Whereas the matter of costs to local governments for providing police-based victim services continues to escalate due to the increased demand for the service; And whereas the authority for providing victim services for victims issues, development of legislation, policies and programs, and for providing training and delivering and funding programs that support victims and their families is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice Victim Services and Crime Prevention: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the Province of BC, through the Ministry of Justice Victim Services and Crime Prevention, to increase the Ministrys funding contribution for the provision of victim services with the Province of British Columbia.
Ministry of Public Safety Solicitor General The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General has a funding formula in place to distribute available funding dollars for victim service programs throughout the province. The formula is based on population and police strength, and was updated in fiscal year 200809 which resulted in an average funding increase of 22 per program. Police-based victim service programs are cost shared with local governments in communities that contribute to their policing costs. This cost-sharing approach recognizes the critical role that police-based victim service programs play in police and community response to crime and trauma, particularly around crisis response services. The Province provides over 70 million annually in funding for services to support victims of crime including 12 million for victim service programs, over 16 million for violence against women programs, 12 million for the Crime Victim Assistance Program and 32 million for transition house services.