Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program (AEAP) Brochure

• NCJ Number: 250528
• Date Published: July 2007
• Length: 2 pages
• Agencies: OVC
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description; Newsletter

Annotation

This brochure explains the features and benefits of the federal Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program (AEAP), which is a federal resource that provides assistance to jurisdictions and individuals that have experienced incidents of terrorism and mass violence.

Abstract

The AEAP is administered by the U.S. Justice Department's Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), which manages federal funds to support victim services in U.S. jurisdictions and Americans victimized in terrorist attacks abroad. Following the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma, the U.S. Congress amended the1984 Victims of Crime Act to authorize OVC to establish an Antiterrorism Emergency Reserve, using resources from the Crime Victims Fund. AEAP resources have been used to provide mental health counseling and other services or compensation to students, faculty, and emergency services personnel following fatal school shootings in 2005 and 2006 in various jurisdictions. It provided support services for victims of the September 11, 2001 attack in New York City, as well as support for the victims of the bombings of Pan Am Flight 103, Khobar Towers, U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the U.S.S. Cole. Support was also provided for mental health services for emergency responders who experienced emotional and psychological trauma at Ground Zero of the 9/11 attack. The threat of terrorism and mass violence against Americans has increased in recent years, both in the United States and abroad. Victims of such acts are left with serious physical and emotional wounds. The AEAP is administered by the OVC to ensure that such victims receive effective and timely responses after these devastating attacks.