Victims' Initiative for Counseling, Advocacy, and Restoration of the Southwest (VICARS)

The purpose of the FY2007 National Program to Directly Assist Victims of Identity Theft and Financial Fraud is to provide support to programs that provide assistance to victims of identity theft and financial fraud nationwide, to encourage expansion of existing services to reach this often underserved population, and to strengthen the ability of local law enforcement agencies and victim service providers to assist these victims.

The Texas Legal Services Center, through a strategic partnership with governmental agencies, law enforcement, victim groups, and other service providers, will establish the Victims Initiative for Counseling, Advocacy, and Restoration of the Southwest (VICARS) to provide an organized, comprehensive regional approach to assisting victims of identity theft and financial fraud living in the Southwestern states of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Colorado. VICARS will provide legal assistance for victims of identity theft and financial fraud - at no cost to the victim, provide victims with step-by-step coaching on how to reacquire their identity and credit, and how to be made monetarily whole, including for the value of loss of time. Coaching will include a tool kit and video for victims. Victims who need or want direct legal representation will be represented by VICARS staff, contractors, and volunteers. Victims can also obtain referrals to service agencies. VICARS will outreach via the internet, printed materials, and by telephone in the four state area. Additionally, VICARS will assist victims by offering training and educational materials to local law enforcement agencies to encourage law enforcement to successfully investigate and prosecute cases involving financial fraud and identity theft. Services will be targeted to persons age 18 - 29, the elderly and persons with disabilities. Services will be provided in English and in Spanish.

The goals of VICARS are to:

1. Increase the number of victims who are able, through self-help materials, to reacquire their identity, restore their credit (if their credit was damaged), and recover monetary damages from perpetrators to compensate for monetary loss and value of loss of time, if such losses occurred. (2500 self generated victim contacts/year - via 1500 web hits in 1st year and 250,000 in 2nd year - 25% of hits will result in downloads of materials - victims will be informed of available counseling and direct representation and availability of victim service agencies).

2. Increase the number of victims who with counseling are able to reacquire their identity, restore their credit (if their credit was damaged), and recover monetary damages from perpetrators to compensate for monetary loss and value of loss of time, if such losses occurred.

3. Increase the number of victims who, with self-help materials, counseling and/or direct representation recover monetary damages from perpetrators to compensate for monetary loss and value of loss of time, if such losses occurred.

4. Increase the number of victims who, with self-help materials, counseling, and/or direct representation recover monetary damages for wrongs perpetrated through financial crime such as fraudulent sweepstakes, fraudulent charitable solicitations, fraudulent refinancing schemes, other financial investment schemes, and exploitation by care-givers.

5. Increase the number of victim services providers who can make self-help materials available to victims, who can counsel victims, and (to the extent allowed by law) who can provide direct representation to victims, to empower victims to reacquire their identity, restore their credit (if their credit was damaged), and recover monetary damages from perpetrators of identity theft to compensate for monetary loss and value of time, if such losses occurred and recover monetary damages caused by perpetrators of financial fraud.

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