The hotline network includes the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline (1-866-311-9474), a dedicated video phone line for deaf and hard-of-hearing callers, and the DVBeds program, which tracks real-time shelter bed availability nationwide.⁶⁷

In September 2025, HHS awarded a $15 million, five-year grant to establish the StrongHearts Native Helpline (1-844-762-8483) as the first standalone National Indigenous Domestic Violence Hotline. StrongHearts had operated since 2017 through a sub-grant from the main hotline. The standalone designation brought direct federal funding and recognition as a component of the FVPSA Training and Technical Assistance Resource Network. The helpline was created after the National Domestic Violence Hotline identified that Indigenous communities were significantly underutilizing the main hotline, and it is staffed by Indigenous advocates with knowledge of tribal law and community-based support traditions.⁸⁹

Tribal and Culturally Specific Programs

The statutory 10% set-aside for federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and tribal organizations supports shelter, supportive services, and public awareness in tribal communities. Eligibility requires meeting the federal definition of “Indian Tribe” under 25 U.S.C. § 450b and demonstrating capacity to operate violence prevention and services programs.¹⁰

Fewer than half of federally recognized tribes receive FVPSA funding, and prior to 2018, awards for most tribes averaged $14,000. Legislative proposals have sought to raise the tribal set-aside from 10% to 12.5% and to authorize permanent funding for the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, the StrongHearts Native Helpline, and the Native Hawaiian Resource Center on Domestic Violence.¹¹

The fiscal year 2026 budget provides $2 million each for the Alaska Tribal Resource Center, the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, and the Native Hawaiian Resource Center on Domestic Violence.¹

The DELTA Prevention Program

While most FVPSA money supports people who have already experienced violence, DELTA is the law’s investment in stopping violence before it starts. Authorized under FVPSA but administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DELTA is the only dedicated federal funding source for primary prevention of domestic violence.¹²

DELTA has operated since 1996, awarding grants to state domestic violence coalitions to carry out community-level prevention. The current version, DELTA AHEAD (Achieving Health Equity through Addressing Disparities), launched in March 2023 and funds 13 state coalitions, with population-specific plans for rural and Indigenous communities. Across all rounds of the program, 34 states and the District of Columbia have received DELTA funding. Congress funded DELTA at $7.5 million annually in fiscal years 2023 through 2025.¹³⁴

How FVPSA Differs From VAWA and VOCA

FVPSA is one of three major federal funding streams for domestic violence services, alongside the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). Each has a different focus and administering agency, so it matters which one is paying for what.

VAWA, first enacted in 1994 and reauthorized most recently in 2022, is administered primarily by the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) at the Department of Justice. Its grants focus on the criminal justice response to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking, funding law enforcement training, prosecution support, and victim services. FVPSA is centered on the social service response: emergency shelter, crisis services, hotlines, and community-based prevention. VOCA, financed by the Crime Victims Fund rather than taxpayer appropriations, provides formula grants to states for a broad range of victim services, including domestic violence.¹⁴

All three laws contain confidentiality protections. FVPSA’s are generally considered the most protective regarding shelter locations, requiring secure systems and protocols to respond to disruptive or dangerous contact at shelter sites. FVPSA explicitly provides that nothing in its confidentiality provisions supersedes any state or federal law offering greater protection to victims.¹⁵

Program Reach and Unmet Need

FVPSA-funded programs serve millions of people every year. In 2024, programs reported providing nearly 17 million shelter nights, responding to more than 4.8 million crisis calls, and delivering emergency shelter and supportive services to over 2.4 million survivors, including roughly 1.6 million women, 551,000 children, and 187,000 men. Community education efforts reached more than 13.5 million people.¹⁶

Demand outstrips capacity. The National Network to End Domestic Violence’s 20th Annual Domestic Violence Counts census, a one-day snapshot taken September 10, 2025, found that 1,707 participating programs served 84,146 survivors and their children in 24 hours while 13,018 requests for help went unmet due to insufficient resources, funding, and staffing. Fifty-eight percent of the unmet requests were for emergency shelter, hotel stays, or transitional housing. In the prior 12 months, 528 programs had reduced or eliminated housing services, and more than 100 programs each had cut therapy, transportation, or direct cash assistance.¹⁷

Reauthorization Status and Current Funding Pressures

FVPSA has been reauthorized seven times since 1984, most recently through the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010, which authorized the program’s activities through fiscal year 2015. Since then, FVPSA has not been formally reauthorized but has continued to operate through annual appropriations. A reauthorization bill was introduced in the 118th Congress in April 2023, led by Representatives McBath, Moore, Fitzpatrick, and Young Kim.²¹⁸

As of mid-2026, domestic violence services face funding threats across multiple federal sources. The Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women has been withholding $150 million in fiscal year 2025 appropriations intended for domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and trafficking services. Applications for fiscal year 2026 OVW grants, typically distributed by October, had not been released as of May 2026.¹⁹

The delays have drawn bipartisan criticism. On March 6, 2026, the House Bipartisan Working Group on Domestic Violence sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche demanding the release of funds; the group received no response. At a May 19, 2026 Senate hearing, Blanche said applications were being released on a “rolling basis.” Representative Gwen Moore of Wisconsin accused the administration of “breaking the law by refusing to disperse funds approved by Congress.” An April 2026 petition demanding release of the stalled funds was signed by more than 80 organizations and 200 individuals.¹⁹

Consequences on the ground are severe. Of 250 organizations surveyed by The 19th, 48 reported layoffs, service reductions, or staff taking voluntary pay cuts. Our Sister’s House in Pierce County, Washington, reduced hotline hours and eliminated positions, with leadership going without pay. The Victim Rights Law Center in Massachusetts laid off two staff members and faces the potential end of a national training program for attorneys representing minor sexual assault survivors if funding is not received by September 30, 2026.¹⁹

The president’s fiscal year 2027 budget proposal, released in early 2026, would cut $14 million from transitional housing and $15 million from legal assistance grants administered by OVW. It also proposes consolidating OVW with other Justice Department entities into a single grantmaking body, a move that the National Network to End Domestic Violence argues contradicts statutory language prohibiting such a merger, language Congress reaffirmed in bipartisan 2026 funding legislation.²⁰

Pressures on FVPSA and VAWA are compounded by the decline of the Crime Victims Fund, which finances VOCA grants. Annual deposits averaged $2.56 billion from 2008 to 2017 but fell to an average of $737 million from 2018 through 2023, driven in part by fewer federal white-collar prosecutions. The depletion resulted in a $630 million cut to victim services in fiscal year 2024 alone. The bipartisan Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act (H.R. 909) has been proposed to supplement the fund with revenue from False Claims Act recoveries, which totaled over $2.2 billion in fiscal year 2022.²¹

According to NNEDV’s 20th annual census data, 54% of domestic violence programs said they would close within six months if they experienced a 50% or greater reduction in federal funding, and 77% said they would close within a year.¹⁷

1
National Network to End Domestic Violence. FY26 Appropriations Chart
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S.C. Chapter 110 — Family Violence Prevention and Services
3
Administration for Children and Families. OFVPS Grants
4
Every CRS Report. Family Violence Prevention and Services Act: Overview
5
Administration for Children and Families. FY 2019-2020 FVPSA Report to Congress
6
The Hotline. Family Violence Prevention and Services Act
7
Grants.gov. FVPSA National Domestic Violence Hotline Grant
8
Administration for Children and Families. HHS Awards $15 Million for Indigenous Hotline
9
The Imprint. Funding Sustains Indigenous Domestic Violence Support Helpline
10
Administration for Children and Families. FVPSA Grants to Tribes
11
National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. FVPSA Saves Native Lives
12
National Network to End Domestic Violence. FY27 Appropriations Fact Sheet
13
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Intimate Partner Violence Programs
14
Every CRS Report. The Violence Against Women Act: Overview, Legislation, and Federal Funding
15
Victim Rights Law Center. VAWA, VOCA, and FVPSA Comparison Chart
16
Administration for Children and Families. Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services
17
National Network to End Domestic Violence. 20th Annual Domestic Violence Counts Report
18
The Hotline. The Hotline Celebrates FVPSA Re-Authorization Legislation in the 118th Congress
19
The 19th. Domestic Violence Federal Funding Impact
20
National Network to End Domestic Violence. Survivor Safety at Stake in President’s Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Proposal
21
National Children’s Alliance. Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act FAQs