2026 Victim Services Study

Victim Services Commission

HB244 (2023) appropriated funding for this study to help the VSC recommend important changes in victim services. An RFP was published and received five responses. The University of Utah Criminal Justice Center submitted the successful proposal. The University of Utah Criminal Justice Center in collaboration with the Economic Evaluation Unit prepared the following study, included in five reports which can be viewed below.

This report comprehensively analyzes statewide funding impacts on victim services. The data show that state allocations have not only closed the recent federal funding gap but also expanded total funding for services in the state. However, funding increases have not reached all service categories, funding per person and per crime varies across regions, and critical services remain unavailable in much of the state.

Utah Victim Services Funding Report

This research review identifies best practices and concludes that positive impacts on victims are most likely to occur when services are available, accessible, specialized to circumstances of victimization, received early by victims, and when both community and system-based partners have the resources and organizational encouragement to collaborate in improving system function and victim outcomes.

Best Practices Report

This report details the perspectives of individuals who held a seat on the VSC or participated in a subcommittee from inception through the second year. Now that the VSC is in its fourth year and has adjusted to early statutory changes, some recommendations have been resolved while others offer good direction for strengthening the commission's membership and function moving forward. Membership recommendations include restoring seats for a crime victim survivor and for DHHS, both of which were removed in HB532(2024).

Structure and Membership Report