Agencies misuse DOJ funds meant for crime victims: Inspectors
Officials and private employees nationwide are mishandling federal funds allocated for a crime victims’ support program, according to the Department of Justice’s inspector general. Recent audits flagged over $1.96 million in questionable or excessive spending related to the Victims of Crime Act, a law established in 1984 to aid local governments and nonprofits serving victims. These reports reveal widespread mismanagement across both conservative and liberal states.A specific case involves Miracle minds Therapy, a Nevada charity that received Victims of Crime act funding but was found to have improperly billed and incurred unsupported costs, including unallowable rent and billing for services contrary to federal rules. The audit recommends that Nevada recover $365,134 and implement safeguards.the DOJ inspector general’s audits identify important issues, with over $33.9 million in questionable costs across various agencies from April 2025 to March 2026, leading to numerous recommendations for oversight improvements. Some audits, however, found no serious issues in certain states like Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Kentucky, Alabama, Indiana, and North Dakota. Legislation proposed by Rep. Ann wagner aims to expand the Victims of Crime Act funding pool to include assets from DOJ fraud cases, with bipartisan support.
Officials and private employees across the country are making costly mistakes with federal dollars in a crime victims’ support program, according to the Department of Justice’s inspector general.
DOJ audits from this year flagged more than $1.96 million combined in “questioned costs” or excess spending stemming from the Victims of Crime Act, a federal law passed in 1984 to help local governments and nonprofit organizations provide victim-focused services. The reports describe widespread mismanagement of the program in conservative and liberal states’ bureaucracies.
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The office’s latest troubling audit found “$135,922 in unsupported costs and $229,212 in unallowable costs” from Miracle Minds Therapy, a Nevada charity that received Victims of Crime Act funding awarded by the state’s Division of Child and Family Services. Miracle Minds Therapy, also called United Citizens Foundation, and the Nevada DCFS did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
Miracle Minds Therapy wrongly billed the DOJ through “personnel costs, improper cost allocation, retroactive billing, unapplied vendor credits, and undisclosed related party transactions,” in addition to improperly charging for rent expenses, according to the August report.
Employees also did not disclose “conflicts of interests” through the rent costs, the audit found. Miracle Minds Therapy made rent payments through a management company owned by the group’s CEO to pay for space from another company the CEO owned, the report said. This led to “$89,911 in unallowable rent costs” that the inspectors want Nevada to remedy.
Miracle Minds Therapy also charged insurance companies for the care it provided to victims, despite federal guidelines barring it from making money off the program without certain waivers, the investigation found. The audit includes 13 recommendations for Nevada’s DCFS to improve its oversight, keep a closer watch on Miracle Minds Therapy, and pay back $365,134.
The inspector general’s 2026 audits so far are not all negative; several found no serious issues with Victims of Crime Act spending by agencies in Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Kentucky, Alabama, Indiana, and North Dakota.
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Victims of Crime Act funding comes from assets the government seizes from criminals. Legislation from Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) would increase the pool of money to include certain DOJ fraud cases. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support in January.
For all DOJ programs it monitors, the inspector general’s office identified more than $33.9 million in questionable costs in its latest reports to Congress covering April 2025 through March 2026. Those investigations led to 331 recommendations for agencies.
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