NCJ Number
223631
Date Published
March 2008
Length
66 pages
Annotation
Due to concern about the perceived underuse of crime victim compensation in Pennsylvania, this study examined the use and nonuse of Pennsylvania’s State Victims Compensation Assistance Program (VCAP).
Abstract
The survey of victim services professionals in Pennsylvania confirmed the general consensus from the literature that more crime victims do not take advantage of compensation services because they are not aware of them. The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s Office of Victims Services (OVS) has already implemented a variety of training and outreach efforts designed to increase awareness of compensation among crime victims and the professionals who work with them. A comparative analysis found that Pennsylvania pays proportionally fewer claims of victim compensation for child abuse and sexual assault than the Nation as a whole, as well as a proportionally lower dollar amount for victim counseling services. This report recommends that the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) consider commissioning a statewide victimization survey in order to obtain information on whether victims were informed about assistance and compensation services; and if so, by whom, and reasons why, having been informed of this assistance, they did not file a claim. Other recommendations pertain to the clarity of the victim response card and the victim compensation process, as well as a comparison of Pennsylvania’s compensation claims data with a few other States chosen to match Pennsylvania on a number of key criteria. This study consisted of a literature review that examined the current state of knowledge about the use of victim compensation programs, an examination of the nature and extent of the use of Pennsylvania’s VCAP program, a comparison of victims’ use of VCAP compared with nationwide use of victim compensation programs, and a survey of Pennsylvania’s victim service providers (160 responses representing at least 51 of the 67 counties). 2 tables, 6 figures, 33-item annotated bibliography, and appended survey and victim comments from response cards