NCJ Number
184922
Date Published
February 2000
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The Crime Victims Fund, established by the Federal 1984 Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), supports programs that significantly impact the lives of more than 5.6 million crime victims each year; VOCA funds supplement State efforts to compensate crime victims.
Abstract
All 50 States, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the territory of Guam have established compensation programs for crime victims. These programs reimburse victims for crime-related expenses such as medical costs, mental health counseling, funeral and burial costs, and lost wages or loss of support. Compensation is paid only when other financial resources, such as private insurance and offender restitution, do not cover the loss. The formula for VOCA supplementary compensation grants to States is based on 40 percent of the State payments to crime victims in the previous year. The Federal Office for Victims of Crimes will have distributed $854,117,429 in VOCA compensation grant funds from fiscal year 1986 through fiscal year 2000. Each year States are awarded VOCA funds to support nearly 5,000 community-based organizations that serve crime victims. These organizations include domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, child abuse programs, and victim services units in law enforcement agencies, prosecutors' offices, hospitals, and social service agencies. They provide crisis intervention services such as counseling, emergency shelter, criminal justice advocacy, and emergency transportation. States and territories are required to give priority to programs that serve victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse. Phone and fax numbers as well as e-mail addresses are provided for each victim compensation and assistance program in the United States and U.S. territories.