The Bakhita Empowerment Initiative, part of Catholic Charities of Louisville, has used roughly $947,000 in federal grants over the past three years to provide services across Kentucky. Those funds are now expiring while applications submitted months ago await approval, according to agency officials.

The delay is not isolated to Louisville. Roughly three-quarters of congressionally approved federal anti-trafficking grants for the past two fiscal years have not yet been awarded, holding up more than $130 million nationwide, agency spokespersons said.

"What you're seeing is a higher number of people going for those grants, so there's not enough to go around; there's not enough money to fund this," said Amy Nace-DeGonda, director of the Bakhita Empowerment Initiative.

The strain is already visible in the program's staffing. The initiative once employed five caseworkers; it now has two. It continues to serve clients statewide from Louisville and Owensboro, but it has closed its Lexington office.

"We used to have five people, and now we just have two," Nace-DeGonda said. "We're still statewide. You can reach us in Louisville and Owensboro. We used to be in Lexington, but unfortunately, had to close that office."

The funding shortfall comes as demand for trafficking-related services appears to be rising. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services received 467 reports of alleged child trafficking in 2024, an 18.5% increase from the previous year. Those reports involved 557 alleged child victims, up 12.5%.

For a program already stretched thin, the combination of growing caseloads and shrinking resources leaves little room to absorb further cuts. Agency officials say community members can help by contacting their congressional representatives to urge action on the stalled grants or by contributing directly to Catholic Charities of Louisville.

The Bakhita initiative is named for St. Josephine Bakhita, a formerly enslaved Sudanese woman who became a Catholic saint and is a patron of trafficking survivors. Its work includes case management, referrals and support for people identified as victims of labor and sex trafficking.

Federal anti-trafficking grants are typically awarded through competitive processes administered by federal agencies, with Congress appropriating the funds. When awards are delayed, service providers that depend on the money must often bridge gaps with private donations or reduce operations.

Nace-DeGonda's comments suggest the problem is partly one of scale: more organizations are competing for a limited pool of federal dollars, even as the need for services grows.

"There's not enough money to fund this," she said.

For now, the Bakhita program is bracing for a smaller footprint in the new year, with fewer staff to cover the same statewide territory and a Lexington presence that is already gone.