ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell is accusing the Florida Attorney General’s office of playing politics with nearly $500,000 in federal grant funding used to support crime victims.
Worrell said the state is demanding impossible metrics in a new contract that could lead to the elimination of 10 positions dedicated to helping victims navigate the legal process.
According to Worrell, for more than 40 years, her office has successfully applied for and received the grant funding, which has been used to hire victim advocates.
The advocates assist survivors and provide emotional support during legal proceedings.
During a press conference Wednesday, one survivor of child sex abuse described her advocate as a necessary source of strength during months of repeat visits to an Orange County courtroom.
“My victim advocate was the one who called me with every update, answered all of my questions, sat beside me in hearings and trial, and was a support and strength that I desperately needed at the time,” the survivor said.
However, Worrell claims her office is facing an impossible ultimatum to either sign a contract with unachievable requirements or lose $485,246 in federal funding for those positions.
According to Worrell, for the 2025–2026 funding year, the Ninth Circuit submitted its Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant application using victim data from previous years.
She stated that the application was accepted, deliverables were approved, and a contract was issued.
However, Worrell said in December 2025, the Attorney General’s Office, which administers the federal funds, unilaterally rewrote the contract, reducing funding for domestic violence victims while imposing new requirements in other categories.
According to the contract Worrell provided to Channel 9, the amount of domestic violence victims that could be helped pursuant to the contract was reduced from 3,750 to just 689, despite the fact her office handled and more than 11,000 domestic violence cases last year alone.
She stated the contract also requires her office to serve 1,000 victims of Physical Child Abuse or Neglect, despite the fact that only 46 such cases were prosecuted last year.
“Where would we get 1000 victims from?” Worrell said. “See, it’s important to remember that the State Attorney’s office doesn’t manufacture cases, right? Law enforcement makes arrests and they bring us cases.”
According to Worrell, signing the agreement would expose the office to legal and financial risks.
She argued that agreeing to unreachable goals could jeopardize future access to federal resources and result in penalties.
“If we sign, we would be knowingly entering an agreement and agreeing to deliverables that cannot be met, exposing our office to penalties and jeopardizing future federal funding,” Worrell said.
She called on the community to ask the Attorney General’s Office to revise the contract.
The Florida Attorney General’s office did not answer specific questions regarding how the victim metrics were determined. However, the office released a statement saying the VOCA grant funds remain available whenever Worrell is ready to sign.
See the full statement below:
“The VOCA grant funds are available whenever State Attorney Worrell is ready to sign the contract. In fact, the Office of the Attorney General is offering more than double the amount that her office requested last year. We hope she does the right thing and accepts the nearly half-million dollars our office is willing to provide on behalf of crime victims.”
— Isabel Kilman, Deputy Press Secretary for Attorney General James Uthmeier
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