The threat of terrorism and mass violence against Americans has increased in recent years in the United States and abroad. The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), Office of Justice Programs, sponsors programs and initiatives that support victims of domestic and international terrorism as well as victims of such global crimes as child abduction and tourist-related crimes. OVC's Terrorism and International Victim Assistance Services Division coordinates the agency's resources and funding for victims of terrorism and global crimes, including the Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program, the Crime Victim Assistance Emergency Fund, the Victim Reunification Travel Program, and the newly implemented International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program (ITVERP).

This fact sheet discusses the myriad ways that OVC is providing assistance to communities affected by acts of terrorism and mass violence.

Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program

OVC relies on its Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program (AEAP) to support jurisdictions that have experienced incidents of terrorism and mass violence.

How OVC Has Helped

Following the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma, Congress amended the 1984 Victims of Crime Act to authorize OVC to establish an Antiterrorism Emergency Reserve using resources from the Crime Victims Fund.

Funding from the Reserve has been used to-

• Provide mental health counseling and other services or compensation to witnesses of a 2005 courthouse shooting and carjacking in Atlanta, Georgia, and to students, faculty, and emergency services personnel following the fatal school shootings in 2005 and 2006 at the Red Lake High School on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota; the Nickel Mines Amish Schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; and the Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colorado.
• Provide support services for victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the bombings of Pan Am Flight 103, Khobar Towers, U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the USS Cole.
• Sustain mental health services for New York City firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians, and other emergency responders who experienced emotional and psychological trauma at Ground Zero.
• Provide mental health counseling, information services, and other assistance to victims of terrorist attacks in Bali, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Nations Headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq.

AEAP Grant Opportunities

OVC offers assistance to victims of terrorism and mass violence by providing funding through-

• Crisis response grants (emergency/short term, up to 9 months), which help victims build adaptive capacities, decrease stressors, and reduce symptoms of trauma immediately following an act of terrorism or mass violence.
• Consequence management grants (ongoing/long term, up to18 months), which help victims recover and regain their ability to function.
• Criminal justice support grants (ongoing/long term, up to 36 months), which facilitate victim participation in an investigation or prosecution directly related to the act of terrorism or mass violence.
• Crime victim compensation grants (available during crisis aftermath), which reimburse victims for out-of-pocket expenses related to their victimization through state crime victim compensation programs.
• Training and technical assistance (available during crisis aftermath), which help federal, state, and local authorities identify victim needs, coordinate services, develop response strategies, and address related issues.

Allowable Services

Federal funding through OVC may be used for a variety of services, including but not limited to-

• Crisis counseling.
• Compensation for medical and mental health costs, lost wages, and funeral expenses.
• Emergency transportation and travel.
• Temporary housing assistance.
• Emergency food and clothing.
• Repatriation of remains.
• Cleaning and return of personal effects.
• Support of victim participation in criminal justice proceedings.
• Victim advocacy, outreach, and education.
• Victim notification systems.
• Vocational rehabilitation.
• Child and dependent care.
• Protocols for coordination and collaboration.
• Needs assessments and planning.

Such assistance may be provided to victims and surviving family members, emergency response personnel, nationals of the United States, and officers or employees of the U.S. Government, including family members and legal guardians. On a case-by-case basis, the OVC Director may approve a limited amount of funding to be used for administrative purposes deemed essential to the delivery of services and assistance to victims.

International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program

The International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program (ITVERP) was authorized by Congress to reimburse eligible direct victims of acts of international terrorism that occur outside the United States for expenses associated with that victimization.

Who Is Eligible for Reimbursement?

U.S. nationals and U.S. Government officers and employees may be eligible for reimbursement under ITVERP. The law requires that the victim must have suffered "direct physical or emotional injury or death as a result of an act of international terrorism occurring on or after December 21, 1988, with respect to which an investigation or prosecution was ongoing or was commenced after April 24, 1996." In the case of a victim who is a minor, incompetent, incapacitated, or is killed, a family member or legally designated representative of the victim may receive expense reimbursement on behalf of the victim.

In addition to the victim, claimants may include the following:

• Spouse of the victim.
• Parents of the victim.
• Children of the victim.
• Siblings of the victim.
• A legally designated representative for the victim.

What Costs Are Eligible for Reimbursement?

Victims/claimants can seek reimbursement for expenses directly associated with their victimization. Such associated expenses include the following costs:

• Medical expenses (including dental and rehabilitation).
• Mental health care.
• Property loss, repair, or replacement.
• Funeral and burial expenses.
• Miscellaneous expenses (such as temporary lodging, local transportation, telephone calls, and emergency travel).

What Costs Are Excluded From Reimbursement?

• Attorneys' fees and legal expenses.
• Pain and suffering.
• Loss of enjoyment of life or of consortium.
• Lost wages.

Deadline for Applications

The deadline for an application is 3 years from the date of the act of international terrorism. At the discretion of the OVC Director, the deadline for filing a claim may be extended to a date no later than 3 years from the date that the event is designated an act of international terrorism. For claims related to acts of international terrorism that occurred after December 21, 1988, but before the establishment of ITVERP, the deadline is 3 years from the effective date (October 6, 2006) that the program regulations were approved. View ITVERP application and instructions.

Crime Victim Assistance Emergency Fund

The Crime Victim Assistance Emergency Fund for Victims of Terrorism and Mass Violence (the Emergency Fund) works in conjunction with ITVERP. It is administered by the FBI, with OVC reimbursing the bureau for the funds it pays to victims. The Emergency Fund was established to assist U.S. nationals and U.S. Government employees who are victims of terrorism and mass violence outside of the United States, who are in need of emergency assistance but lack available resources to obtain relief on their own. When the need for assistance is not urgent, however, and when appropriate, the victim may seek reimbursement under ITVERP.

How OVC Has Helped

During Fiscal Years 2005 and 2006, approximately $654,680 was expended to provide emergency assistance to 19 terrorism victims and their families. Examples of the assistance provided include the following:

• Mental health counseling services and family emergency travel assistance for an American national taken hostage for ransom in Nigeria.
• Mental health counseling and assistance with funeral and burial expenses for the family of an American national killed in the line of duty by an improvised explosive device while driving to a location northeast of Baghdad in Iraq's International Zone.
• Travel and per diem for an American national to participate as a court reporter for victims and family members during the criminal trial proceedings against Anthonius Wamang and his coconspirators in Jakarta, Indonesia. Two concurrent trials were held against seven individuals responsible for the murder and serious injury of 10 U.S. citizens in a terrorist attack.
• An emergency medical evacuation flight to the United States for three American nationals who were severely injured when multiple bombs exploded at locations frequented by foreign tourists in the Sinai resort town of Dahab, Egypt.

Who Is Eligible?

U.S. nationals and U.S. Government employees who are victims of acts of international terrorism or mass violence outside the United States are eligible to apply for this program. The FBI makes funds available on a case-by-case basis, when justified according to the "Crime Victim Assistance Emergency Fund Guidelines for Victims of Terrorism or Mass Violence."

Allowable Costs

Allowable costs include emergency relief such as crisis response efforts, technical assistance, medical evacuation, and ongoing assistance throughout the criminal justice process.

Victim Reunification Travel Program

OVC supports a Victim Reunification Travel (VRT) Program to assist left-behind parents in cases of international child abduction. VRT serves crime victims by working to return children who are victims of international parental abduction to their custodial parent. The International Parental Kidnapping Act of 1993, codified at 18 U.S.C 1204, makes international parental kidnapping a federal felony offense and authorizes criminal fines or prison terms for anyone who illegally removes a child from the United States or unlawfully retains a visiting child in a foreign country. Support under this program is provided via an intra-agency authorization with OJJDP and an OJJDP grant to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

Who Is Eligible?

Those eligible for assistance through this program include the following:

• Left-behind parents and applicant parents who need to participate in a foreign country's court proceedings.
• Left-behind parents and applicant parents who need to recover their children from a foreign country.
• Mental health professionals who are engaged to facilitate the reunification process and reduce the abducted child's trauma.

Allowable Costs

Allowable costs include the following:

• Crisis intervention services, including counseling, emotional support, and mental health counseling.
• Transportation to court, short-term childcare services, and temporary housing and security measures.
• Assistance in participating in criminal justice proceedings.
• Payment of all reasonable costs for forensic medical examination of a crime victim to the extent that such costs are otherwise not reimbursed or paid by some other source.