South Carolina awards more than $29 million to groups that help crime victims, starting Oct. 1
Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the grants on Sept. 23. About 78 percent of the money is federal, and on the two regional award lists his office published, nonprofits receive about $17 million of $19.9 million.
Columbia. Nonprofits, sheriff's offices, police departments, solicitors' offices and state agencies that help crime victims in South Carolina will begin spending more than $29 million in federal and state grants on Oct. 1, Attorney General Alan Wilson announced on Sept. 23 at a news conference in Columbia.
The grants are distributed by the Department of Crime Victim Assistance Grants in the attorney general's office, and the S.C. Public Safety Coordinating Council approved them earlier this year. About 78 percent of the money is federal, from Victims of Crime Act and Violence Against Women Act grants. The first are paid from the federal Crime Victims Fund, which is financed by fines and penalties rather than taxes.
The rest comes from two state programs. The State Victim Assistance Program receives a share of the wages of inmates in the state's work release program. The Supplemental Allocation for Victims Services, which the General Assembly started with a one-time appropriation in 2022, is meant to ease some of the hardship of recent federal funding reductions, the office's guidelines say.
Who receives the money
The office published award lists for two regions. In the Midlands and the Pee Dee, 43 agencies receive 59 grants totaling $12,439,312; in the Upstate, 29 agencies receive 43 grants totaling $7,457,394. The release links no list for the Lowcountry and the Grand Strand, so more than $9 million of the total is not broken down. The office's list for the current grant year, which ends Sept. 30, totals $26.1 million.
By the Herald's count, 41 of the 72 recipients on the two lists are private nonprofits, and they receive about $17 million. The largest total goes to the Pee Dee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Assault in Florence County: five grants worth $2,331,233. Safe Passage in Rock Hill receives $721,833, and the Family Justice Center of Georgetown and Horry Counties $267,306 for a 24-hour hotline, advocacy and counseling.
Applying for the next round
State agencies, local governments, tribal organizations and 501(c)(3) nonprofits may apply through the office's online grants portal. For the year that begins Oct. 1, applications were due April 1, and the office planned to tell applicants by Aug. 15 whether they had won.
The office's guidelines require an applicant to serve victims directly and at no charge, and to show that at least 25 percent of its financial support comes from sources other than the federal government. Victims of Crime Act and state projects must have at least one volunteer and a 20 percent match in cash or in kind, which volunteer hours can supply at $25 an hour. Nonprofit victim service programs are exempt from the 25 percent match on Violence Against Women Act grants.
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