Jennings joins coalition to save victim funds, Head Start

Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced Aug. 18 that she is co-leading a coalition suing the Trump administration over conditions placed on funding for victims of crime.

Jennings said the administration declared that states will be unable to access these funds to support victims and survivors of crimes unless they participate in federal immigration enforcement efforts. 

“His illegal attempt to condition victim assistance funding on political compliance would dissuade victims from coming forward, threaten millions of dollars’ worth of services and shelter, and add an unmanageable workload for social workers, police and prosecutors who are already stretched too thin,” Jennings said in a press release.

She estimated Delaware could lose about $15 million for Delaware survivors, families, shelters and service providers.

The Victims of Crime Act was signed into law in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, and the funds are largely administered in Delaware through the Attorney General’s Victims Compensation Assistance Program,  and the state’s Criminal Justice Council. 

The state’s VCAP, funded by federal grants and state court fees, distributed more than $1.6 million in federally funded victim assistance in fiscal year 2025, officials said. These include reimbursements for funerals and grief counseling; temporary housing expenses for domestic violence survivors; medical and dental expenses not covered by insurance; lost wages for victims who missed work due to injury or caregiving responsibilities, or lost support for the dependents of homicide victims; and sexual assault nurse examinations. 

Officials said the nearly $15 million in federal funding supports 24 programs that include: group and family therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder; rape crisis and domestic violence services, including 24/7 hotlines; and emergency housing.

Jennings is a lead plaintiff on this lawsuit, along with attorneys general from New Jersey, California, Illinois, Rhode Island and other states. 

This lawsuit was filed three days after an amended complaint was filed Aug. 15 to save Head Start, which Delaware and other states are supporting.

Officials said Head Start, founded in 1965, is a federally funded program that promotes school readiness in children from birth to age 5 for eligible families, including families within poverty guidelines, those who have children with disabilities, and those who are homeless or in foster care. The program is meant to provide resources and support to enhance cognitive, social and emotional development. Head Start also provides critical childcare for many families, officials said.  

The amended complaint joins an earlier lawsuit filed July 21 by  20 states that claim the federal government acted unlawfully by issuing funding changes without following required procedures under the Administrative Procedure Act. Jennings said the changes also violate the U.S. Constitution’s Spending Clause by imposing new funding conditions on states without fair notice or consent.

Jennings is asking the court to declare the new rules unlawful, halt their implementation through preliminary and permanent injunctions, and prevent the federal government from using the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act to dismantle core safety net programs in the future. In July, officials said the federal government agreed not to enforce its interpretation of PRWORA against the states until Sept. 10.