Note: A previous version of this article had multiple errors. 313 new individuals have been helped this year by BCVS, not 33. The organization has three full-time employees, not four. The annual fall fashion show will take place Nov. 8, not Nov. 9. Lastly, BCVS is community-based and is not system based.

Despite helping over 500 people this year, Boundary County Victim Services has received $27,000 less in federal funding from the previous year.  

BCVS, located in the basement of the county courthouse, provides support to victims of all types of crime in Boundary County.   

During a meeting on Sept. 22, the Boundary County commissioners unanimously voted to sign a letter of support for Boundary County Victim Services. 

Laci Lowther, BCVS executive director, told commissioners the organization has been busy this year. 

“(In 2025) we have helped 536 individuals, 313 of which were new,” Lowther said. “We have provided 8,825 services. We have provided 1,298 phone calls, email conversations, or text messages. We’ve had 484 in-person meetings and we’ve sheltered 18 individuals.”  

BCVS has three full-time employees.

Lowther said the organization has seen an annual decrease in federal funding or several years, which comes from the Victims of Crime Act grant. The grant is funded through the fines and penalties paid by persons convicted of federal crimes. These funds do not come from taxpayer dollars. 

“Idaho is receiving less federal funding through VOCA,” Lowther said. “The Idaho Council on Domestic Violence and Victim Assistance has asked their sub-recipient applicants to reduce their request (for money) by 5.5% every year.”   

Funding for the organization has shifted significantly since its inception in 1988. According to Lowther, BCVS used to be completely funded by the federal government. Now, federal funding accounts for just over than half of their budget. BCVS’s largest federal grant is through the VOCA grant.    

As a result, BCVS has to diversify its funding.   

“So far, we have been able to meet the need and we have not needed to decrease our budget or cut any services in order to continue,” Lowther said.   

One example of that diversification is through BCVS’s annual Fall Festival & Fashion Show, which will take place Nov. 8. Last year, the event raised $18,000 to help victims in need.   

BCVS is a nonprofit, though they work with several government organizations.  

“We work so closely with the prosecutor’s office and with law enforcement, because law enforcement can call us to a scene or to the hospital,” Lowther said. 

The organization serves both primary and secondary victims. BCVS is a community-based organization.