Frequently Asked Questions

NCVRW will be commemorated April 21–27, 2024, with the theme—

How would you help?

Options, services, and hope for crime survivors.

The 2024 theme asks all of us—friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues, community leaders, victim service providers, criminal justice practitioners, and health professionals—how we can help crime victims. Are you prepared if someone confides in you about a victimization? Is your organization victim-centered and trauma-informed? Are you familiar with the services available in your community? 

This year’s theme is a call-to-action for us all to create safe environments for crime victims to share what happened to them. By doing so, we’re able to offer support, options for life-saving services, and, most importantly, hope.

Sign up for the NCVRW Subscription List to receive important updates about future NCVRW commemorations.

Visit the NCVRW section of our website to learn more about NCVRW.

Nominations for the 2024 National Crime Victims' Service Awards are now closed. For more information about the awards, visit the National Crime Victims' Service Awards site.

The date of the 2024 National Crime Victims' Service Awards Ceremony has not been announced. Visit our National Crime Victims' Rights Week Awards & Events page for information about planned events this year.

Sign up for the National Crime Victims' Rights Week Subscription List to receive email updates about future National Crime Victims' Service Awards Ceremonies and other National Crime Victims' Rights Week updates.

Visit the OVC Gallery to view information and watch videos about award recipients from this year and previous years.

Submitting an International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program (ITVERP) application requires substantial supporting documentation. Simply answering the questions on the application is not sufficient and your application will be considered incomplete. Before you submit your application, please be sure to include all the required supporting documentation.

The International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program (ITVERP) is an expense reimbursement program administered by the federal government. It covers specific out-of-pocket expenses that a victim of international terrorism may have incurred.

ITVERP was created by Congress as an amendment to the Crime Victims Act of 1984. Since 2006, ITVERP has been providing financial support to victims of international terrorism.

Visit the ITVERP section of our site to learn more.

The International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program (ITVERP) operates much like a state crime victim compensation program but is operated by the federal government. It reimburses victims for expenses they have already incurred that are directly linked to the terrorist incident that occurred outside the United States.

Victims must meet certain eligibility requirements, apply to the program, and submit all of their supporting documentation before their application is complete and can be considered for a reimbursement award.

ITVERP is available to victims only after they have exhausted all other sources that could cover their expenses. ITVERP only reimburses individuals for specific out-of-pocket expenses directly related to the international act of terrorism.

Funding for the International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program (ITVERP) comes from the Crime Victims Fund. The Victims of Crime Act established this fund, which is financed by fines and penalties paid by persons convicted in federal cases, not from tax dollars.

For an incident to be considered an international act of terrorism for the purposes of ITVERP, the incident must be designated as such by the National Security Division of the Department of Justice. If the incident you are looking for is not on the list, please contact ITVERP. Review the list of designated international terrorism incidents.

Yes. The only exception is under the mental health care expense category. Each family member is eligible for reimbursement of her/his individual mental health care expenses.

Learn about what expenses are covered under ITVERP and each category's reimbursement limit.

Generally, an applicant must submit copies of receipts to have their expenses reimbursed when their ITVERP application is submitted. Often this is not possible. If you do not have receipts, you may submit an itemized list of expenses certifying and attesting that original receipts are unavailable and that what is listed in the application is true and correct to the best of the applicant’s knowledge.

Visit the ITVERP microsite to learn more and apply.