Title: Report to Congress
Series: Reports to Congress
Author: Office for Victims of Crime
Published: December 1999
Subject: Victim--general, Victims' Rights, Victim Services
163 pages
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Report To Congress
December 1999
NCJ 178933
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U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
810 Seventh Street NW.
Washington, DC 20531
Janet Reno
Attorney General
Daniel Marcus
Acting Associate Attorney General
Laurie Robinson
Assistant Attorney General
Noel Brennan
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
Kathryn M. Turman
Director, Office for Victims of Crime
Office of Justice Programs
World Wide Web Home Page
www.ojp.usdoj.gov
Office for Victims of Crime
World Wide Web Home Page
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc
For grant and funding information contact
U.S. Department of Justice Response Center
1-800-421-6770
OVC Resource Center
1-800-627-6872
OVC Resource Center Home Page
www.ncjrs.gov
The Office for Victims of Crime is a component of the Office of Justice
Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of
Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
----------------------------
Victims of Crime Act of 1984, as amended:
A Report to the President and the Congress
Office for Victims of Crime
Office of Justice Programs
U.S. Department of Justice
This report covers activities undertaken by the Office for Victims of Crime and
its grantees with Crime Victims Fund revenues during Fiscal Years 1997-1998
----------------------------
Acknowledgments
The Office for Victims of Crime gratefully acknowledges the work of writer
Jennifer Elcano who spent many hours in the development of this Report to
Congress. We also appreciate the contributions made by writer/editors Grace
Coleman and Theodosia Craig, who were instrumental during the various stages
of finalizing the Report.
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Contents
Message From the Director
Chapter 1. Introduction--OVC Advocating for Victims' Rights and Services
Chapter 2. Programs and Services for Crime Victims
Chapter 3. Advocating for Crime Victims' Rights
Chapter 4. Forming Partnerships To Enhance Victim Services
Chapter 5. Improving Services to Victims of Crime
Chapter 6. Promising Practices and Demonstration Programs
Chapter 7. Providing International Leadership and Responding to Victims of
Terrorism
Chapter 8. Supporting Direct Services for Crime Victims
Chapter 9. Looking to the Future
Appendixes
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Message From the Director
The journey of the Office for Victims of Crime over the past 2 fiscal years--
1997 and 1998--really began in June 1996. President Clinton issued a
memorandum to the U.S. Attorney General asking for a renewed commitment
to crime victims, affirming his support for a constitutional amendment for crime
victims, and outlining four steps for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to
improve the treatment of victims in the Federal, State, military, and juvenile
criminal justice systems (see sidebar).
Responding to the President's Directives
During FYs 1997-1998, OVC has done much to implement the President's
directive to encourage and facilitate victims' participation in the criminal justice
process. With support of the President and U.S. Attorney General, OVC
provided the impetus to make victims' rights and services a priority for Federal
criminal justice professionals. OVC held Federal agencies accountable for their
victim/witness responsibilities and created partnerships and shared management
responsibility for the Federal victim/witness program. OVC remains vigilant in
its effort to institutionalize programs for victims in the Federal system by
requiring the continuation of program efforts as a condition of funding.
As a Federal agency, OVC is unique in that it has direct service responsibilities
for victims of Federal crimes. OVC's three divisions fund a variety of formula
and discretionary grant programs throughout the country, many of which
address the President's third and fourth directives. OVC's State Compensation
and Assistance Division (SCAD) awards formula grants to States and
territories and ensures that the funds are spent for legislated purposes. The
Federal Crime Victims Division (FCVD) trains Federal personnel and develops
programs to assist victims whose cases are handled within the Federal and
Tribal criminal justice systems. The Special Projects Division (SPD), like
FCVD, designs discretionary grant programs to provide comprehensive,
high-quality training for victim assistance providers throughout the country. In
addition, OVC provides a national clearinghouse of crime victim resources and
operates a Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC) for dissemination
of training and grantee products. Through its formula grants to States for victim
assistance and compensation, OVC accomplished the following in FYs
1997-1998:
--Integrated victim services within the criminal justice system, in correlation
with the passage of victims' rights legislation at the State level.
--Stabilized victim services at the State level through increased funding.
--Provided greater access to victim services for access-challenged
populations.
--Coordinated efforts among State, local advocates, Federal officials, and
Indian Tribes.
--Provided training, raised public awareness, and conducted outreach to
victims to determine new rights and service priorities.
--Assisted victims of nonviolent crime by creating and instituting innovative
policy that addresses their needs.
--Effected sharing of information among different victim service programs and
groups through facilitating an effective peer support structure, focus groups, and
regional conferences and meetings.
--Supported use of technology to process victim claims for financial
compensation.
--Heightened sensitivity among victim service providers, allied professionals,
and the public regarding the mental health needs of crime victims.
OVC's formula and discretionary dollars have helped to improve the quality of
crime victim programs, policies, and procedures while victim assistance and
compensation grants to States and territories provide services to more than 21
million crime victims during the biennium. Over the last 2 fiscal years, when the
large influx of funds became available to States for victim services as a result of
the Daiwa Bank fine deposit into the Crime Victims Fund, the VOCA victim
assistance program flourished--and the result for crime victims is better
treatment, wider range of services, and more effective assistance programs. A
permanent change, though, is needed to support a fundamental funding base
that will sustain the stability and growth of existing programs and promote
opportunities for funding new programs.
Along with grant-driven efforts, OVC also has undertaken numerous activities
designed to advance crime victims' rights and to focus public attention on crime
victims' needs. (This important leadership component is described in chapters
3, 4, 5, and 7.) During the last biennium, OVC continued to work in close
partnership with victim services providers and others in the field to help ensure
justice and healing for victims and promoted fulfillment of both the "letter" and
the "spirit" of the law with respect to victims' rights and needs.
----------------------------
[begin sidebar]
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
June 27, 1996
MEMORANDUM FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
SUBJECT: Renewing our Commitment to Crime Victims
"I am directing you to take a number of important steps that will improve the
treatment of victims in the Federal, State, military, and juvenile criminal justice
systems. First, I am directing you to undertake a systemwide review and to
take all necessary steps to provide for full victim participation in Federal
criminal hearings.
"Second, I would like you to work with other Federal agencies whose missions
involve them with crime victims in order to ensure that a common and
comprehensive baseline of participation for victims can be achieved.
"Third, I want you to review existing Federal statutes to see what further
changes should be made. For example, I would like you to consider legislation
that would prohibit employers from dismissing or disciplining employees who
are victims of crime and whose participation as victims in criminal proceedings
requires them to take time away from their employment.
"Finally, I want you to work with State officials--governors, attorneys general,
legislators, district attorneys, and judges--and victims' rights advocates to
identify the needs, challenges, best practices, and resources necessary to help
achieve a uniform national baseline of protections for victims.
"The U.S. Department of Justice should provide technical assistance to State
and local law enforcement, as well as other Federal agencies, and serve as a
national clearinghouse for information about the most effective approaches to
realizing fully the rights of victims of violent crime."
[end sidebar]
----------------------------
Highlights from FYs 1997-1998
This Report to Congress, as prescribed by statute, describes many of OVC's
accomplishments made possible by funding authorized in the Victims of Crime
Act of 1984, as amended. Activities begun in FYs 1997-1998 are covered in
this Report as well as some important initiatives that extend into FY 1999.
Some significant achievements from this biennium include the following:
OVC facilitated and funded unmet needs for Federal crime victims. OVC
provided resources where none existed and funded innovative projects such as
the following:
--Supported the development of telemedicine and other technologies to meet
the needs of crime victims in remote areas.
--Helped to create a national automated victim information system, which will
provide timely notice to victims about their offenders' status within the Federal
criminal justice system--this in direct response to the President's directive.
--Addressed fraud victims' needs through a new series of grant programs and
publications designed to inform, protect, and otherwise recognize the unique
needs of this previously neglected group of crime victims.
--Joined other Justice components to combat terrorism, foreign and domestic,
through new partnerships, protocols, policies, and procedures; --established
model programs with other agencies; and funded training on terrorism issues.
--Provided financial support directly to more than 50 federally recognized
Tribes to deliver direct services and provided training and technical assistance
in Indian Country in accordance with President Clinton's 1994 Directive to deal
with Tribes on a government-to-government basis.
OVC developed long-term funding strategies with States. Of major importance
during FY 1997 was the unprecedented funding provided for local crime
victims' programs, made possible by a record year of deposits into the Crime
Victims Fund (CVF)--$529 million, up from a previous record of $363 million
deposited in FY 1996. OVC took a strong, visionary approach with the States,
launching several policy and strategic planning initiatives to encourage and assist
development of long-term funding strategies and prepare States to effectively
use these moneys--which they did. The increase in funding, together with OVC
leadership, provided the crime victims field with the resources needed to
expand services across the country into many unserved and underserved areas
such as rural America.
OVC responded to the field. With unprecedented resources, OVC amplified its
program development and policymaking responsibilities to the field by--
--Establishing the Technical Training and Assistance Center to provide the
field with a central access point for a range of crime victim resources, including
a mentoring program to further the skills, knowledge, and abilities of VOCA
administrators and their staff through peer consultation.
--Overseeing revision of the Attorney General's Guidelines for Victim and
Witness Assistance (AG Guidelines) to clarify roles and responsibilities for
investigators, prosecutors, and corrections officials; providing funding support
to other agencies with Federal victim/witness responsibilities; and staffing the
Deputy Attorney General's working group on victims of crime.
--Helping States develop integrated crisis response plans and enhance their
current response protocols to provide long-term services to communities
experiencing multiple-victim crimes.
OVC developed more partnerships and technologies. OVC developed many
more partnerships in the last biennium to enhance delivery of services. One
example includes implementation of an innovative Victim Services 2000 (VS
2000) demonstration program, which creates victim-centered practices and
environments within communities and helps them to develop comprehensive,
accessible services for crime victims. OVC also funded the development of
technology both internally and externally to enhance the provision of victim
services. On the international front, OVC continued to coordinate with other
Justice components, the State Department, the United Nations, and
international organizations to improve assistance to victims abroad, responding
to such issues as tourist victimization, crime victim compensation, international
terrorism, and missing and exploited women and children.
OVC increased public awareness of crime victim issues. OVC's mission is to
enhance the Nation's capacity to assist crime victims by working to change
attitudes, policies, and practices to secure justice and healing for all victims of
crime. In this regard, OVC continued to serve a leadership role in advancing
crime victims' rights and empowering communities through support for
community-based initiatives, community capacity-building, and local
decisionmaking. OVC continued to support Federal and State legislation aimed
at promoting fundamental rights for crime victims and to raise public awareness
through issuance of a national blueprint for victims' rights and services for the
next millennium in the form of New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights
and Services for the 21st Century (New Directions). Written by and for the
victim assistance field with OVC support, this publication will continue to guide
funding priorities for victim assistance services.
What the Future Holds for Crime Victims
The landscape of America is changing: immigrant and elderly populations
continue to grow, while persons with disabilities and others needing access to
crime victim services continue to emerge. In response, OVC is strengthening its
efforts to reach these unserved and underserved victim populations. Traditional
victim services in areas such as domestic violence, sexual assault, and child
abuse, broke ground for a victims' movement now even more far-reaching. The
field now encompasses victims of hate and bias, terrorism, political torture,
financial fraud, and victims within vulnerable populations such as the elderly and
those with disabilities. Crime victims, once useful only as "evidence," now have
a legitimate role in criminal justice proceedings. OVC's formula grants to States
and discretionary programs have greatly reinforced this legitimacy and
improved partnering throughout the system. People are beginning to see that
crime victims have needs and the system is responding to them.
With New Directions as OVC's compass, OVC will partner with other
government and private nonprofit agencies and allied professionals in the
victim services field to develop crime victim initiatives and further improve the
response to crime victims. OVC will continue to identify new victim service
areas, develop programs to address needs and deficiencies, encourage
communities to reach out to unserved and underserved populations, find new
entry points to provide access to victim services, and replicate promising
practices. OVC will do this through support of applicable training and the
development of protocols that incorporate crime victim issues at all levels of
justice and social service systems. OVC will also emphasize the New
Directions agenda in the curricula of its national victim assistance academies
and its soon-to-be-established State victim assistance academies.
In sum, OVC will continue to bring about systemic change to effect better
treatment of crime victims and improved victim services. Toward this end, the
anticipated collection of more than $800 million for the Crime Victims Fund by
the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division[1] will greatly assist in
providing the means to carry out the broader vision of OVC as advocated in
New Directions. These funds will also allow OVC to address more emerging
issues, do more for victims of terrorism and mass violence at home and abroad,
play an even greater role in providing direct services to victims of violent and
white collar crime, create a fellowship within OVC, and pursue other goals that
continue to serve all victims of crime.
Much work is left to do to ensure full inclusion and participation of all crime
victims both within and outside of the criminal justice system. Although most
State laws call for victims to be treated with dignity and compassion, to be
informed of case status and notified of hearings and trial dates, to be able to
deliver victim impact statements, and to receive restitution from convicted
offenders, rights of victims still vary significantly nationwide. While 31 States (as
of close of FY 1998) have enacted a State victims' rights amendment, many still
lack adequate resources to implement programs to address rights afforded to
victims and hence still cannot enforce compliance with their provisions.
Please note that data for formula grants during FY 1998 are incomplete
because the grant cycle for that year does not end until September 30, 2000.
Kathryn M. Turman
Director
Office for Victims of Crime
----------------------------
Footnote:
1. This sizable deposit to the CVF will include the highest criminal fine imposed
to date: F. Hoffmann-LaRoche, Ltd., a Swiss pharmaceutical giant, agreed in
May 1999 to plead guilty and pay a $500 million criminal fine for leading a
worldwide conspiracy to raise and fix prices and allocate market shares for
certain vitamins sold in the United States and elsewhere. A former director of
the firm's chemicals division agreed to pay a $100,000 fine. A German firm,
BASF Aktiengesellschaft, will pay $225 million fine for its role in the
conspiracy. The three cases are the result of an investigation conducted by the
Antitrust Division's Dallas Field Office and the FBI in Dallas.
----------------------------
Chapter 1
Introduction--OVC Advocating for Victims' Rights and Services
OVC's Origins and Mission
The Crime Victims Fund: How Criminals Pay for Victim Services
--Deposits Into the Fund
--National Fine Center Returns $21 Million to the Crime Victims Fund
--Managing the Fund and Creating a Reserve Fund
--Programs Authorized by the Victims of Crime Act
OVC's Nongrant-Related Functions
--OVC's Leadership Initiatives in Behalf of Victims' Rights and Services
Monitoring and Compliance
--Best Efforts and Other Federal Statutory Requirements
--Joint Performance Report
--Onsite and Desk Monitoring of VOCA Grants
Guideline Development
--Modifications to the VOCA Victim Assistance Program
--Modifications to the VOCA Crime Victim Compensation Program
Overview of the Report to Congress
OVC's Origins and Mission
The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is an agency located within the Office
of Justice Programs (OJP) of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that
Congress formally established in 1988 through an amendment to the Victims of
Crime Act (VOCA) of 1984. VOCA, the outcome of the 1982 President's
Task Force on Victims of Crime, not only established the Crime Victims Fund
(CVF) and OVC, but also established full separate program initiatives to
address the rights and needs of crime victims. VOCA authorizes OVC to fund
States to operate crime victim compensation programs and to administer crime
victim assistance services for Federal crime victims, national scope training and
technical assistance, and demonstration initiatives. An amendment to VOCA
also allows OVC to fund improved investigation and prosecution of child abuse
under the Children's Justice Act (CJA). Crime victims receive support from
OVC through formula and discretionary grants for programs and projects
designed to enhance victims' rights and services. OVC also serves an advocacy
and leadership role in developing policy and raising awareness for crime
victims' rights and provides an array of training and other targeted resources for
the many professionals who work with victims.
Just as the 1982 President's Task Force on Victims of Crime was the impetus
for government actions on behalf of crime victims, OVC's work with scores of
advocates in the victims' rights field led to the first comprehensive assessment of
the victims' movement since 1982 with the creation of New Directions from the
Field: Victims Rights' and Services for the 21st Century, completed in 1998. In
the course of compiling the hundreds of recommendations from the field and
listening to the voices of victims, their advocates, and allied professionals who
work with crime victims throughout the Nation, certain key recommendations
emerged from this comprehensive report. The following five global challenges
for responding to victims of crime in the 21st century form the core of the
hundreds of ideas and recommendations presented in this report:
--To enact and enforce consistent, fundamental rights for crime victims in
Federal, State, juvenile, military, and Tribal justice systems, and administrative
proceedings.
--To provide crime victims with access to comprehensive, quality services,
regardless of the nature of their victimization, age, race, religion, gender,
ethnicity, sexual orientation, capability, or geographic location.
--To integrate crime victims' issues into all levels of the Nation's educational
system to ensure that justice and allied professionals and other service
providers receive comprehensive training on victims' issues as part of their
academic education and continuing training in the field.
--To support, improve, and replicate promising practices in victims' rights and
services built upon sound research, advanced technology, and multidisciplinary
partnerships.
--To ensure that the voices of crime victims play a central role in the Nation's
response to violence and those victimized by crime.
OVC embraces these challenges and has incorporated them into its mission and
goals for the next millennium. Hence, these five global challenges represent the
driving force behind the projects that OVC now funds and the policies it
supports as OVC continues to advocate for victims everywhere.
----------------------------
OVC's Mission
The mission of OVC is to enhance the Nation's capacity to assist crime victims
and to provide leadership in changing attitudes, developing policies and
practices that promote justice and healing for all victims of crimes. OVC
accomplishes its mission by--
--Administering the Crime Victims Fund.
--Funding direct services to crime victims.
--Providing training programs that reach diverse professionals nationally and
Internationally.
--Sponsoring demonstration projects and programs that have national impact.
--Publishing and disseminating materials that highlight promising practices for
the effective treatment of crime victims that can be replicated.
--Offering technical assistance to governments, private sector programs, and
others.
--Developing policy and establishing public awareness initiatives.
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The Crime Victims Fund: How Criminals Pay for Victim Services
A primary OVC responsibility is to administer the Crime Victims Fund (CVF).
The CVF contains money derived not from tax dollars, but from fines and
penalties that Federal criminal offenders must pay as part of their sentences.
The largest source of deposits in the CVF comes from criminal fines. In FY
1997, the CVF held $529 million in deposits--most of which was distributed
for direct victim assistance services in communities. This amount surpassed the
preceding record-breaking year by approximately $166 million. A major
contributor to the Fund was Daiwa Bank, which was ordered to pay a record
single fine of $340 million, in settlement of its illegal trading fraud case.
Deposits Into the Fund
In FYs 1996 and 1997, approximately $892 million ($529 million from 1996
and $363 million from 1997) was collected from Federal criminal offenders to
serve crime victims, surpassing the recent biennial high by about $129 million.
In FY 1998, $324 million was deposited for distribution in FY 1999 (see
Figure 1). These impressive collections reflect heightened efforts by U.S.
Attorneys and the Antitrust Division within DOJ, at the behest of the U.S.
Attorney General, to aggressively pursue fines from convicted offenders.
National Fine Center Returns $21 Million to the Crime Victims Fund
In the first session of the 105th Congress, the House of Representatives
repealed funding authority contained in VOCA that required the transfer of
CVF dollars to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to fund
operation of the National Fine Center (NFC). This resulted in $21 million in
unexpended NFC moneys being returned to the CVF and made available to
OVC to improve services to crime victims in the Federal criminal justice
system. Congress authorized these dollars for hiring victim/witness coordinators
in U.S. Attorney's offices; establishing an automated victim information and
notification system for Federal cases; and collecting, enforcing, and processing
restitution orders.
Managing the Fund and Creating a Reserve Fund
To guard against any future dramatic decreases in CVF deposits, the Violent
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (the Crime Act) gave OVC
authority to set aside deposits in years of increased deposits--up to $20 million-
-into a Reserve Fund which OVC did in early FY 1995. The Anti-Terrorism
and Effective Death Penalty Act authorized OVC to increase the amount in
"reserve" up to $50 million. A portion of the Reserve Fund supplemented
funding to States and provided funding to U.S. prosecutor response to victims
of terrorism and mass violence. OVC accessed the Reserve Fund in FYs
1997-1998 to support services for Oklahoma City bombing victims and for
victims of the U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa.
----------------------------
Each year, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno hosts an annual Crime Victims
Fund Award Ceremony to honor DOJ employees for outstanding contributions
to the enforcement and collection of Federal criminal debts, the proceeds of
which fund thousands of victim services programs throughout the country. (See
Appendix 1 for a description of some of the innovative efforts undertaken by
Federal employees to hold offenders accountable and secure funds for crime
victim services.)
----------------------------
Programs Authorized by the Victims of Crime Act
Each year, OVC distributes approximately 90 percent of the money collected
to States and U.S. territories to help fund their victim assistance and victim
compensation programs. Remaining funds are used for training and technical
assistance, national demonstration programs showcasing promising practices in
the delivery of victim rights and services, and improving the investigation and
prosecution of child abuse cases. The increase in CVF deposits resulted in a 61
percent increase in programs funded with VOCA victim assistance funds
dollars. More than 4,000 local victim services programs, such as domestic
violence shelters, children's advocacy centers, and sexual assault programs,
received Federal funding from the CVF over the FYs 1997-1998 grant
periods. Compensation funds totaling $514 million reimbursed victims for
out-of-pocket expenses resulting from crime, including the cost of medical and
mental health counseling, lost wages, funeral and burial expenses, and loss of
support. Together, VOCA victim assistance and victim compensation programs
are a lifeline to victims during their recovery process.
OVC's Nongrant-Related Functions
In addition to the many efforts funded through its formula and discretionary
grant programs (see chapter 2), OVC also undertakes numerous nongrant
activities to advance crime victims' rights. OVC raises public awareness of
victims' issues through its Resource Center, Web site, Training and Technical
Assistance Center, and National Crime Victims' Rights Week Activities. OVC
also hosts focus groups and other meetings with its victim advocacy
constituency and develops informational materials to educate and focus public
attention on crime victims' rights and needs. It promotes victims' rights and
services around the world, for example, by targeting and participating in
solutions for terrorism and international victim issues. Finally, collaborative,
coordinated efforts in the form of internal DOJ working groups, interagency
task forces, and other cooperative efforts are a principal means by which OVC
advances victims' issues and works to improve victims' rights, recognition, and
services. Financial fraud including health care fraud, family violence, mental
health, and domestic preparedness are subjects of several DOJ working groups
in which OVC participates, along with an interagency task force on child abuse.
This chapter summarizes how OVC provides leadership, conducts monitoring
and compliance, develops policy, and comments on victim-related legislation to
ensure victims' rights and services, also nongrant-related functions.
OVC's Leadership Initiatives in Behalf of Victims' Rights and Services
As mentioned previously, a major OVC-led initiative in FYs 1997-1998 was
the creation and distribution of New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights
and Services for the 21st Century, a comprehensive report and set of
recommendations on victims' rights and services from and concerning virtually
every community involved with crime victims across the Nation. It also
describes "promising practices" used around the country to implement victims'
rights and services. Reflecting the views of more than 1,000 victim service and
allied professionals, New Directions proposes 250 recommendations to
improve crime victim treatment, and they serve as a guide to providing
comprehensive victim services well into the next century. OVC has made
progress and will continue working toward meeting the five global challenges
which emerged from the New Directions recommendations. These global
challenges amplify OVC's mission to promote justice and healing for all victims
of crime.
Monitoring and Compliance
OVC plays a key role in monitoring and facilitating Federal and State agency
compliance with statutory mandates affecting victims. OVC's monitoring of
State programs and Federal efforts is one way to ensure proper use of VOCA
funding and compliance with Federal regulations governing victims' rights and
services. Monitoring and compliance reviews represent an important function of
the office's mission and goals established on behalf of the Nation's nearly 32
million crime victims. Examples of these efforts are described below.
Best Efforts and Other Federal Statutory Requirements
Congress assigned OVC responsibility for monitoring DOJ compliance with
Federal victims' rights laws, which it does through the annual Best Efforts
Report, submitted each fiscal year to the U.S. Attorney General. OVC receives
input from each Justice component with crime victim responsibilities, then
compiles and analyzes all responses and sends a finalized report containing
recommendations to the U.S. Attorney General for improving compliance with
Federal victim statutes and the AG Guidelines. This report also identifies
emerging issues and unmet needs of victims in the Federal justice system. Over
the last biennium, OVC notes a steady improvement by DOJ in the provision of
rights and services to victims.
Joint Performance Report
Responding to calls from the field for reduced duplicative reporting
requirements, an effort was made to consolidate grant performance report
requirements. OVC initiated an interdepartmental effort to design a joint
performance report form covering four Federal grants. The goal was two-fold:
(1) to help service providers spend less time completing forms that track
overlapping services, and (2) to gather more accurate information about the
number of victims and services funded by Federal grants. OVC continues to
work toward this goal, together with the Violence Against Women Office, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Administration on
Children and Families.
Onsite and Desk Monitoring of VOCA Grants
OVC conducts periodic site visits and ongoing monitoring of State
implementation of VOCA victim assistance and compensation funding to ensure
the spirit and intent of these programs established by Congress are met and to
foster partnerships with State officials committed to crime victims' rights.
Guideline Development
An important function of OVC is the development of rules and guidelines on the
expenditure of VOCA funding. This effort allows OVC to ensure that the intent
of Congress is carried out by funding recipients, to guide and direct the
development of programs and services for crime victims, and to ensure that
feedback from the field is incorporated into policy development. In FY 1997,
OVC prepared and published revised final program guidelines for VOCA
Victim Assistance and Compensation programs. The program guidelines
provide information on administering and implementing VOCA grant programs
as well as supporting victims' rights and services. Changes for the two programs
are described below.
Modifications to the VOCA Victim Assistance Program
As a result of comments from the field, amendments to VOCA, and
modifications of applicable Federal regulations, the Victim Assistance Program
Guidelines were expanded to allow coverage of additional victims and crimes in
VOCA-funded programs. Key changes to the Guidelines described below
reflect input from crime victims, victim advocates, and other interested
professionals:
--Expanded the definition of crime victim to include financial harm and allowed
for counseling, criminal justice advocacy, and other services to victims of
financial exploitation, fraud, and other economic crimes.
--Expanded the administrative cost provision to include training of adult
protective services providers that promote the development of services in
response to elder abuse and abuse of adults with physical, mental, and
developmental disabilities.
--Allowed training funds to be used for non-VOCA funded personnel when
VOCA-funded personnel are also being trained. This change acknowledges
that victim services programs are funded from multiple sources and that access
to training for all staff benefits crime victims.
--Expanded the definition of underserved victims to include victims of varying
demographic characteristics, such as victims who do not speak English, have
disabilities, or are members of racial or ethnic minorities.
--Expanded guidelines to allow for the purchase of items that assist victims
with disabilities in accessing and using services.
--Allowed States that had passed new constitutional amendments and statutes
creating rights for crime victims to use VOCA funds to implement these
mandates.
--Expanded guidelines to include coverage of emergency legal assistance for
victims of domestic/family violence.
--Clarified the definition of elder abuse, adding as an allowable expense funding
for short-term nursing home shelter when no other safe, short-term care is
available for an abused elder.
--Expanded guidelines to allow for restitution advocacy for crime victims.
Modifications to the VOCA Crime Victim Compensation Program
As with the victim assistance guidelines, OVC revised the Victim Compensation
Program Guidelines in response to amendments to VOCA and modifications of
applicable Federal regulations. The two key changes that were made reflect
input from crime victims, victim advocates, the National Association of Crime
Victim Compensation Boards (NACVCB), and other interested parties:
--Permitted States to use administrative funds to cover indirect costs and
coordination with other organizations working with crime victims. Costs could
result from victim outreach, training, materials, and administration, as well as
development of protocols, policies, and procedures to promote coordination
between victim assistance and victim compensation programs.
--Provided States with the option to accept a report made to an appropriate
governmental agency, such as a child or adult protective services agency, as
evidence of cooperation with law enforcement, which is required for each
compensation claimant.
Overview of the Report to Congress
OVC supports victims' rights and needs in many ways. The following chapters
contain discussions of OVC's grant structure which forms the underpinnings for
funding victim services programs (chapter 2). Besides funding programs, OVC
also supports victims rights and needs by advocating legislation and educating
the public about the underserved or unserved needs of victims (chapter 3).
OVC believes in forming partnerships governmentwide starting with the U.S.
Department of Justice and Office of Justice Programs and expanding to include
community-based and public organizations such as the Administration on
Developmental Disabilities and Mothers Against Drunk Driving and allied
professionals such as the medical community, clergy, dentists, and educators.
Through such partnerships even more will be accomplished in behalf of victims
(chapter 4). OVC also values the voices of the victims themselves and the
victim advocates in the field and so supports various conferences, focus groups,
and symposia to facilitate the dialogue that initiates the development of services
to crime victims (chapter 5). This report details model victim services programs
that have resulted from discretionary grants and can be replicated across the
country (chapter 6). As countries and citizens become more linked through
travel, the Internet, and international trade, OVC recognizes a growing need to
address the victim needs that are emerging from this international activity
(chapter 7). This Report to Congress also provides a description of OVC's
direct services for crime victims that result from OVC's funding of State
compensation and assistance programs (chapter 8). Perhaps of equal
importance is OVC's vision for victims' rights and services and how OVC can
assist our Nation in making the vision a reality (chapter 9). OVC is committed
to the delivery of crime victims' rights and services and looks to the Nation to
join in this important task.
----------------------------
Chapter 2
Programs and Services for Crime Victims
Formula Grants--State Compensation and Assistance Division Funding Direct
Services
Discretionary Grants Program
--Federal Crime Victims Division (FCVD)--Helping Federal Crime Victims
--Special Projects Division (SPD)--Training and Technical
Assistance/Demonstration Programs
Grants to Indian Country
Conclusion
When Congress passed the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) in 1984, it created
two methods for funding crime victim programs: (1) formula grants for States
and territories to establish and operate crime victim assistance and
compensation programs, and (2) discretionary grants for training and technical
assistance. Later, VOCA was amended to give OVC authority to fund
demonstration projects and evaluation efforts. Figure 2 shows Crime Victims
Fund distribution for FYs 1997-1998 based on deposits from the immediately
preceding years.
Formula Grants--State Compensation and Assistance Division Funding Direct
Services
The VOCA victim assistance and victim compensation programs are
administered by OVC's State Compensation and Assistance Division--the
division responsible for the full range of grant monitoring activities, along with
technical assistance and program and policy development. In FYs 1997 and
1998, unprecedented funds were made available to support victim assistance
and compensation programs--more than 31/2 times over the record-setting
collections of the previous biennium. Understanding the impact of this increase
on States, OVC undertook several initiatives to prepare them to effectively
manage these funds and expand and enhance services for crime victims.
OVC's leadership included a recommendation, acted upon by Congress, that
States be given an additional year to expend victim assistance funds, starting
with grants awarded in FY 1997. An earlier legislative change, precipitated by
OVC leadership, allowed for a 5-percent administrative cost allowance. States
took full advantage of this change in FY 1997; for the first time, many States
hired grant coordinators and monitors, conducted needs assessments, and
planned for effective use of funds over several years to stabilize programs.
VOCA victim assistance administrators also used these funds to train and
provide technical assistance to victim services providers, and many
administrators automated their operations to facilitate grants management. OVC
consistently urged States to develop long-range funding strategies to sustain and
continue development of services for crime victims--and the States followed
through.
In FYs 1997-1998, OVC distributed more than $524 million to States through
VOCA victim assistance grants (see Appendix 2, "Year-of-Award Allocations
for VOCA Victim Assistance Grants, FYs 1997 and 1998"). States used these
funds to continue basic services, expand services to additional crime victim
populations and geographic areas, and stabilize programs by planning for
multiple-year funding. Funds subgranted to nonprofit and public organizations
supported direct services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child
abuse, drunk driving, robbery, physical assault, elder abuse, and other crimes
of violence (see Figure 3). As Figure 3 shows, over the last 2 biennia, law
enforcement and prosecutors' offices received increasing numbers of VOCA
subgrants, with dramatic increases in prosecutor-based programs. The majority
of nonprofit and government subgrantees were rape crisis center and domestic
violence shelter programs (see chapter 8 for a discussion of victim assistance
trends).
All 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands operate
crime victim compensation programs. During FYs 1997-1998, many States
added coverage for expenses such as crime scene cleanup, relocation of
domestic violence victims, child care, sexual assault evidence collection, and
catastrophic expenses. In FYs 1997-1998, States spent more than $356
million of their own money on crime victim compensation. During those same
years, VOCA compensation contributed some $158 million to those programs.
Under VOCA, victim compensation programs may receive an allocation of 40
percent of the State funds expended in the prior year (see Appendix 3,
"Year-of-Award Allocations for VOCA Victim Compensation Grants, FYs
1997 and 1998"). Figure 4 depicts the amount of funds available to State crime
victim compensation programs from State and Federal sources and the average
amount awarded to victims per claim in FY 1997-1998.
The average payout during the biennium increased by approximately $90 per
claim over the previous biennium. The number of claims paid increased by
nearly 3 percent from 1997 to 1998, although at the same time crime
decreased nationally. OVC believes that this increase in claims paid reflects
State compensation program efforts to aggressively reach out to previously
unserved victim populations. (See chapter 8 for a discussion of VOCA victim
compensation trends.)
Discretionary Grants Program
Although OVC distributes funds to support victim services, mainly by formula
grants to the States, it awards a small fraction of CVF discretionary dollars to
public and private nonprofit organizations. These organizations, in turn, support
the delivery of services to Federal crime victims, improve national-scope
training and technical assistance projects, and support demonstration projects,
as prescribed by VOCA.
Discretionary grant programs are administered by two divisions within OVC:
the Federal Crime Victims Division (FCVD) and the Special Projects Division
(SPD). OVC, through its FCVD, also administers grants directly to Indian
Country through its Victim Assistance in Indian Country (VAIC) and Children's
Justice Act (CJA) Partnerships for Indian Communities discretionary grant
programs. Both programs foster systemic change, initiate victim assistance
programs, and make services available to abused children within American
Indian communities.
Federal Crime Victims Division (FCVD)--Helping Federal Crime Victims
Since the Presidential Directive of 1996 that set the path toward improving
compliance with Federal statutes governing the provision of services and rights
to crime victims, the Federal criminal justice system is being held to a higher
standard than ever before. OVC was the power behind this push, while the
FCVD provided the "spark" to make it happen in the Federal community by
ensuring greater participation in the justice system by crime victims, facilitating
and funding unmet needs, and reaching out to remote populations. Several
efforts in FYs 1997-1998 strengthened this momentum, particularly those
designed to help Federal agencies comply with their victim/witness
responsibilities. Congress authorized $21 million in unexpended National Fine
Center moneys to be returned to the CVF and made available to OVC to
improve services to crime victims in the Federal criminal justice system by hiring
victim/witness coordinators in U.S. Attorney's offices; establishing an
automated victim information and notification system for Federal cases; and
collecting, enforcing, and processing restitution orders.
In FYs 1997-1998, OVC continued to use training and technical assistance
dollars to educate and train Federal system professionals to enhance their
capabilities, professionalize the field, and improve the response of all those who
work with crime victims in the Federal criminal justice system. Outreach efforts
have improved DOJ's capacity to expand to Federal communities outside of
law enforcement, reaching all Federal agencies with victim/witness
responsibilities. OVC is continuing to expand the vision of Federal agencies,
some of which did not recognize the extent to which they come into contact
with victims of Federal crime.
OVC, through the work of FCVD, continued to reach out to remote
populations, especially Indian Country, where it enhanced and expanded
programs, improved services, and implemented victims' rights initiatives. FCVD
also funded unique demonstration programs to develop and help replicate
promising practices in other service delivery areas, including military
environments. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC continued to target unmet needs for
Federal crime victims, providing resources (i.e., through emergency assistance
funds) where none were available or where funding and support were
inadequate.
Special Projects Division (SPD)--Training and Technical
Assistance/Demonstration Programs
The mission of SPD centers on providing training and technical assistance for
the victims field, promoting public awareness of victims' issues, and
disseminating information to assist crime victims and the allied professionals
who serve them. SPD also sponsors demonstration projects and special
initiatives that address related emerging issues and unmet needs.
A major OVC emphasis over the past 2 fiscal years that will continue into the
future is identifying underserved populations, such as victims with disabilities,
elder victims, fraud victims, and other victim populations traditionally
overlooked by mainstream victim services programs and criminal justice serving
professionals. SPD is committed to identifying the various points of entry where
victims may obtain access to help and to improving the information provided to
them at these critical points. By modeling best services at demonstration sites,
such as through its VS 2000 program, OVC is helping to expand points of
entry and integrate access to systems for crime victims.
Other FYs 1997-1998 focus areas for OVC through SPD included victims of
juvenile offenders and gang violence, sexual assault, and stalking; needs
culturally diverse victim population; and victims of child abuse and domestic
violence. OVC-sponsored training and technical assistance projects are
available to victim advocates, health and mental health professionals, law
enforcement, judges, probation/parole officers, and prosecutors nationwide. In
FYs 1997-1998, training on such topics as community crisis response, victim-
centered mediation, and traumatic grief helped victim services providers
formulate effective responses to the rights and needs of crime victims. OVC
continues to invite the field to generate new ideas and to elicit the involvement
of new groups of professionals to establish services for crime victims within
their respective disciplines.
Grants to Indian Country
Disclosure of extensive child sexual abuse in reservation boarding schools and
several multiple-victim child molestation cases on Indian reservations resulted in
an amendment to VOCA in 1986 authorizing OVC to use a portion of the
funds allocated from the CVF for programs to improve the investigation and
prosecution of child sexual abuse in Indian Country, under the Children's Justice
Act (CJA). CJA funds are awarded to federally recognized Tribes through a
competitive grant process. OVC commits funding support for 3 years,
contingent upon the grantee's satisfactory performance and the availability of
funds. Since its inception in 1989, the CJA program has provided over $8
million to support Tribes and Tribal organizations (see Table 1). See Appendix
4 for a list of the FY 90 through FY 98 CJA grantees.
Table 1 shows total dollars awarded to Tribes, from FY 1990 through FY
1998, under the Children's Justice and Assistance Act Discretionary Grant
Program for American Indians. In FY 1998, OVC changed the name of its
CJA program to "Partnerships for Indian Communities," reflecting its intent to
form a partnership with American Indian communities in Indian Country to
identify issues and needs of child victims and to solve problems in the
investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases and in the delivery of services
to child victims and their families.
OVC created the Victim Assistance in Indian Country (VAIC) program to
establish permanent, accessible, and responsive victim assistance services on
reservations governed by Federal criminal jurisdiction. OVC's VAIC program
fills a critical gap--the lack of victim assistance programs "on reservation" and in
remote parts of Indian Country, where violence is higher than in any other
ethnic group (BJS 1999). OVC provides funding directly to Indian Tribes to
help them establish reservation-based victim assistance programs in Indian
Country.
From 1988 until 1996, OVC awarded VAIC grants to State agencies for
subgranting to Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations. In FY 1997, OVC
modified the program so that Tribes received funding directly from OVC in the
amount of $740,000. In FY 1997, OVC also announced its first competitive
grants award process for VAIC, applying an additional $260,000 for a total of
$1 million in Federal funding for VAIC in FY 1998. As part of its continuing
push to improve Tribal commitment issues, beginning with FY 1998,
discretionary grants required that the grantee provide an in-kind match to
enhance the Tribe's ability to institutionalize the program from the beginning of
the grant award process.
OVC continues to encourage State VOCA victim assistance administrators to
fund services for crime victims in Indian Country with formula grant funding
received from the CVF. OVC also works closely with State crime victim
compensation programs and the National Association of Crime Victim
Compensation Programs (NACVCP) to ensure that American Indian crime
victims have access to financial assistance for out-of-pocket expenses related
to their victimization.
Since its inception in 1988, the VAIC program has provided more than $8.4
million to establish 52 new programs with Tribes and Tribal organizations and
has supported training to assist the Tribes with program development and
implementation (see Table 2). See Appendix 5 for a list of FYs 1997 and 1998
VAIC grantees.
Conclusion
The programs, authorized by VOCA and developed or benefitted from the
growth of the Crime Victims Fund, have led to a wide variety of Federal efforts
that assist our Nation's crime victims. There is a direct correlation between the
efforts on behalf of crime victims at the Federal level prompted by Congress
and the many advances recognized for victims at the Tribal, State, and local
levels. The passage of 31 State constitutional amendments for victims' rights,
the creation of State crime victims funding mechanisms, and the formation of
statewide victim coalitions are three examples of how Federal national efforts
have positively influenced efforts to improve the status of crime victims.
Bipartisan support for victims' issues in Congress, a strong national victim
advocacy coalition, and the determined voices of crime victims for equal
treatment and services will ensure that victims' rights issues will remain an
important issue for legislators, policymakers, communities, and victim advocates
well into the next millennium.
----------------------------
Chapter 3
Advocating for Crime Victims' Rights
Promoting Victims' Rights
--Supporting the Implementation of Legislation at the Federal Level
--Supporting the Implementation of Legislation at the State Level
--Survey To Determine Crime Victims' Needs
Raising Public Awareness
--OVC Resource Center
--OVC Web Site
--Training and Technical Assistance Center
--National Crime Victims' Rights Week
Defining the Needs of Crime Victims in the Next Millennium
Conclusion
OVC undertakes many efforts and activities that while labor intensive are
strategic to OVC's mission, and, most importantly, bring about systemic
change. OVC's numerous activities to focus public attention on crime victims'
needs and rights seek to encourage victim cooperation and participation with
the criminal justice system. OVC's goals guide its leadership role and the efforts
it undertakes to further victims' rights and services at all levels of government--
Federal, State, Tribal, and local.
Promoting Victims' Rights
In FYs 1997-1998, OVC continued to actively support the enactment and
enforcement of consistent, fundamental rights for crime victims in Federal,
State, juvenile, military, and Tribal justice systems. It supported the concept of
a constitutional amendment to ensure fundamental rights for victims of crime and
stronger legislation to improve victim participation in all phases of the criminal
justice process. It also worked closely with State governments to help them
address victim rights and services in a more comprehensive manner.
Supporting the Implementation of Legislation at the Federal Level
While the scope of rights extended to crime victims has expanded considerably,
victims are still being denied their right to participate in the justice system. OVC
recognizes Congress' strong advocacy for crime victims and witnesses--
reflected in legislation passed and mandates issued on their behalf--and has
continued to support congressional legislation aimed at securing further
protections for victims. While victims' rights have been enacted in States and at
the Federal level, rights for crime victims remain inconsistent nationwide.
Furthermore, most legislatively established rights for crime victims lack
enforcement mechanisms, leaving crime victims without adequate legal remedies
once they have been violated. In fact, the first recommendation contained in
New Directions (see text box below) supports a Federal constitutional
amendment as vital to (1) establishing a consistent "floor of rights" for crime
victims in every State and at the Federal level, (2) ensuring that courts engage in
a careful and conscientious balancing of the rights of victims and defendants, (3)
guaranteeing crime victims the opportunity to participate in proceedings related
to crimes against them, and (4) enhancing the participation of victims in the
criminal justice process.[2]
----------------------------
Footnote:
2. New Directions, Chapter 1: Victims' Rights Recommendation from the Field.
U.S. GPO. 1998. P.9.
----------------------------
"It doesn't take long before you begin to feel as an outsider during the legal
process and you're not sure if information or concern you've given to an
investigating officer or prosecutor is being passed on to others involved in the
case. W.I.N.D.O.W. can represent the victim with their thoughts and concerns
and everyone benefits with more knowledge and understanding. I believe the
way to fight crime more effectively is by giving the victim more power and rights
and W.I.N.D.O.W. is a good place to start."
--A victim who received services from VOCA-funded program in Minnesota
----------------------------
Victims' Rights Recommendation from the Field #1
The U.S. Constitution should be amended to guarantee fundamental rights for
victims of crime. Constitutionally protected rights should include the right to
notice of public court proceedings and to attend them; to make a statement to
the court about bail, sentencing,a dn accepting a plea; to be told about, to
attend, and to speck at the parole hearings; to notice when the defendant or
convict escapes, is released, or dies; to an order of restitution from the
convicted offender; to a disposition free from unreasonable delay; to
consideration for the safety of the victim in determining any release from
custody; to notice of these tights; and to standing to enforce them.
----------------------------
Supporting the Implementation of Legislation at the State Level
Although 31 States passed constitutional amendments by the close of FY 1998,
States recognize the need to go beyond passing legislation and ensure
compliance with legislative provisions in order to protect crime victims. States
have begun to do this by creating programs that oversee the implementation of
victims' rights.
OVC funded the National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA) to conduct an
analysis of victims' rights compliance programs varying in structure and scope in
three States--Colorado, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. NCJA convened a focus
group of victims' rights compliance program administrators from these three
States, as well as from Arizona and South Carolina, to start creating a
compliance program development guide. With funding from OVC, NCJA is
developing a curriculum to train State policymakers on creating and
implementing victims' rights compliance programs. In addition, OVC amended
its VOCA victim assistance guidelines to allow States to use Federal CVF to
support the implementation of rights afforded to crime victims under State
constitutional amendments.
Survey To Determine Crime Victims' Needs
Providing leadership support to State level efforts, OVC guided and supported
the Council of State Governments (the Council) in FYs 1997-1998 by
providing technical assistance to help convene regional meetings of State
legislators, crime victims and their advocates, and criminal justice
representatives. The Council engaged in an effort to assess public attitudes
about the criminal justice system and the implementation of victims' rights
statutes.
In November 1997, key criminal justice officials representing States in the
Council's Eastern Region agreed that a survey of the public and of victims in
their States would help clarify perspectives on the current state of the criminal
justice system. In June 1998, OVC assisted the Council in arranging a meeting
with victim advocates, VOCA administrators, and criminal justice professionals
to determine the survey's approach.
In November 1998, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) provided funds to
support the formation of the survey instrument and to have the survey data
analyzed. OVC arranged for Council representatives to present the
methodology used for this public opinion poll at the 1998 National Organization
of Victim Assistance Conference to receive input on the methodology from the
field and to see the response polled by the survey. The survey findings were
presented at the 1999 NOVA conference.
OVC believes the Council's approach of bringing together victims, victim
advocates, legislators, and criminal policymakers has the potential to catalyze
important collaborative work in the 10 States represented in the Eastern
Regional Conference, serving as a model for replication in the Council's other
regional conferences. Already a number of States in the Eastern Regional
Conference have established task forces and developed legislative packages to
address victims needs and expectations identified in the survey.
----------------------------
New year chimes in with expanded victim rights
"With the stroke of midnight, not only did Marylanders ring in the last year of
the 20th Century, they also rang in something that the Stephanie Roper
Committee has been fighting for since its founding in 1982...expanded victims'
rights.
"As of January1, Senate Bill 241, Parole hearings Oral testimony by Victims,
became law, expanding the categories to which victims have a say in parole
hearings....
"Roper explained that conspiracy to commit murder, assault, and child abuse
were not considered crimes of violence and her committee made changing that
consideration a high priority for the 1998 legislative session."
--Excerpt from an article by Dave Crozier in The Calvert Independent, January
6, 1999
----------------------------
Raising Public Awareness
Part of OVC's mission is to raise awareness of crime victims' rights and
services. This responsibility includes informing the public of what those rights
are and providing information about training and technical assistance to victim
advocates and allied professionals. OVC, through its work with national
criminal justice and victim services organizations as well as other national and
international bodies, continually identifies a variety of critical topics that expands
the perception of victimization. As a result of this work, victimization issues
have emerged that include the elderly and people with disabilities, terrorism
both at home and abroad, financial fraud, and trafficking of women and children
for sexual or commercial purposes. OVC generates materials such as
brochures, informational bulletins, promising practices compendia, and
information packets on victim-related issues that help to raise public awareness
about the plight of crime victims and the public's responsibilities to them. OVC
consistently makes these publications, books, and products available at
conferences and other forums. In addition, OVC encourages partnerships with
disciplines and agencies outside the traditional victim assistance field, an action
which upholds New Directions recommendations to form partnerships (see
chapter 4, "Forming Partnerships To Enhance Victim Services"). OVC also
produces public service announcements and training videos to raise public
awareness of crime victims' issues and rights. As part of the outreach efforts to
victim service professionals and the general public, OVC maintains a Resource
Center, a Web site, and a Training and Technical Assistance Center, and
produces resource materials for National Crime Victims' Rights Week--a week
designated each year that is devoted to raising public awareness of victims'
rights and needs.
OVC Resource Center
Established in 1983 by OVC and DOJ, the OVC Resource Center (OVCRC)
is a preeminent source for crime victim information. As a component of the
National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), OVCRC provides
direct access to the most comprehensive criminal justice library in the world--
the NCJRS Research and Information Center. OVCRC continually targets and
strives to reach new and unserved populations as well as nontraditional
audiences through aggressive outreach by using mass mailings to inform the
public about available resources and by providing access to information at
conference exhibits. OVCRC responds to a vast network of agencies,
organizations, and individuals that have an interest in and concern for crime
victim issues. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC provided more than $1.1 million to
support OVCRC activities. Requests for information in these years came
primarily from State and local criminal justice professionals and private
organizations (see Table 3 for breakdown of requesters).
Information technology enhances OVCRC's ability to provide support to the
field through the Internet and use of fax technologies, which makes information
available from OVCRC 24 hours a day.
OVC discretionary grantees produce many video and print products to help
those in the field better serve victims of crime (see Appendix 6 for "OVC
Publications and Products, FYs 1997 and 1998"). Printed products are
available through OVCRC in numerous formats, including brochures, fact
sheets, bulletins, newsletters, training guides, resource directories, and
monographs. In FY 1998, OVC funded the development of videos and
companion guidebooks to help victims of juvenile crime participate in the
criminal justice process, and demonstrate to criminal justice professionals the
importance of victim involvement. Fact sheets distributed to Indian Country
included lists of model programs, information on grant writing and Victim
Assistance in Indian Country (VAIC) grant requirements, among other issues.
OVC Web Site
Another useful way that OVC makes its resources available to the field is
through its Web site, located at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/. The OVC Web
site is accessed by crime victims, victim advocates, VOCA administrators and
VOCA subrecipients, discretionary grantees, educators, policymakers, and the
general public. In FYs 1997-1998, the OVC Web site averaged 1,233 hits a
day. For FY 1998, there were 30,455 hits to OVC publications on the Justice
Information Center Web site at http://www.ncjrs.gov.
The most popular pages during the biennium were the OVC home page,
"What's New at OVC," "Help for Crime Victims," and "Information
Resources," which was added when the OVC Web page was redesigned in
April 1998. The most popular documents downloaded during this period were:
1998 National Crime Victims' Rights Week Kit, 2,801 times; 1998
Discretionary Program Application Kit, 2,585 times; and 1997 Program
Directory (Compensation), 1,334 times.
Results of an "ASK OVC" Web survey, conducted in FY 1998 to assess the
usefulness of OVC Web and e-mail functions elicited most responses (50
percent) from crime victims themselves. Most of the time, users sought
information about national, State, and local victim assistance resources; legal
rights; and grants. Others were looking for counseling, advocacy, or help
information, or were in search of OVC publications or training and victim
compensation information. User recommendations about the Web site included
adding more links to other Federal agencies; where legal assistance is available
from States; information on juvenile crime, stalking, and other States' crime
victim programs; and publications for homicide survivors. OVC always updates
and expands its Web site to respond to the specific needs of its constituency.
Training and Technical Assistance Center
In April 1998 as an expansion of its Trainers Bureau, OVC established the
Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC). TTAC serves as a
centralized point of contact for requesting information about OVC's training and
technical assistance resources and for funneling needed resources to local,
State, Tribal, and Federal agencies to strengthen their capacity to serve victims.
The transition from a Trainer's Bureau--essentially a speaker's bureau--to
TTAC meant moving beyond a public awareness function to providing victim
advocates with technical assistance on strategies that strengthen their program
and with training that improves the delivery of victim services. With TTAC,
OVC can now help to mobilize efforts in a community, using the expertise of
OVC's discretionary and formula grantees and other highly skilled consultants
to tailor programs to meet a jurisdiction's specific victim needs.
TTAC's activities focused on the following four areas:
--Consultant Pool: Establish and maintain a pool of experts capable of
supporting OVC's initiative to provide effective onsite technical assistance to
address significant operational problems and needs.
--Training: Provide training on a wide variety of topics to agencies and
organizations across the country. In addition, TTAC identifies key training
needs in the field with a goal of establishing a training calendar for ongoing
regional training. The regional training programs are a way to ensure that
materials, developed by discretionary grantees in partnership with OVC, are
continuously available to the victims service field.
--Technical Assistance: Provide expert, focused support and mentoring in
areas such as program development, management, evaluation, and policy and
procedure development to facilitate long-term, systemic change that will
improve services to crime victims.
--Speaker's Bureau: Support State and local jurisdictions by identifying
speakers for conferences, focus groups, and other meetings.
During the period that OVC managed the Trainers Bureau (9/96-3/98), there
were 94 requests for assistance from the field (see Table 4). These requests
included providing speakers for workshops and conferences, supporting State
VOCA programs through mentor visits (assistance provided to install
automated claims processing systems; review State legislation, policy, and
procedures governing compensation programs; and more), and deploying crisis
response teams to assist State and local jurisdictions in responding to incidents
of multiple victimization, such as the Oklahoma City bombing.
The number of requests received by TTAC for technical assistance during its
first year of operation exceeded all expectations. A further resource TTAC has
made available to requesters is the products, program implementation
assistance, and continued training developed from grants. Figure 5 reflects the
numbers of requests broken out by type of service (training, technical
assistance, meetings/conference support) and organization between May 1998
and April 1999.
Through TTAC, OVC will continue to fill its legislative mandate to provide
national-scope training and technical assistance. During its first year, TTAC
received requests for technical assistance from all but eight U.S. States. In
addition, TTAC provided support to Guam, Puerto Rico, and the District of
Columbia. See Appendix 7 for a summary of the number of TTAC-supported
technical assistance events by State.
OVC also provides services to communities that have suffered mass
victimization through its Community Crisis Response (CCR) component within
TTAC. OVC's CCR program was established to improve services to victims of
violent crime in communities experiencing multiple victimizations and
communitywide trauma. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC deployed 10 crisis response
teams to assist victims in the aftermath of several violent community incidents.
These teams responded to student shootings at four schools, the kidnaping and
murder of three young girls, abortion clinic bombings, and gang-related killings
of young children (see Appendix 8, "Summary of FYs 1997 and 1998 Crisis
Response Deployments"). In all cases, a National Organization of Victim
Assistance team was sent to spend from 2 to 5 days in each community,
debriefing various groups, including law enforcement, clergy, school officials,
hospital officials, housing officials, parents, teachers, victim advocates, first
responders, and the community. All cases involved multiple witnesses--many of
whom were children or parents--who required mental health services. Any
response to victims and surviving family members should include emergency
crisis counseling and intervention as well as long-term mental health services.
OVC recognizes that it can strengthen the response to mass violence in
communities by increasing a community's own capacity to respond more
effectively to mass victimization. To promote a community's capacity to
respond to crisis, OVC requires participants in CCR training to demonstrate
their willingness to establish and maintain their own community response team
as a condition of receiving training. Historically, OVC has provided short-term
technical assistance to these communities, consisting mainly of training for local
service providers and deployment of crisis response teams. Besides providing
immediate crisis response services to address the trauma of victimization in
communities, OVC is working to increase local capacity through training
offered to a variety of public and private State and local groups including law
enforcement officials, victim services providers, and local community organizers
to help them form and support their own community crisis response teams.
VOCA-funded victim assistance programs often offer crisis counseling services
for victims as well. OVC's training and technical assistance to Indian Country
has the same effect--enhancing the ability of American Indian communities to
expand local capacity to respond to victims by sharing effective strategies with
other Tribes.
OVC is encouraging States and communities to develop and improve their
current response protocols, while still providing supplemental Federal funds to
help mobilize local teams. OVC took this approach recently in Yosemite and
Eureka, California, following the disappearance of two teenage girls and their
mother while on vacation, and in the communities of Springfield, Oregon, and
Littleton, Colorado, after the tragic school shootings there. An effective,
coordinated response to mass crisis in communities is only achieved through
preplanning and preparedness. OVC is encouraging States and communities to
have specially defined roles and responsibilities and a "grassroots" commitment
to ownership for these plans. Given the variations in infrastructure and
resources of each community, no one model or "blueprint" will work for all
communities. In the future, OVC will continue to assist States and communities
in establishing policies, procedures, and protocols for handling a mass crisis
response.
National Crime Victims' Rights Week
National Crime Victims' Rights Week (NCVRW) is the annual observance of
the plight of crime victims and the work of victim advocates. Observed
nationally each April since 1982, it is a week in which communities across the
Nation host rallies, vigils, and public education campaigns in support of victims.
To support community activities, OVC funds the development of an NCVRW
resource kit, distributed to almost 10,000 local and Tribal victim assistance
programs, national victim organizations, U.S. Attorney's offices, governors,
State attorneys general, and others. The kit includes sample speeches and
quotes for reaching the community on crime victim issues, tools for enhancing
awareness through the media, tips for conducting community outreach, and
camera-ready artwork and posters to promote activities.
As part of NCVRW, OVC organizes an annual ceremony on behalf of the
President and the U.S. Attorney General to honor recipients of the Crime
Victim Service Award, the highest Federal honor for victim advocacy. In 1997,
the U.S. Attorney General honored 10 individuals and 3 organizations with this
award. She also presented a Special Courage Award to the father of a victim
of a gang slaying and the grandfather of the offender. The two now work
together to educate youth on the impact of violence. In 1998, the U.S. Attorney
General honored six individuals and three organizations with the Crime Victim
Service Award and two individuals with a Special Heroism Award. In addition,
the U.S. Attorney General presented special awards to seven programs for
their work in assisting victims in the aftermath of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building bombing in Oklahoma City. All recipients of the Crime Victim Service
Award for FYs 1997-1998 are listed in Appendix 9.
----------------------------
"I thank all of you for the tireless work you do each and every day for so many.
You touch lives. You make a difference. You bring light to a time of darkness
for victims and survivors of crime."
--U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno
National Crime Victims' Rights Week
April 18, 1997
----------------------------
Defining the Needs of Crime Victims in the Next Millennium
OVC is continually working to keep the public informed of neglected victim
populations. A major public awareness initiative by OVC in FYs 1997-1998
called attention to elderly victims of crime, particularly telemarketing scams
targeted at senior citizens. In addition to focus groups and programs targeting
this underserved population, OVC distributed more than 3,000 copies of
Assisting Elderly Crime Victims and sponsored 11 workshops on elder abuse.
Another important area for OVC during the past 2 fiscal years was the
promotion of financial fraud victims' rights. OVC launched a campaign to
encourage other Federal criminal justice system professionals to treat victims of
financial fraud and economic crime like other crime victims. The unique work of
Federal victim advocates and the ongoing collaboration between the Executive
Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) and OVC has raised awareness of this
neglected victim population. OVC worked with a variety of Federal
Government representatives within and outside DOJ, along with nonprofit
organizations, to create resources, sponsor national conferences, and hold
focus and working groups to help the field expand its programs and provide
more comprehensive services for victims of financial fraud.
Conclusion
Advocating for crime victims' rights and improving victim services at the
Federal, Tribal, State, and local levels is a critically important function of the
Office for Victims of Crime. VOCA and the Crime Victims Fund provides the
necessary means for OVC to engage in a wide range of activities that furthered
the efforts of the victims field. OVC focus groups, participation in the
development of New Directions, meetings with victim advocates and crime
victims, responding to victim inquiries sent to the President, First Lady, and
U.S. Attorney General, and participation on inter- and intra-agency working
groups has provided OVC firsthand knowledge of the continuing plight of crime
victims. OVC is the only government agency established to address crime
victims' issues. It advocates for victims' rights within every segment of society in
several ways. For example, OVC raises public awareness and educates the
public regarding victims' rights and needs. It promotes the improvement of
victim services. OVC also encourages the development of policies and
practices that are sensitive to crime victims through collaborative efforts with
Congress and State legislators, criminal justice practitioners, national victim
advocacy organizations, and others responsible for protecting victims' rights and
delivering services to our Nation's nearly 32 million crime victims each year.
----------------------------
Chapter 4
Forming Partnerships To Enhance Victim Services
Working Within the U.S. Department of Justice and Office of Justice
Programs
Forming Governmentwide Partnerships
Reinforcing Partnerships Through Training and Technical Assistance
Promoting Victims' Rights Through Community-Based Partnerships
Forming Allied Professional Partnerships
Conclusion
OVC works in close coordination and cooperation with other U.S. Department
of Justice (DOJ) agencies, other Federal agencies, and the private sector to
strengthen existing efforts and develop new initiatives to benefit crime victims.
Through collaboration with other Office of Justice Programs (OJP), OVC
attempts to identify areas for action and leverage financial resources to benefit
crime victims. Participation in task forces, working groups, and planning groups
are a major means by which OVC identifies issues important to crime victims
and then develops or enhances programs to meet those needs. For instance,
OVC works closely with the DOJ Office of Tribal Justice and the American
Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Desk to strengthen its enduring partnership
with American Indian Tribes on reservations governed by Federal criminal
jurisdiction by ensuring that DOJ Tribal justice initiatives contain a victims'
component and by providing funding and expertise to ensure the rights and
needs of crime victims in Indian Country. OVC continues to develop
partnerships between all levels of government and with community-based
programs designed to improve services to crime victims, including partnerships
between American Indian Tribes and States.[3]
----------------------------
Footnote:
3. Many of the partnerships entered into by OVC result in the development of
memorandums of understanding and/or interagency protocols.
----------------------------
Working Within the U.S. Department of Justice and Office of Justice Programs
OVC puts much of its time and resources into working with other DOJ
agencies to advance victims' rights, especially those within OJP. It does this by
participating in various working groups to increase the effectiveness of the
Federal effort and broaden the scope of its response to crime victims. Various
OVC-led working groups within DOJ have helped to increase compliance with
Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance, for Federal
agencies serving crime victims, to raise awareness for underserved victim
groups, and to ensure better coordination of DOJ-OJP victim programs. Other
OVC cooperative efforts within DOJ include signing interagency agreements to
expand collective resources and working closely with other agencies, namely
the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), to develop program evaluation tools.
OVC's partnerships with DOJ and OJP agencies improve services to victims
by leveraging resources more effectively through collaboration on related
projects. Several of these efforts are described below.
--Deputy Attorney General's Working Group for Victims' Rights. OVC
continued its efforts to further DOJ-wide compliance with the 1996 Presidential
Directive on Victims' Rights and the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and
Witness Assistance by staffing and participating in the Deputy Attorney
General's Victims' Rights Working Group. The Working Group's first meeting
in May 1997 hosted representatives from every Justice agency with an interest
in and responsibility to crime victims. OVC played a key role in developing the
first draft of the modified AG Guidelines, which now has a new format with
separate sections for investigators' offices, prosecutors' offices, and corrections
agencies. This format is intended to clarify everyone's roles and make it easier
for users to find the applicable guidelines. A 1999 distribution is planned for the
final revised AG Guidelines.
--Working Group on Mental Health and Crime. DOJ's interest in mental
health and its relationship to crime is wide-ranging, and OVC recognizes the
importance of tending to the mental health needs of all people victimized by
violence. This includes helping children who have been abused or exposed to
violence and reducing the possibility of acting out violently themselves. DOJ is
also concerned with addressing the mental health of crime victims, including
victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and terrorism. To further this
understanding, the Assistant Attorney General for OJP in July 1998 established
a Working Group on Mental Health and Crime. OVC is a member of this
collaborative, along with all of the OJP bureaus and program offices. The
working group is examining the impact of mental illness and mental health on
victims, witnesses, and offenders and how the criminal justice system should
respond.
--OJP Rural Task Force. OVC staff participate in the OJP Rural Task Force,
begun in FY 1998. Task force achievements include authoring a report on
criminal justice in rural America and organizing and hosting a symposium on
rural justice to recommend program directions for OJP to better assist rural
jurisdictions.[4] Participants worked to identify the critical resource needs of
rural communities; develop Federal, State, and local solutions to address those
needs; and formulate recommendations on how OJP can enhance its
partnership with rural jurisdictions. One necessary resource identified by the
task force included using technology to solve crime victims' needs. For
example, battered women or stalking victims can use cellular telephones to
report to police when they are in danger. Also, by providing basic and satellite
downlinks at community colleges and police agencies, advanced training can be
provided for victim service providers.
--Family Violence Working Group (FVWG). OVC representatives
participate in FVWG, whose mission is to focus more DOJ-OJP attention on
violent crime within the family. As a result of improved intra-agency and
interagency information exchange, coordinated planning to avoid duplicative
projects, better collaboration, and informed feedback on many of the grant
products, victims of family violence are offered better services.
--Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). OVC strives to ensure that all
victims receive fundamental justice and needed serv-ices. For instance, OVC
also helped create a train-the-trainers video, which received three national
awards including the Gold Award at WorldFest Flagstaff. The video, entitled
"A Balance to Maintain," informs INS employees about the new INS
Victim/Witness Assistance Program under development and highlights
victims' rights and shows how to obtain assistance for immigrants who need
help. The video, which also was a finalist at the 1999 WorldFest Houston and
The New York Festivals, was produced in August 1998 by Executive
Producer Robin Smith, Producer/Director Heidi Zecher, and Associate
Producer Jennifer Crescenzo.
--Responding to Victims With Disabilities. OVC funded several projects in
FYs 1997-1998 that focused on the needs and issues of victims with
disabilities. OVC also worked to sensitize and educate practitioners and
policymakers on the need to include disability issues in their services and
policies, and to form partnerships with disability advocates at every level.
----------------------------
Footnote:
4. A summary of victim issues identified at the symposium is included in the
conference proceedings available from OJP.
----------------------------
"Project DOVE (Domestic Violence Eliminated) serves Malheur County in far
eastern Oregon. Our region is predominately rural and agricultural; poverty is
an ever present issue in this area. The extensive rurality of our area and the
geographic isolation of many families can make it difficult to seek help for family
violence. The VOCA funds we receive make it possible to provide outreach to
the community, as well as the supportive services that are offered at the shelter.
While we have always worked with other agencies, the recent realization by
state agencies such as AFS (welfare program), SCF (child services), and
SDSD (senior and disabled services) that domestic violence is a very real
problem from many of their clients has enabled us to strengthen our
relationships with them."
--Project DOVE, Ontario, Oregon
----------------------------
Forming Governmentwide Partnerships
OVC's commitment to ensuring that victims of crime have access to the best
services available has prompted the formation of governmentwide partnerships
to expand and improve service delivery to victims. OVC works cooperatively
with other Federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD),
the State Department, and the U.S. Department of Education (DoEd), with all
the bureaus inside OJP, and with other DOJ agencies to further its crime victims
agenda. This commitment includes using technology to improve the response to
victims by their advocates and to ensure that victims are informed of their rights
and the services available to them. Several OVC partnerships with government
agencies are discussed below.
--U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Victim and Witness Council. The
DOD Victim and Witness Assistance Council meets quarterly, and members
include the victim and witness assistance program coordinators for each
Military Service, the Coast Guard, and officials serving in law enforcement,
legal, and corrections fields who are responsible for victim and witness
assistance programs and policies. The OVC representative acts as a liaison to
the DOD, attends all council meetings and is responsible for assisting DOD and
the military services to improve their capacity to provide services to victims of
crime on military installations worldwide. For instance, OVC briefs members on
DOJ developments, Federal crime victims issues, legislation, and initiatives.
OVC encouraged DOD to provide the services and military installations with
copies of the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance.
Moreover, without OVC's presence, the Council would not have known about
the Guidelines.
OVC's participation in the Council has fortified the ties among OVC, DOD,
all the military services (Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines), the Coast Guard,
and Council members. This allows OVC to provide Council members with
leadership in a regular forum for the interchange of information, the review of
issues related to the rights of victims in the military justice system, and the
exchange of ideas on improving services provided to victims. OVC highlighted
several training opportunities and encouraged DOD, the military services, Coast
Guard, and Council personnel to attend. OVC provided extensive resources to
the Council which enabled DOD, the military services, and the Coast Guard to
receive funding through reimbursable agreements that supported victim and
witness assistance programs, projects, and training events. Examples include a
sexual assault survivors video, a DOD specific Web site with online resource
manual, and the Armed Forces Center for Child Protection. OVC has and will
continue to be a catalyst for DOD, the military services, and the Coast Guard
who now attend OVC-directed working task force and advisory group
meetings and training events.
--U.S. Department of Education (DoEd)--School Violence. Over the past 2
fiscal years OVC has worked closely with the DoEd to address the issue of
school violence. In doing so, OVC jointly funded a grant with the DoEd on
Community Crisis Response in Schools. This grant brought together school
administrators from States around the country to develop a crisis response
program in the event of school violence. In addition, OVC has collaborated
with the DoEd in responding to various acts of school violence in recent years,
including Springfield, Oregon, West Paducah, Kentucky, and Littleton,
Colorado. Finally, OVC played an integral part in developing Project SERV, a
program intended to create a nationwide crisis response initiative in situations
involving school violence. OVC, FEMA, OJJDP, and HHS also worked with
DoEd to develop the program and propose necessary legislation to implement
it.
--U.S. Department of State (DOS). Consistent with VOCA mandates, OVC
continues to collaborate with the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations,
and other organizations to improve governmental response to Americans
victimized abroad and to help other countries develop more effective and
sensitive responses to victims worldwide. This includes programs to assist
international visitors victimized in the United States, as well as U.S. citizens
victimized abroad. OVC's FYs 1997-1998 action plans call for continued
collaboration to develop training that will expand crime victim assistance
programs in foreign countries and to integrate crime victim issues into
international discussions of crime (see chapter 7, "Providing International
Leadership and Responding to Victims of Terrorism"). In addition, OVC
entered into several interagency agreements with DOS to provide services and
assistance to victims of the embassy bombings in Africa and of Pan Am Flight
103. OVC resources were made available to the State Department to host
meetings with victims and to cover expenses incurred by victims when no other
resources were available. Funding was also used by the State Department to
fund a victim/witness advocate position and fund training on victims' rights and
services for consulate office staff worldwide.
Reinforcing Partnerships Through Training and Technical Assistance
During the last biennium, OVC continued to support partnerships formed to
further victims' rights and to develop new ones. Training provided to specific
groups reinforced OVC's partnerships with military professionals and law
enforcement personnel. Since 1989, OVC has provided comprehensive,
skills-building training and technical assistance uniquely tailored to the needs of
American Indian/Alaska Native communities which have received funds from
OVC's VAIC and CJA grant programs. OVC's program has been well
received by the Tribes, and OVC's support is essential to ensuring that victim
services programs receive the technical assistance needed to provide quality
services to crime victims in Indian Country. These partnership initiatives are
described below.
--Federal Law Enforcement Training. Since 1986, OVC has provided funding
to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) to provide
victim/witness training to Federal law enforcement officers from more than 70
agencies at its campuses in Georgia, South Carolina, and New Mexico. During
FYs 1997-1998, approximately 13,800 law enforcement received training on
such topics as interviewing techniques, financial fraud, and white-collar crime.
OVC also provided intense technical assistance and funding to the FBI to
enhance services to victims of Federal crime; OVC funded a number of skills
development training programs for FBI victim/witness coordinators and 1,745
FBI staff were trained during this period. Additionally, about 3,000 DEA
special agents and other staff received training on victim-related matters through
OVC onsite training and assistance at three inservice training programs.
--Training for Military Professionals. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC continued its
longstanding and successful relationship with DOD. Funding through
interagency agreements with the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps
was used to provide needed worldwide training, technical assistance, and
support to more than 1,100 DOD legal, law enforcement, corrections, clergy,
and medical personnel who offer services to victims. These efforts enhanced the
quality of services provided to victims of military crimes worldwide. OVC has
approved funding for several innovative DOD projects that hold great potential
to further improve the quality of victim assistance, such as the creation of a
DOD victim assistance Web site, under development in FY 1999. This site will
provide essential, timely information about victim assistance laws and
regulations, procedures, and programs to military and civilian personnel
assisting victims throughout the world.
--Training for Advocates in Indian Country. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC
received 88 requests for training and technical assistance from Tribal victim
assistance programs in Indian Country. A total of 30 regional training seminars
were provided, and 173 persons were trained in cross-cultural issues. A total
of 320 Tribal personnel were trained on victim issues. The need for training
personnel is ongoing, given the high turnover rate of victim assistance program
staff. Training took place at the program level as well as the regional level.
OVC also initiated postawards conferences for VAIC and CJA programs,
training more than 125 VAIC program staff in financial and programmatic
aspects of the grant and eligible activities, and affording opportunities to share
concerns unique to programs in Indian Country.
--Regional Training in Indian Country. Regional training events are
advantageous to Indian Country programs because they provide opportunities
for networking and forming relationships. For FYs 1997-1998, OVC
coordinated 22 regional and/or onsite program training sessions focusing on
specific CJA and/or VAIC victim issues. All the CJA programs in a targeted
training area, such as Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, were brought together
for a 2 to 3 day event to examine CJA program concerns as well as other
substantive issues specific to each program. A similar training format was used
for VAIC programs, with an emphasis on developing permanent on-reservation
services for victims of crime in Indian Country. Training issues examined such
areas as developing and maintaining volunteer programs, helping victims
complete compensation forms, and defining the role of Tribal advocates in the
Tribal court system. To get effective agency participation without duplicating
efforts, some training sessions targeted both CJA and VAIC programs.
Promoting Victims' Rights Through Community-Based Partnerships
OVC's training and technical assistance initiatives promote victims' rights in
several ways. One technique OVC used to promote victims' rights was to
award promising practices grants to public and private nonprofit organizations.
These grants inform victim services of successful practices and approaches that
will assist crime victims and the allied professionals who serve them.
Current OVC-funded initiatives reflect the diversity of victims with disabilities
and the training and technical assistance needs of practitioners who serve them.
OVC works to sensitize and educate victim services practitioners and allied
professionals. OVC projects promote culturally appropriate and linguistically
accessible services for Deaf and Deaf-Blind victims of sexual assault and
domestic violence; support development of a training curriculum for law
enforcement, advocacy, and protection workers who assist crime victims with
disabilities; and support an innovative partnership between the largest
developmental disability advocacy--the ARC of the U.S.--and the largest
victim assistance organization--NOVA--in the Nation to train their members on
how to better identify and serve victims. The following are some of the activities
that exemplify OVC's dedication to these issues.
--Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD). A collaborative
relationship was established with the Administration on Developmental
Disabilities (ADD) which enables OVC and ADD grantees to develop
collaborative strategies that will serve crime victims. OVC has joined with a
working group of national developmental disability advocacy organizations to
enhance the criminal justice and victim assistance response to victims with
developmental disabilities.
--Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Service (ADWAS). OVC awarded
funding to ADWAS in Seattle, Washington, to produce, with the National
Association for the Deaf and Deaf Women United, the first-ever video for the
Deaf community on the dynamics of domestic violence. The open-captioned
video features Deaf actors using Sign Language.
OVC promotes inclusive practices in the victim assistance field to ensure all
victims, including those with disabilities, receive needed services. OVC is
funding a video for the victim assistance field, expected to be available in FY
2000, that will illustrate the issues and challenges involved in identifying and
responding to crime victims with disabilities, as well as highlight unique
programs and promising practices for serving such victims. OVC's TTAC
supported several Speaker's Bureau requests concerning disability issues,
which included funding four speakers at a 1998 conference of the California
Criminal Justice Task Force for People with Developmental Disabilities. Finally,
OVC expanded the National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA) text to
include comprehensive information on serving crime victims with disabilities in
the formative training of victim assistants nationwide.
In addition, OVC encourages other community-based partnerships to improve
victim services. The following are a few examples of such partnerships.
--Children's Advocacy Centers (CAC). Through an interagency agreement
with OJJDP, the National Network of Children's Advocacy Center, Inc.
received a grant to allow it to continue to provide training and technical
assistance to improve the response of local communities to child abuse through
special projects. This funding has allowed the network to--
(1) Offer training and technical assistance to the Safe Kids/Safe Streets
grantees. This is a comprehensive program to address child abuse and neglect
in five grant locations through system reform and accountability, continuum of
services for children and families, data collection, and prevention education.
(2) Support a demonstration project that establishes a regional network of
sexual assault forensic examination units using video camera technology.
(3) Produce a training videotape featuring the co-existence and connection
between child abuse and domestic violence.
Another interagency agreement between OVC and OJJDP is assisting Indian
Tribes in establishing Children's Advocacy Centers on reservations. The Tulalip
Tribe was selected as a demonstration site to develop a coordinated strategy
for meeting the needs of American Indian child victims and the criminal justice
system.
--Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). With OVC funding support,
MADD developed four death notification training manuals targeting the
professions of law enforcement, mental health counselors and victim advocates,
medical personnel, and clergy and funeral directors. Each manual outlines
procedures to follow when notifying someone of the death of a loved one and
includes information on debriefing those who must perform this task and sample
resource materials to use.
Forming Allied Professional Partnerships
In FYs 1997-1998, OVC's many training and technical assistance projects
aligned with several OVC goals. These included promoting victims' rights
through projects designed to serve all victims, including victims of fraud. OVC's
district-specific and other training projects targeted groups, such as law
enforcement, other Justice agencies, and the mental health community to
improve victim services. Other OVC training and technical assistance initiatives
helped local communities to respond to their own victims' needs. Initiatives such
as Community Crisis Response, victim-offender mediation, and training and
technical assistance for Indian Country helped to produce infrastructure change
within communities and to make them more self-sustaining.
OVC's many training and technical assistance projects, described below, are
changing the way crime victimization and the treatment of crime victims is
handled in this country--from identifying new groups to receive victim services
to raising awareness for their needs to designing better services to meet those
needs, OVC remains at the center of this paradigm shift.
--American Bar Association (ABA) Studies on Statutory Rape. OVC funded
an ABA project to survey all States regarding statutory rape legislation. This
survey led to the formation of a handbook to help legislators and policymakers
identify issues they should consider to amend their statutory rape laws or
develop new laws. This same grant also produced a training guide which
contains practical suggestions to increase the reporting of this crime, to improve
investigations and prosecutions of the offenders, to improve treatment of the
victims and offenders, and to develop sound sentencing practices to guide
judges in these cases.
--University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. OVC provided funding to the
School of Dentistry, University of Minnesota, in FY 1997 to develop a
comprehensive education model for dentists and dental auxiliaries regarding
family violence. The project produced a training videotape on appropriate
interventions with victims of family violence who are seen in the dental setting;
developed a curriculum for a 6-hour seminar designed to train dental
professionals to recognize family violence and to implement appropriate
intervention; and designed a comprehensive training packet which enables the
dental team to easily apply the intervention model to their own office setting. In
the next phase of the project, the grantee will develop a videotape to train
dental staff to identify the clinical signs of family violence in the patients they
examine. In addition, the grantee will conduct several regional training programs
using these materials.
--Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR). OVC recognizes that
emotional and psychological trauma suffered as a result of crime is unique, and
that mental health professionals are not always trained to respond effectively to
crime victims who seek their services. In FY 1997, OVC continued to sponsor
a project exemplifying the need for collaborative partnerships with other fields
to truly meet the needs of crime victims. The project, Bridging the Systems--
with the Mental Health Community, is designed to empower victims, to
promote effective response to crime victim needs by mental health
professionals, and to bridge a professional gap between them and victim
providers. This OVC grant produced a curriculum used at three pilot training
sessions, which generated more requests for training, including requests from
the U.S. Navy.
--National Sheriffs' Association. TRIAD--A Three-Way Effort, is a joint
OVC-BJA program seeking to improve the response to elderly victims of crime
that has resulted in the formation of 585 TRIAD programs nationwide vs. 155
programs in early 1994 when the training program began. A TRIAD consists of
a three-way effort involving (1) a sheriff, (2) the police chiefs in the county, and
(3) American Association of Retired Persons or older/retired leadership in the
area. These three components have agreed to work together to reduce
victimization of older citizens and to enhance delivery of law enforcement
services to them.
Conclusion
One of OVC's goals in serving victims more effectively is to encourage
partnerships throughout the government and in the communities themselves so
that victim services are in place to meet those needs. OVC urges everyone who
interacts with victims, from police officers to prosecutors, from judges to
corrections officials, from members of the clergy to business leaders, to join in
the dialogue and implement the programs and reforms that make sense for their
own communities. As part of those efforts to improve services to victims of
crime, OVC gathers together people who have an interest in victim issues to
discuss and develop guidelines to create programs in response to victim needs.
----------------------------
Chapter 5
Improving Services to Victims of Crime
Conferences, Focus Groups, and Symposia
Evaluating Programs To Improve Delivery of Victim Services
Improving Systems and Access to Victim Services and OVC Resources
--National Victim Assistance Academy
--State Victim Assistance Academy
Conclusion
In FYs 1997-1998, OVC supported local efforts and responded to the needs
voiced from the field for improved and enhanced crime victim services and for
training and technical assistance resources. OVC devoted substantial resources
to the delivery of rights and services to crime victims by convening conferences
and focus groups, evaluating programs to improve delivery of victim services,
improving access to OVC resources, and keeping victim service providers
current with changes in the field.
Conferences, Focus Groups, and Symposia
Conferences, focus groups, and symposia are among the many ways in which
OVC serves a leadership role to facilitate information sharing for those in the
field. OVC learns of victim issues that need to be addressed through focus
groups and uses conferences to share innovative practices or highlight the need
for victim services in a particular area. In addition, OVC hosts national
symposia and forums that are designed to reach many people in the most
efficient manner. Participants take the information learned and apply these new
concepts within their own agencies, organizations, universities, and
communities.
Information gleaned from focus groups and workgroups helps OVC identify
unmet needs and develop policies, protocols, and guidelines that respond to
those needs. Demonstration projects generate training, technical assistance,
curricula, and models for use in standardizing and replicating promising
approaches and products that advance victims' rights and services across the
country. Several of the conferences and focus groups led to the development of
new projects and programs, the formation of partnerships between government
agencies and the private sector, and the implementation of new policies or
protocols. Some initiatives sponsored by OVC that developed from focus
group recommendations in FYs 1997-1998 are listed below.
--Victims of Gang Violence. Because of a lack of information available on
gang violence and victimization and because the needs of victims of gang
violence are an important priority for OVC, a focus group of victim advocates,
criminal justice policymakers, and crime victims was convened to discuss the
unique needs of victims of gang violence and assess available services. As a
result of this meeting, OVC competitively awarded a grant to Victim Services,
Inc., to design training for law enforcement, victim advocates, hospitals,
schools, and funeral directors. The grantee is using a direct services model
developed by Orange County, California's Gang Victim Services. OVC plans
to pilot test these materials at appropriate VS 2000 and demonstration sites
affiliated with OJJDP's Comprehensive Gang Prevention, Intervention, and
Suppression program.
--VOCA Regional Meetings. OVC conducted six regional meetings in
January 1997 for State victim assistance administrators to exchange ideas,
funding strategies, and action plans for supporting victim service programs in
response to the substantial funding increase in the CVF as a result of the Daiwa
Bank fraud conviction. This extreme fluctuation in the CVF gave these sessions
added importance because they alerted States to the implications of managing
the new funds and to the unpredictability of ongoing levels of funding. As a
result of this OVC-facilitated opportunity to exchange ideas, States developed
long-range funding strategies that would sustain and enhance services for crime
victims.
--NACVCB Training Conferences. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC continued its
support of the annual training conferences organized by the National
Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards (NACVCB) and the
National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA). Held in Atlanta,
Georgia, the September 1997 conference for State VOCA compensation and
assistance administrators, called "A Continuum of Care," promoted
coordination between compensation and assistance programs and provided
workshops to assist States in increasing their capacity to administer these
programs. In September 1998, State compensation administrators met in
Seattle, Washington, to explore ways to control costs, increase restitution,
upgrade automated systems, and offer victim assistance within compensation
programs. State VOCA administrators were scheduled to come together again
for training and technical assistance in September 22-26, 1999, in Chicago,
Illinois, with OVC funding support. The theme for the 1999 meeting was
"Shaping the 21st Century: New Directions for Victim Compensation and
Assistance Programs."
--Indian Nations Conferences. Every other year, OVC sponsors
Strengthening Indian Nations: Justice for Victims of Crime Conferences. These
conferences bring together the largest collection of Tribal victim advocates,
Tribal victims, Tribal justice professionals, and Tribal leadership in the Nation to
discuss crime and victimization issues in Indian Country, train on best practices,
and exchange information. The conferences offer skills-building training to
victim services providers, prosecutors, law enforcement officials, judicial
personnel, and health and mental health professionals from the Tribal, Federal,
and State levels who deal with victims of crime in Indian Country. The Seventh
National Indian Nations Justice for Victims of Crime Conference was held in
Tulsa, Oklahoma, September 28-30, 1999, and was expanded to include
participation by all OJP offices and bureaus.
--Federal Symposium. In FYs 1997 and 1999, OVC sponsored the National
Symposium on Victims of Federal Crime. More than 750 victim/witness
coordinators from dozens of different Federal agencies convened to discuss
strategies for responding to the President's June 1996 Directive to "hold the
Federal system to a higher standard of victims' rights than ever before. . . ."
Since then training and technical assistance for Federal victim/witness
coordinators and heightened interagency collaboration have driven the
development of interagency agreements and memoranda of understanding, and
request for line-item budget approvals for victim/witness personnel.
--Restorative Justice Focus Group. Restorative justice is a victim-centered
response to crime that provides opportunities for active involvement by the
victim and the community. In June 1998, OVC sponsored a Victims and
Restorative Justice focus group at OJP, attended by representatives from
national victim organizations and renowned experts in the restorative justice
field. Participants discussed ways for OVC to provide leadership to the victims'
field in this area. They encouraged OVC's role as facilitator of dialogue on
topics relevant to restorative justice rather than as a policymaker. A series of
regional Restorative Justice Symposia explored how restorative justice
practices could be incorporated into criminal justice practices and promoted
within communities. To further educate the Nation about restorative justice, NIJ
added a link to its Web site that contains materials from the Restorative Justice
Regional Symposia participant notebooks and followup technical assistance to
host sites and pilot seminars.
--Symposium on Working With Victims of Crime With Disabilities. In January
1998, leaders in the disability advocacy, victim assistance, and research fields
were brought together to address issues of justice and access to services for
victims with disabilities. This was one of the first national-scope forums to focus
exclusively on individuals with disabilities within the criminal justice system--as
victims and not offenders. In response to one of the many recommendations
made by symposium participants, OVC awarded a grant to the National
Organization of Victim Assistance (NOVA), enabling NOVA to partner with
Arc of the U.S., the largest advocacy group in the Nation for people with
mental retardation. This partnership is to develop and enhance the capacity of
victim and disability advocates to identify and serve victims with disabilities.
NOVA and Arc will develop training and resource materials that will serve as
the basis for training tracks at their national conferences.
--National Symposium on Child Sexual Abuse. In FY 1998, OVC sponsored
the participation of dozens of multidisciplinary professional teams from Indian
Country to attend the National Symposium on Child Sexual Abuse. Team
members included assistant U.S. attorneys, victim/witness coordinators, FBI
special agents, and Tribal prosecutors, judges, law enforcement officers, and
social service staff. The purpose of the symposium was to provide training to
Federal criminal justice professionals to improve their skills in responding to
victims of child sexual abuse and to promote coordination among these
professionals. The symposium workshops featured the most current techniques
used in State and local jurisdictions to investigate and prosecute child physical
and sexual abuse cases.
--Technology Symposium. On February 27-28, 1998, OVC sponsored a
symposium titled Promising Strategies and Practices in Using Technology To
Benefit Victims of Crime, which convened approximately 35 participants from
the victim services and criminal justice fields and technology companies to
discuss a range of technically oriented topics. Organized by the National Center
for Victims of Crime (NCVC), the symposium followed a survey of victim
service and criminal justice professionals conducted by NCVC to identify
victim-oriented technologies. The survey identified 45 technologies used to
assist victims, including those dealing with victim-specific case management,
case tracking, notification, protection, management of legal and financial
obligations, interactive training, and information support via the Internet.
Symposium recommendations for the victim services field included creating a
technical assistance package for developing victim-related Web sites.
--Focus Group on Stalking Victims. In October 1998, OVC conducted a
focus group on "Addressing the Needs of Stalking Victims." The meeting
brought together stalking victims, victim advocates, prosecutors, and law
enforcement officers who have worked with stalking victims to explore how
acts of stalking affect victims and how communities can better address the
needs of those who are stalked. Stalking victims described the destructive
effects that stalkers' terrorist tactics had on their lives, while other participants
shared information gleaned from their experiences in assisting victims.
Participants identified gaps in services and barriers to accessing available
services. OVC will disseminate the findings from this focus group as an OVC
bulletin to inform victim assistance providers and justice system responders on
the local, State, and Federal levels.
----------------------------
"It was helpful to see how other agencies worked their victim/witness programs.
It gave me a better overall understanding of what victim advocates are trying to
achieve through government and law enforcement."
--Federal Symposium Participant
----------------------------
Evaluating Programs To Improve Delivery of Victim Services
Evaluation of VOCA-funded grant programs administered by OVC improves
the delivery of victim services. During the last biennium, OVC provided funding
to NIJ to contract for evaluation support for several of its major programs,
some of which are described below:
--National Study of Victim Needs and Assistance. This project, contracted to
Victim Services, Inc., with VERA Institute and WESTAT as subcontractors,
has two primary objectives: to uncover the emotional, behavioral, and financial
impact of the crime and the resulting needs of the victim and family, and to
examine whether victim assistance was sought and, if so, from whom or from
which organizations (e.g., family, friends, clergy, hospital, 911, law
enforcement, domestic violence program, or a comprehensive victim services
agency). The results of this study will be used to increase the capacity of
criminal justice, victim services, and other systems so they may respond more
appropriately to victims of crime.
--Evaluation of VOCA State Compensation and Assistance Programs. OVC
partnered with the National Institute of Justice to fund a multiyear project that
evaluates the effectiveness of VOCA-funded compensation and assistance
programs. The Urban Institute is the contractor developing the study. Phase I
will examine, indepth, the provision of rights and services to victims in five to six
States. Victims will be surveyed about the impact of crime upon them, the
services offered to them, and whether the services met their needs. Phase II will
examine a representative sample of VOCA-funded programs and determine if
VOCA compensation and assistance programs deliver a coordinated,
comprehensive set of services that lowers the cost and consequences of crime
for the victim. The final report is due spring 2001. Upon receipt of the final
reports from these two studies, OVC will host a forum, scheduled for late fall
2001, for policymakers and victim advocates to review the results of the study
and to formulate recommendations for VOCA design, administration, and
operation.
Improving Systems and Access to Victim Services and OVC Resources
OVC has led the way in raising awareness for the complex needs of crime
victims and answering to the demand for more coordinated, multidisciplinary
responses. OVC has undertaken multiple and varied outreach efforts to
increase the availability of victim assistance resources for victim services
providers, victim advocates, criminal justice personnel, and allied professionals.
Its delivery of training, publications, and other resources through centralized
access points stands to greatly enhance multidisciplinary intervention efforts.
OVC "instruments" for increasing its outreach ability include TTAC, OVC's
Resource Center and OVC's Web site (see chapter 3). OVC also supported
the National and State Victim Assistance Academies to professionalize the
field. Both of these efforts are described below.
National Victim Assistance Academy
Recognizing the need for a comprehensive victim assistance curriculum, OVC
funded the first National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA) in 1995 to,
among other things, encourage professionalization of the field through
nationwide, academic-based courses of study in victim assistance at colleges
and universities. NVAA has become the centerpiece of OVC's efforts to train
crime victim advocates and allied professionals. The 1997 and 1998
Academies, both conducted on four university campuses in different States,
used current distance-learning technology to join students and faculty at all four
campuses. The 45-hour rigorous curriculum emphasizes victims' rights
fundamentals and new developments in the victim assistance field. For example,
the fourth annual NVAA held July 1998 included presentations on victims with
disabilities, victims in remote areas, and financial fraud victims. In FY 1999,
OVC funded the complete update and reformatting of the Academy text. The
sites for this year's Academy were California State University in Fresno,
California; Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas; American University
College of Law in Washington, D.C.; the Medical University of South Carolina
in Charleston, South Carolina; and Sam Houston State University in Huntsville,
Texas.
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno cited OVC's establishment of the National
Victim Assistance Academy as one of its primary successes in protecting and
supporting crime victims by bringing the most up-to-date training to victim
service providers across the country. Through NVAA, OVC ensures that
services will be met by a competent victim services field. Since 1995, nearly
700 students representing all 50 states, 1 American territory, and 6 foreign
countries have completed the Academy. OVC looks to the Academy to
educate victim advocates and victim services providers about emerging issues
concerning unserved victims and new developments on specific issues. The
NVAA becomes an important tool for OVC to improve victim services both in
this country and around the world.
State Victim Assistance Academy
When it received a request in FY 1998 from Michigan State University to
establish a State Victim Assistance Academy (SVAA), OVC provided funding
supplemented with university and State VOCA funding, and the first
OVC-sponsored State Academy was born. Michigan State University, in
partnership with the Michigan victim assistance community, intends to continue
to sponsor a State Academy annually. OVC's new SVAA grant initiative is
intended to encourage similar initiatives in other States, with the ultimate goal of
establishing a 50-State network of State Academies (see chapter 9, "Looking
to the Future," for more detailed information about the SVAA grant program).
Although no direct funding was provided, the New Mexico VOCA victim
assistance administrator has used the NVAA Academy text to host its own
version of a State Victim Assistance training institute. OVC has uploaded the
Academy text and updates to the text onto its Web site to provide similar
access to other States and communities looking for quality training aides for
their victim training initiatives. Marquette University in Wisconsin also plans to
incorporate the Academy text within its undergraduate courses on victimology.
Conclusion
As the crime victims' movement matures the emphasis is shifting from merely
establishing rights and programs for crime victims to enhancing the quality of
services to victims of crime. OVC has relied extensively upon input from the
field during this delicate transition period. Training and technical assistance
efforts and conferences and symposia have been fashioned to respond not only
to the demands of crime victims, but also victim advocates and allied
professionals who are committed to making victim services a profession on
equal footing with other human service and justice system disciplines.
OVC-sponsored efforts have received tremendous acceptance by the field,
supported national trends in the response to crime and victimization, and helped
to integrate victim-sensitive practices in nontraditional settings. Amendments to
VOCA authorizing OVC to fund demonstration projects have provided an
opportunity for OVC to create community-based laboratories where promising
practices can be identified, evaluated, and eventually replicated in other
jurisdictions, and as a result the quality of services to crime victims is improved.
----------------------------
Chapter 6
Promising Practices and Demonstration Programs
Demonstration/Model Programs
--Comprehensive Programs
--Technology
--Crime Victims and Juveniles
--Financial Fraud and Economic Crime
--Violence Against Women
--Prosecution
--American Indians
Conclusion
OVC funds the development of program and training materials for projects that
can be replicated across the country. Discretionary moneys are used to help
develop national goals and strategies for meeting victims' needs. OVC
discretionary grants also support training for victim services professionals and
pay for projects designed to identify and fill gaps in services in States and local
communities. Another important area of emphasis is improving the response of
Federal officials to the rights and needs of Federal crime victims. OVC uses its
annual Discretionary Grant Program Plan and Grant Application Kit to solicit
applications for training, technical assistance, and demonstration grant programs
that target State and local criminal justice agencies, victim services providers,
and allied professionals. Many of OVC's programs such as the Victim Services
2000 initiative have influenced communities and changed whole systems.
In FYs 1997-1998, OVC provided a variety of training and assistance that
contributed toward strengthening the overall response to victims of crime. In
addition, OVC organizational systems, such as its Training and Technical
Assistance Center, Resource Center, and Web site have sustained and
reinforced this training by providing easy access to a full range of resources on
crime victim issues (see chapter 3, "Advocating for Crime Victims' Rights").
In FYs 1997-1998, OVC addressed the needs of specific victim populations
through a series of training and technical assistance projects in such areas as
working with grieving children, death notification for survivors of homicide
victims, cultural considerations in assisting crime victims, and violence
intervention for victims with disabilities. Some of OVC's efforts in FYs 1997-
1998 to advance victims' rights and needs are summarized below.
--Promising Practices and Strategies for Victim Services in Corrections. In
August 1998, OVC awarded a grant to the National Center for Victims of
Crime to update and improve curricula on staff victimization in correctional
agencies and critical incidents and to implement intensive training programs
using a "train-the-trainers" approach. The project augments training packages
with comprehensive user-friendly instructor and participant training materials.
The development and testing of much-needed new resources specific to
juvenile corrections and wardens of adult institutions are part of the grantee's
project.
--Promising Practices in Restitution. In March 1997, the American Probation
and Parole Association received a grant to examine obstacles to the effective
management of restitution, and to identify and describe a variety of promising
approaches used in the criminal and juvenile justice systems to establish and
enforce orders of restitution and ensure that victims receive the payment due
them. The activity of this grant will produce a bulletin that will serve as a guide
for managing and collecting restitution. The bulletin dissemination targets
corrections officials, prosecutors, and probation and parole personnel.
--Promising Practices for Law Enforcement. OVC awarded a grant to the
International Association of Chiefs of Police for a project to identify innovative
policies, procedures, practices, and programs used by law enforcement
agencies to respond to the needs of crime victims, and design a plan for
product dissemination. Because law enforcement officers usually are the first
criminal justice responders to interact with victims, their treatment of victims can
profoundly influence their cooperation with the criminal justice system and how
quickly the victim recovers from the traumatic event. This grant will produce a
booklet describing exceptional practices for working with victims. It is intended
for use by law enforcement professionals.
In addition, OVC published several videos during the biennium highlighting
various programs throughout the Nation. In October 1997 a 20-minute "call to
action" highlighting innovative programs across the country was produced. The
video, entitled "Promising Practices: Community Partnerships Helping Victims
of Crime," won a Bronze 1998 Telly Award. In April 1998, "Oklahoma City
Bombing Special Awards" was produced and contains two 12-minute video
tributes highlighting the accomplishments of individuals and organizations
receiving awards from U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno for their innovative
programs and dedicated advocacy helping victims of crime. This video won a
Silver Award at the 1998 WorldFest Flagstaff and an Award of Distinction at
The Communicator Awards.
Current OVC funding practices reflect its interest in improving victim services to
victims with disabilities. For example, States receiving VOCA funds may use up
to 1 percent of the State's victim assistance grant to conduct statewide and/or
regional trainings of victim services staff. States are encouraged to use this
option to provide needed training to practitioners on best practices in serving
crime victims with disabilities. Also, OVC is funding several multiyear
demonstration projects--Victim Services 2000--designed to serve as models
for communities in rural and urban settings that wish to develop networks of
integrated and comprehensive services for crime victims. Disability needs of
crime victims must be addressed comprehensively in these projects. In FYs
1997, 1998, and 1999, OVC funded Justice for Deaf Victims, a program
specifically designed for the Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Hard-of-Hearing victims of
domestic violence and sexual assault.
Demonstration/Model Programs
OVC continued to sponsor demonstration and model programs in FYs 1997-
1998 to provide the field with critical information for implementing victim
strategies from promising practices grants. Many different professions and
crime victims benefit from these programs. Although they vary in subject,
scope, and target audience, all programs promise to help improve victim
services around the country. Several demonstration projects are described
below and are organized under these headings: comprehensive programs,
technology, crime victims and juveniles, financial fraud and economic crime,
violence against women, prosecution, and American Indians.
Comprehensive Programs
--VS 2000. OVC's Victim Services 2000 project is an integrated victim
services model. The goal of the VS 2000 grants is to improve the range,
quality, and accessibility of services for all types of crime victims. It is
expanding points of entry for victims and putting the most up-to-date resources
at their disposal through provision of a comprehensive, coordinated, and
accessible system of community-based services. Currently, three sites are
developing these services under 5-year grant awards and are serving as
laboratories and training sites for communities seeking to create victim-centered
practices and environments. The sites represent both rural and urban
communities and will evaluate emerging differences in the process of developing
models.
Technology
--Michigan Victim Alliance Web Site Project. The Michigan Victim Alliance
Web Site demonstration project, which began in 1997 with OVC support,
sought to create a statewide crime victims Web site for replication by other
interested States. These States would receive technical assistance and tools
from the Michigan project to help them. The project has already expanded the
availability of information and assistance to crime victims in Michigan. In its first
10 months, the site served almost 10,000 visitors and generated positive
feedback. OVC received a step-by-step manual and templates on how to
replicate the site. The manual is available on the Michigan and OVC Web sites
for downloading.
--Implementing an Automated Nationwide Victim Information and Notification
System. The abolishment of the National Fine Center and the return of $21
million to the CVF gave OVC the opportunity to provide funding support for
the creation of a national automated victim information and notification system in
response to the President's June 1996 Directive.
In June 1998, OVC provided funding to the Executive Office for United
States Attorneys to take the lead in this project, with assistance from a working
group comprised of FBI, OVC, and Federal Bureau of Prisons representatives.
The expected outcome of this system is to develop an automated victims'
information database and a means to provide timely victim notification of
offenders' current status in the Federal criminal justice system among the FBI,
U.S. Attorneys' Offices, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. One of the
system's design features includes the ability to be easily adapted to other
investigative agencies. Planning for a pilot is under way.
Crime Victims and Juveniles
--Safe Harbors Program. Through an OVC grant awarded in August 1997,
Victim Services, Inc., is developing written materials and providing
comprehensive training and technical assistance to sites nationwide to facilitate
national replication of its Safe Harbors Program, a comprehensive
school-based victim assistance/violence prevention program that gives high
school and middle school students a "safe room" in the school where they can
go to receive support during and after the school day. Replication will
emphasize coordinating and pilot-testing the technical assistance package with
OJJDP's Comprehensive Com-munitywide Approach to Gang Prevention,
Intervention, and Suppression program demonstration sites.
----------------------------
"Thanks for the time and attention you gave to my dad today. It meant a great
deal for him to be able to talk about the incident with someone who
understands the feelings of violation and insecurity that were left by these scam
artists. I noticed a definite improvement in his attitude as a result. Thank you
very much for this service."
--About a victim who received assistance from the Office of Victim Services
Wethersfield, Connecticut
----------------------------
Financial Fraud and Economic Crime
--Elder Financial Exploitation Prevention Program. In FY 1998, OVC
awarded a grant to Senior and Disabled Services Division (SDSD) within
Oregon's Department of Human Resources to develop a program to teach
seniors about financial exploitation--including telemarketing and other types of
fraud--and to teach bank employees how to recognize and report suspected
financial exploitation. The project has resulted in a training kit for bank
employees and a program to provide outreach and educational materials to
seniors and peer counseling to victims. Through this project, OVC seeks to
make SDSD its conduit for distributing bank employee training and senior
exploitation materials to other States.
--Financial Fraud Products and Resources. Through a grant to the Police
Executive Research Forum (PERF) and the collaborative efforts of a DOJ
working group, OVC produced four important tools for victim advocates
dealing with fraud victims. The fraud victim assistance resource package
includes a generic law enforcement brochure, which provides answers to
frequently asked questions about financial fraud and includes assistance contact
information, a more comprehensive handbook for victims who are participating
in the criminal case, and a 20-minute educational video and companion desk
reference/resource guidebook to help victim/witness coordinators enhance and
expand victim services.
--Media Products About Financial Fraud. OVC has provided a full range of
victim assistance materials about financial fraud on various formats on its Web
site. The materials allow the field to customize their documents with local or
district-specific information. OVC also developed a video and an electronic,
full-color slide presentation on diskette to help educate the field about financial
fraud victims' needs and the expanded reach of VOCA-funded programs to
assist them. Multiple copies of printed documents, videos, and fact sheets were
also made available through OVC's Resource Center (see Appendix 6, "OVC
Publications and Products, FYs 1997-1998").
--Telemarketing Fraud Projects. Through moneys appropriated by Congress
in FYs 1997-1998, OVC and BJA funded four innovative projects designed to
prevent or intervene in telemarketing fraud schemes that target elderly citizens,
often devastated by the financial losses incurred through these schemes. Below
is a brief description of each:
o Telemarketing Fraud Project for Latino Elderly. Begun in FY 1998, the
National Hispanic Council on Aging is collecting information about various
forms of fraud perpetrated in different communities with different Hispanic
subgroups. Two groups were chosen to enable comparisons and development
of models for replication in other settings with different Latino elderly
populations.
o Operation Fraudstop: A Partnership to Reduce Telemarketing Fraud and
Assist Victims. Begun in spring 1998, Operation Fraudstop capitalizes on
existing partnerships and programs in a jurisdiction, such as community
policing and the TRIAD model in Indian Country, and uses such local
resources as the media, various publications, and private corporations (e.g.,
Radio Shack and Wal*Mart) to reduce fraud aimed at seniors.
o Telemarketing Fraud Booklet. With help from OVC funds, the Baltimore
County Department of Aging wrote, produced, and widely distributed a
booklet aimed at preventing telemarketing and telephone fraud. The right to
reproduce the booklet was made available to national private-sector
organizations for distribution to their members.
Violence Against Women
--Stalking Victim Demonstration Project. OVC is awarding funds to the
Florida International University (FIU) Victim Advocacy Center to support a
demonstration project for delivering comprehensive, coordinated services to
stalking victims in the City of Miami and at FIU campuses. FIU will build on
current partnerships with public and private organizations in the criminal justice,
victim advocacy, and mental health fields to develop a replicable community
intervention model for national dissemination.
--Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Development and Operations
Guide. With funds from OVC, the Sexual Assault Resource Service in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, developed a comprehensive how-to manual for nurses
and other community leaders who wish to establish a multidisciplinary,
victim-centered way of responding to sexual assault victims. This manual
focuses on preserving the victim's dignity by lessening the victim's overall
trauma; enhancing the collection of medical evidence toward better prosecution
and fewer delays for both victim and medical personnel; and promoting
community involvement, understanding, and concern for crime victims and their
families. Services are performed by trained, experienced SANE practitioners.
Prosecution
--EOUSA/FBI Pilot Victim/Witness Program, Omaha, Nebraska. Building on
the existing collaborative efforts in a community, OVC helped the City of
Omaha and Douglas County, Nebraska, to establish a coordinated case
management system that includes the Federal victim assistance program. The
city and county have merged their victim assistance programs into one facility
known as the Omaha/Douglas County Victim Assistance Unit (VAU), which
quickly informs crime victims of case status. OVC funding enabled
communication between the local and Federal victim assistance programs, as
the VAU linked up city and county law enforcement, prosecution, probation,
and victim service functions--resembling VS 2000 but with a Federal presence
that includes the Omaha Office of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office
(USAO) for the District of Nebraska.
--Demonstration Project on White-Collar Crime Victimization. OVC funded a
Federal demonstration project on white-collar crime victimization in FY 1998
through a reimbursable agreement with EOUSA and the USAO for the
Northern District of California in San Francisco. This project enhances
prosecutorial efforts to identify defendant assets early in the process and to
return those assets to the victim after conviction. Results of the demonstration
will be distributed to other U.S. Attorney's offices for possible replication.
American Indians
--Tribal Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Programs. OVC
continued to expand its support for Tribal CASA demonstration programs. In
FY 1997--in cooperation with OJJDP and the National Court-Appointed
Special Advocate Association--OVC funded Indian CASA programs so that
Tribal courts could assign advocates to represent the best interests of children.
A Tribal court may serve as the American Indian child's only recourse to
protection and justice. In FY 1997, the CASA program was expanded to
include four demonstration programs and the development of guidelines for 17
CASA American Indian programs.
--Victim Assistance in Indian Country (VAIC) Exemplary Programs. Several
model Indian Country programs received OVC funding in FYs 1997-1998.
With demonstrated successes, they hold much potential for replication by other
Tribes.
o Lummi Victims of Crime, Lummi Tribe, Washington. Since 1990, the
Lummi Tribe has been providing services to crime victims, with strong support
from the Tribe and Lummi law enforcement. The program is an accredited
sexual assault service provider in the State of Washington and is actively
seeking funding to expand into a shelter program. The program's goals are to
work with the Tribe to develop a bill of rights for victims and to obtain a Tribal
resolution of support. Lummi victim assistance staff are well versed in
compensation and training standards for advocates and train other programs as
a mentor on many aspects of program development.
o AG Tribal Initiative. OVC has continued funding under the U.S. Attorney
General's Indian Country Justice Initiative for its model projects of
Laguna/Pueblo and Northern Cheyenne. The U.S. Attorney General's initiative
is designed to address the most formidable obstacles to vigorous Federal
criminal enforcement in Indian Country. Working with residents of the
Laguna/Pueblo and Northern Cheyenne Reservations, the initiative focuses on
systematically reviewing how the Federal and Tribal justice systems can come
together to support crime victims. OVC funding supports CJA programs,
court-appointed special advocates, victim/witness coordinators, and training
and technical assistance at each site. OVC continued to fund the program in
1999 through its CIRCLE program also initiated through the U.S. Attorney
General's office and awarded by the Office of Justice Programs. Pueblo of
Zuni, Oglala Sioux Tribe, and Northern Cheyenne are under the CIRCLE
program.
o Legal Education of Tribal and Federal Judges. OVC funded the University
of North Dakota, Tribal Judicial Training Institute, to provide legal education to
Tribal and Federal judges on the adjudication of child sexual abuse cases
occurring in Indian Country and on the relevant Tribal law. OVC coordinated
this program with DOJ's Office of Tribal Justice to include Tribal judges from
the Tribal court projects, the DOJ partnership projects, and other OJP projects
for American Indian Tribal justice officials.
o Victims of Crime Services Program (VOCS). OVC supports VOCS
through its VAIC program which serves victims of domestic violence and
sexual abuse. VOCS has been used as a model volunteer usage program that
recruits, trains, and uses former victims, high school students, and other
community members from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon,
to serve that same community. A total of 15 volunteers supplement the staff by
assisting victims. VOCS is a highly organized program which serves
approximately 260 victims per year by providing shelter, transportation,
counseling for individuals and groups, and many other services including
processing temporary restraining orders.
o TRIAD Exemplary Program. In FY 1997, OVC announced funding to
adapt the TRIAD model to Indian Country. TRIAD provides a coordinated
response to elderly crime victims by combining the efforts and resources of law
enforcement, victim assistance providers, and senior citizens and their agent
organizations. The Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Oklahoma has been
particularly successful in coordinating with a variety of agencies off- and
on-reservation, assisting other Indian Country programs in providing training
and serving as a TRIAD model to them. The Tribe provides solid in-kind
support to allow the program to strengthen its partnerships with surrounding
communities. OVC funded an additional program with the Blackfeet Tribe in
FY 1999 and plans to expand the TRIAD model to other Tribes through
production of a video and TRIAD manual appropriate for use in Indian
Country.
Conclusion
OVC's ability to fund demonstration programs and identify promising practices
is an important part of its mission. A limited amount of funding, a large client
roster, and frequent turnover in staff provide little opportunity for
community-based victim service programs to focus on program development
issues such as identifying new and improved ways for meeting the needs of
crime victims. When program leadership is able to devote the resources and
time to program enhancement efforts, they do not want to waste time
reinventing the wheel. The victim service field looks to OVC to fund the
development of new, comprehensive models for serving crime victims, to
widely disseminate information on model programs and best practices, and to
provide seed money, technical assistance, and moral support to those programs
that venture on to higher levels of victim services. OVC has devoted its
resources to projects that address traditional systems and emerging program
areas. Successes recognized in this biennium in some cases are the result of a
substantial commitment of funding, staff efforts, and a growing appreciation of
the role of crime victims in our justice system. OVC will continue to identify
promising practices, make the transfer of research to practice a top priority,
and fund demonstration programs and create technical assistance resources to
respond to the needs and the demands of the field. The above models are only
a brief glimpse of OVC's work in this area. Chapter 8 describes in great detail
the efforts of state and community-based programs that are the beneficiaries of
the promising practices, demonstration projects, and training and technical
assistance efforts OVC supports with its discretionary funding.
----------------------------
Chapter 7
Providing International Leadership and Responding to Victims of Terrorism
OVC's International Leadership Role
Terrorism
--Oklahoma City Bombing
--Embassy Bombings
--Khobar Towers
--Pan Am Flight
International Trafficking of Women and Children
--Direct Services for Trafficked Victims
--Focus Group on Assisting Trafficked Victims
Assisting the Reunification of Abducted Children
Conclusion
As countries and their citizens become connected through tourism, Internet
usage, and international trade, issues of violent crime and victimization become
more visible and raise an international concern and focus. The United States is
one of the leaders in the emerging international victims field. The publication of
the 1982 Final Report of the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime was a
landmark document not only in the U.S., but internationally as well. A number
of other countries created their own task forces based on the American model,
and victims' rights gained visibility in international forums such as the United
Nations. In 1985, the United Nations implemented a Declaration of Basic
Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, and
governments and organizations around the world have responded to the
challenge of implementing the Declaration.
The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is responding to crime victims on an
international level. Many victimization issues that OVC is responding to include
the plight of victims of terrorism, commercial exploitation and international
trafficking of women and children, and international child abduction. OVC has
expanded the original scope of its leadership role by working to improve
coordination between government and nongovernment agencies involved with
international victimization cases and to improve information sharing and victim
assistance worldwide.
OVC's International Leadership Role
Over the last several years, OVC has promoted effective and sensitive victim
rights and services around the world under the authority provided by VOCA
and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (the Anti-Terrorism
Act), which was signed into law by President Clinton in 1996. The
Anti-Terrorism Act provided a new VOCA eligibility requirement that each
State provide compensation for any resident who is injured or for survivors of
any resident killed in a terrorist attack in a foreign country. OVC continues to
coordinate and work in cooperation with DOJ components, the State
Department, the United Nations, and other international organizations to
enhance the integration of crime victim issues into all international discussions of
crime. Several examples of OVC's efforts in this area include the following:
--United Nations Initiative. Since 1996, OVC staff have participated in the
annual United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in
Vienna, Austria. For the past 3 years, the United States has cosponsored
resolutions to foster implementation of the 1985 United Nations Declaration of
Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. OVC has
taken the lead in coordinating the development of a United Nations Handbook
on Justice for Victims and an accompanying Guide for Policymakers on
implementing the principles set forth in the Declaration in countries around the
world.
--Tourist Initiative. International tourists who become victims often face
isolation, culture shock, lack of familiar social supports, travel stress, and
language barriers. In FY 1998, OVC awarded a grant to NOVA, along with
an international advisory committee of representatives from tourist victim
programs throughout the world, to study how communities can improve
services to foreign travelers. To accomplish this goal, NOVA conducted an
international search for promising practices, policies, and procedures for
assisting international tourist victims. Resulting information will be made
available to the international field of victim advocates and allied professionals
through a NOVA database, an OVC bulletin, tourist brochures, and a
companion handbook. This project grew out of the recommendations in New
Directions that the United States help establish "an international network of
information dissemination, training, and technical assistance on victim rights and
assistance."
--International Directories. An increasing number of countries provide victim
compensation to foreign nationals; however, international victimization poses
administrative obstacles both for victims seeking compensation and for
programs providing financial assistance. To inform travelers from all Nations
about benefits that exist in the country they are visiting and how to apply for
them, OVC coordinated with the U.S. Department of State to determine which
countries have crime victim compensation programs and to develop an
International Victim Compensation Program Resource Directory, which is
updated annually. Of the 115 countries that responded to the survey in 1998,
23 countries and the United States reported that they have established crime
victim compensation programs. These programs are listed in the directory,
along with basic eligibility and application information.
--Development of Federal Protocol for Responding to Victims of Terrorism
Abroad. Recent international terrorist attacks against the United States have
illuminated many of the unique and complex problems in coordinating an
appropriate short- and long-term response to victims of terrorism abroad and
the need to develop a Federal protocol for responding to future international
terrorist incidents. Terrorism crimes tend to involve large numbers of victims
and may include employees of various Federal agencies as well as tourists,
business representatives, and foreign nationals. Obtaining critical information
about victims and providing emergency relief and ongoing services is
complicated and difficult. Access to compensation, benefits, and services can
depend on which agencies victims work and their residency status. OVC has
taken a leadership role in coordinating the development of a high-level working
group comprised of representatives from all Cabinet agencies and other
agencies with significant overseas presence or operational responsibilities to
crime victims. This working group is developing a Federal protocol to ensure a
more seamless response to victims in the future.
Terrorism
International crises such as terrorist attacks involve victims and survivors from
many different countries, and local caregivers are sometimes unable to intervene
usefully due to a lack of education, resources, and language and cultural
barriers. Moreover, because of complicated international investigations which
frequently involve multiple jurisdictions, the rights, needs, and services available
to victims of terrorism may be overlooked.
Surviving family members whose loved ones were killed abroad by terrorists in
various countries have voiced several concerns about the lack of appropriate
services for victims and victims' families in the aftermath of the incident.
Specifically, they have expressed dissatisfaction with notification procedures
after the death of their loved ones, red tape that made finding out information
about their cases difficult and more painful, lack of regular updates about the
status of their cases from responsible government officials, and the poor
coordination between governmental agencies involved in these cases. Many of
these victim issues are not unique to terrorism abroad but extend to victims of
terrorism within the United States. The following are various incidents of
terrorism and the victim services provided in response to each of these cases
during FYs 1997-1998.
Oklahoma City Bombing
In FYs 1997 and 1998, OVC tapped its Reserve Fund to help victims attend
the Oklahoma City bombing trials in Denver, Colorado, and to facilitate
courtroom participation by victims who could not attend the trials, providing
them with closed circuit broadcast of the trial proceedings. OVC also provided
ongoing counseling services for victims in Oklahoma City and Denver and
funded temporary staff to handle the additional workload involved with the two
trials in Denver. Other efforts on behalf of Oklahoma City bombing victims are
described below:
--Colorado/Oklahoma Resource Council (CORC). Antiterrorism funding
from OVC enabled CORC--a conglomeration of private organizations in the
Denver area--to directly assist the victims and survivors of the Oklahoma City
bombing traveling to Denver to participate in the Federal criminal trials and
sentencing of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. During the two trials and
other hearings in Denver, CORC provided direct services to 437 victims,
including lodging, local transportation, the conduct of "Safe Havens" near the
Federal courthouse to insulate victims attending the trials, and a process for
handling emergency medical and mental health incidents and other victim
services. With funding from OVC, CORC has documented the model it
developed for potential application by other jurisdictions where there is a
change of venue and/or a high-profile case necessitating a coordinated
community response.
--Project Heartland. According to research findings of the Oklahoma
Departments of Health and Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services,
there is substantial evidence that family members and victims are at the highest
risk for long-term psychological distress after an incident like the Oklahoma
City bombing. Created in May 1995 by the Department of Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Services with funding support from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, Project Heartland has served as the principal mental
health service provider for victims and survivors of the Oklahoma City
bombing. Project Heartland, through the VOCA victim assistance program,
also provided support for crisis counseling activities at the "Safe Havens" in
Oklahoma City and in Denver during the trial.
--Critical Incident Working Group, Inc. Because of the unusual combination
of duration, horror, danger, and frustration resulting from the high fatality rate in
the Oklahoma City bombing, all survivors, rescue workers, and victims' family
members required careful monitoring in anticipation of any treatment needs.
Critical Incident Workshop Group, Inc., was created to provide and
coordinate victim services that include workshops, stress management and
suicide intervention workshops, and marriage counseling retreats for the
individuals involved in the rescue effort who may need counseling or related
services 2 to 5 years following the event.
Embassy Bombings
In the aftermath of the simultaneous bombings of two U.S. Embassies in Kenya
and Tanzania on August 7, 1998, OVC worked with many different Federal
agencies, including the Departments of State, Defense, Labor, Health and
Human Services, and Justice; the Office of Personnel Management; the Agency
for International Development; and the Central Intelligence Agency, to ensure
that information, benefits, and services were available to the victims of those
attacks. In FYs 1997-1998, OVC also funded a victim specialist position at the
U.S. Department of State to serve as liaison to the victims and surviving family
members of the Americans killed in the bombings.
Khobar Towers
Following the bombing of Khobar Towers in Dharain, Saudi Arabia, OVC
used its authority under the Anti-Terrorism Act to ensure that the survivors of
the 19 military service members killed were aware of compensation and
assistance benefits. In December 1997, OVC established a 1-800 line for
families and other victims in the U.S. Attorney's office in the District of
Columbia to provide current information about the case investigation and the
status of the alleged terrorists.
Pan Am Flight 103
At the end of FY 98, OVC began working with Scottish officials, State
Department representatives, DOJ officials, and others to secure services for the
families of victims of Pan Am Flight 103 as they prepare for the upcoming trial
in the Netherlands. The greatest concern at this point following the tragedy,
which occurred on December 21, 1988, is providing the victims the opportunity
to fully participate in the trial in accordance with the Attorney General's
Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance. In addition, OVC is using its
Anti-Terrorism Act authority and resources to support needed services such as
mental health counseling for the surviving family members.
With the recent experience of Khobar Towers, accommodating Pan Am Flight
103 families of victims for the trial, and the Embassy bombings, current Federal
and State legislation does not adequately address the needs of Americans who
are victims of terrorism and mass violence crimes that occur outside the borders
of the United States. Victims of these crimes come from many different States,
and victims of the same crime may receive disparate treatment depending on
their State of residence. To more effectively meet the needs of these victims, a
centralized coordination of information and resources on the Federal level is
needed. OVC is working with the State Department and other Federal
agencies, representatives of State compensation programs, and victims of
terrorism to develop a strategy for providing more timely and effective
assistance to victims of terrorism abroad. This proposed strategy includes
creating an international terrorism victims division within OVC and a special
compensation program for victims of terrorism abroad.
International Trafficking of Women and Children
OVC is working in a number of areas to address the needs of victims who are
trafficked across U.S. borders for exploitative purposes. OVC staff are
working on issues related to the international trafficking of women and children.
In addition, OVC has undertaken the following projects.
Direct Services for Trafficked Victims
In FY 1997, OVC funded the Filipino American Service Group, Inc. (FASGI)
to provide direct services to Asian women and children trafficked and held as
garment or sex industry workers. FASGI worked to assist women in
re-establishing healthy and normal lives and ensure their availability as effective
material witnesses while reducing the costs to taxpayers and providing a model
that can be used in other regions of the country. The project developed
guidelines for use by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
and the U.S. Courts in releasing trafficked women to community care and
developed a preliminary curriculum for a continuum of care, called "Southeast
Asia Women in Transition."
Focus Group on Assisting Trafficked Victims
In June 1998, OVC convened a focus group on assistance and outreach to
victims of international trafficking. The victimization that flows from such
trafficking is significant, yet for many reasons, these victims are largely without
services. The purpose of the focus group was to gather views about how best
to meet the myriad needs of victims of international trafficking, including those
who have been trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation, slave labor, and
other unlawful purposes. Victim service providers, immigrant rights advocates,
and others who come directly in contact with trafficked victims attended the
meeting. In addition, representatives from the INS, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the Departments of State and Labor attended the meeting.
Recommendations were made which OVC has incorporated in program
development.
Assisting the Reunification of Abducted Children
In October 1996, OVC entered into an agreement with the International
Division of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
to make funding available, along with guidelines for its use, for the cost of
reunification of the victim parent with the family-abducted children in the foreign
country and return to the United States. Under OVC's reunification program,
14 children have been reunited with their families in the United States. In one
case, an American child was returned home after being abandoned in a Middle
East refugee camp. In another recovery, a child missing for 3 years was located
in the foster care system of an African Nation. OVC funding is provided to
those American parents who could not otherwise afford the expenses of
recovering their children overseas. In FY 1999, OVC and NCMEC expanded
the guidelines to allow for parents to travel abroad to attend custodial hearings
in The Hague Convention countries.
In the search for their missing children, many parents exhaust their life savings
on telephone calls, attorneys, and private investigators. It is estimated that 19
children are abducted from the United States or illegally retained in foreign
countries each week. The International Child Abduction and Remedies Act (42
U.S.C. 11601) implemented the United States' ratification of The Hague
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The Hague
Convention provides for the prompt return of wrongfully removed or retained
children to the country of habitual residence but governs only those cases
involving countries that have become partners in The Hague Convention.
However, funding was not provided to pay for the reunification process.
Conclusion
OVC continues to work toward improving serv-ices for crime victims and
raising public awareness of crime victim issues internationally. Each year, OVC
hosts dozens of visitors from around the world who are interested in victim
assistance efforts in the United States. Visits have included officials from
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, The
Netherlands, Nigeria, South Africa, and Turkey. OVC also updates victim
assistance advocates worldwide through its National Victim Assistance
Academy, which has trained students from Australia, Germany, Japan, Nigeria,
Rwanda, and South Africa. As OVC moved into FY 1999, it conducted a
focus group with the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) to explore ways that
OVC can work with CVT to educate victim service providers about the unique
needs of vulnerable immigrant victims of politically motivated torture. CVT has
conducted several training workshops for Federal law enforcement personnel
and is exploring avenues to train victim service providers around the country.
Also, OVC cosponsored with four other DOJ agencies, a series of five regional
symposia on restorative justice. One was held in November 1998, and
additional conferences are scheduled through 2002. The conference series
grew out of a United Nations working group on restorative justice. Also in FY
1999, OVC worked with the U.S. Department of Justice Worker Exploitation
Task Force, various service providers throughout the country, and numerous
nongovernmental organizations to develop a training video for Federal law
enforcement personnel on the issues facing victims of trafficking. These are only
some of the efforts extending beyond FY 1998 that OVC is making in the
international arena. Crime victim issues are not confined to political boundaries,
and therefore OVC will continue to work within the international community to
improve awareness of and responsiveness to victims' rights and needs and to
further the integration of crime victim issues into all international discussions of
crime.
----------------------------
Chapter 8
Supporting Direct Services for Crime Victims
OVC-Supported State Programs To Compensate and Assist Crime Victims
VOCA Victim Services Trends for Priority Populations in FYs 1997-1998
Services for Victims of Domestic Violence
Services for Adult Victims of Sexual Assault
Services for Victims of Child Abuse
Services for Underserved Victims
Comparison of Services and Funding Among Categories of Victims
Other VOCA Victim Assistance Program Trends for FYs 1997-1998
--Integration of Victim Participation Into the Criminal Justice System
--Development and Expectation of Competencies in Providing Victim Services
--Multidisciplinary, Multisystem Approaches to Responding to Crime Victims
--Outreach to Unserved Victim Categories
--Improved Management of Programs and Administrative Capability and
Capacity
--Greater Use of Technology
VOCA Victim Compensation Program Trends For FYs 1997-1998
--Amounts Paid by Type of Expense (Crime Victim Compensation)
--Integration of Crime Victim Compensation Into a Coordinated, Collaborative
Response to Crime Victims
--Increased Responsiveness to Crime Victims
--Expanding and Enhancing Programs and Improving Efficiency and
Effectiveness
--Effective Use of Peer Consultation and Training
OVC-Supported Direct Services for Federal Crime Victims
--Facilitating and Funding Unmet Emergency Needs
--Increasing Participation of Victims in the Federal Justice System
--Reaching Out to Remote Populations
Conclusion
During the last biennium, OVC continued its efforts to promote the delivery of
comprehensive, quality services for all crime victims, regardless of the type of
crime they experienced, their age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual
orientation, capability, or geographic location. Because the funding available for
direct services during the FYs 1997-1998 biennium exceeded any previous
biennium, OVC exercised leadership in working with State administrators to
plan for, implement, and operate programs that not only continued and
expanded services already in place, but also reached communities not yet
served and supported innovative approaches to meeting victim needs.
The victims' rights movement has achieved visibility and credibility. From its
beginnings in the early 1970s with grassroots efforts to respond to rape victims
and battered women, the movement has effected significant legislation, funding,
creation of services, and a research base, and victim advocates are beginning to
look at standards for programs and individual providers. State programs have
improved outreach efforts, and victim advocacy organizations have learned to
work effectively with legislators and policymakers. OVC has encouraged these
developments through funding and training, provision of technical assistance,
and advocacy for systemic change. Shelters and court-based advocacy
programs have been created for domestic violence victims, self-help groups
have evolved for survivors of homicide and drunk driving, and child advocacy
centers have opened for child sexual abuse victims. According to public opinion
surveys[5] and evaluation of services provided by government-based and
private nonprofit programs, increasing numbers of the general public now
accept and expect that services will be in place for crime victims.
----------------------------
Footnote:
5. Council of State Governments Eastern Regional Conference conducted a
survey in 10 Northeastern States in November 1998 to assess public attitudes
about crime, victimization, and rights and services afforded to crime victims.
----------------------------
OVC-Supported State Programs To Compensate and Assist Crime Victims
Through its State Compensation and Assistance Division, the Office for Victims
of Crime (OVC) administers the two major formula grant programs authorized
by VOCA: Victim Compensation and Victim Assistance. OVC distributes over
90 percent of the Crime Victims Fund deposits directly to the States to support
State victim compensation and assistance services for victims and survivors of
domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, drunk driving, homicide, and
other crimes. The amount of money distributed to States and territories for
compensation and assistance programs has fluctuated since the passage of
VOCA and the establishment of the Crime Victims Fund. During FYs 1997-
98, OVC distributed $682.5 million to States in the form of formula grants. This
2-year distribution represented 40 percent of all funds distributed since the
inception of VOCA.
All 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have
established victim compensation programs. Each of these compensation
programs reimburses victims for such crime-related expenses as medical costs,
mental health counseling, funeral and burial costs, and lost wages or loss of
support when other financial resources, such as private insurance or offender
restitution, do not cover the loss.
During FYs 1997-1998, victim compensation programs expanded eligibility to
new categories of crime victims (e.g., victims of stalking and of hit and run
motor vehicle crashes) and compensated victims for additional types of service
(e.g., counseling for children who witness domestic violence). The increase in
the number of applications for compensation received in FYs 97-98 reflects
increased awareness of and use of these programs by victims and expanded
coverage of crimes and services by States. This also reflects the increase in the
number of programs receiving funds under VOCA victim assistance, since, as a
requirement of receiving funds, these programs must assist victims in applying
for compensation.
Victim assistance programs provide direct serv-ices such as crisis counseling,
criminal justice system advocacy, shelter, and other needed assistance to crime
victims. All States and territories receive an annual VOCA victim assistance
grant. Each State, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto
Rico receives a base amount of $500,000. The territories of the Northern
Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa each receive a base amount of
$200,000. Remaining funds are distributed on the basis of population. VOCA
funds, awarded to States each year, support more than 4,000
community-based programs that serve crime victims. From FY 1986 through
FY 1998, States received more than $1 billion in VOCA victim assistance
grants.
The FY 97 and 98 increase in Federal funding occurred in concert with
implementation of State constitutional amendments for crime victims' rights,
which were passed prior to and during the biennium: eight States passed an
amendment during this biennium alone. As a result, significant activity was
directed toward making services available to victims to exercise their rights in
the criminal justice system and toward educating criminal justice and human
services professionals on the availability of compensation for crime victims. In
effect, the availability of VOCA victim assistance funding during the last 2 years
played a major role in many States' ability to respond to victims at a time when
crime victims were visible, assertive, and effective in influencing State legislative
agendas.
----------------------------
"The words thanks, gratitude, etc., are all fitting, but I know in my heart that
God sent you to help me. Your demeanor invokes an atmosphere of trust. I
know that I can still count on you whenever I need someone to talk to because
you've never failed to be there for me. . . . I hope this program will be there for
the many people who need special help."
--A victim who received services from a New Orleans Rape Crisis Center
----------------------------
"Overall my stay at the shelter provided me with the options necessary to make
a new start and break away from an unhealthy and dangerous situation. Without
places like Passageway it would be really hard for women without any support
systems in their lives to have any shot at starting over."
--A victim who received services from Passageway, a VOCA-funded program
serving domestic violence victims in Oklahoma
----------------------------
VOCA Victim Services Trends for Priority Populations in FYs 1997-1998
The VOCA statute requires States and territories receiving victim assistance
funds to give priority consideration to victims of domestic violence, sexual
assault, child abuse, and those previously underserved. These "priority
populations" are the categories used in this report to track the flow of VOCA
funds.
Services for Victims of Domestic Violence
Victims of domestic violence have historically received a major commitment of
VOCA victim assistance dollars (see Figure 6). While States and territories
must spend a minimum of 10 percent of their funds on programs for domestic
violence, they have regularly committed almost four times this amount. This
commitment continued during the last biennium even as States received funding
authorized under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). VOCA dollars
fund direct services to domestic violence victims, such as crisis intervention,
advocacy, shelter services, and counseling. VAWA dollars, in turn, focus on
changing the criminal justice system's response to domestic violence through
training and support of law enforcement activity and policy development and
implementation. In effect, the systemic change envisioned by VAWA is
supported by the direct services funded through VOCA victim assistance.State
compensation programs have made concerted efforts to reach out to victims of
domestic violence and to adapt program requirements to better respond to
these victims. The result is a steady increase in the number of claims filed and
the amount of money awarded to victims of domestic violence and their
families.
----------------------------
Domestic Violence Funds and Services
--Under VOCA victim assistance, domestic violence receives the largest
commitment of funds and serves the largest number of victims of any victim
category.
--Under VOCA victim assistance, States must spend a minimum of 10
percent of their award on domestic violence. During the last biennium, States
exceeded that by almost 4 times.
--For both VOCA victim assistance and victim compensation, the number of
victims served and the amount of money expended for victims of domestic
violence increased.
--Under VOCA victim compensation, domestic violence claims continued a
4-year increase and funds awarded to domestic violence victims increased by
58 percent over the previous biennium.
----------------------------
Services for Adult Victims of Sexual Assault
VOCA establishes the same priority for funding for victims of sexual assault6 as
it does for victims of domestic violence (see Figure 7). Sexual assault programs
are entitled to receive a minimum of 10 percent of funds made available to
States from OVC to support direct services. Nationwide, States have allocated
almost 20 percent of total VOCA funding for programs and services for sexual
assault victims. Between FY 1997 and FY 1998, sexual assault programs,
including programs serving adults molested as children received more than $73
million dollars in funding. This funding provided for a wide range of services
including crisis counseling, criminal justice advocacy, and information and
referral. These services were augmented by benefits from forensic medical
examination, mental health counseling, medical services and lost wages covered
by State compensation programs.
The amount of compensation funds awarded by States to victims of sexual
assault decreased from the last biennium. This is most likely due to the dramatic
increase in programs funded by VOCA victim assistance and by VAWA for
sexual assault victims. However, the amount expended by compensation
programs for forensic exams increased significantly from the last biennium and
has become a stable funding source for these procedures. Use of these exams
is a direct reflection of increased sensitivity by medical and criminal justice
personnel to victims of sexual assault who consent to this means of evidence
collection, but the ability to collect this evidence has facilitated efforts by State
and local criminal justice officials to investigate and prosecute sexual assaults.
This effectiveness, in turn, has increased willingness on the part of victims to
report these crimes.
Services for Victims of Child Abuse
Like other categories of crime victims, victims of child physical and sexual
abuse benefit from resources available from both local victim assistance
programs and State crime victim compensation programs that receive VOCA
funding annually (see Figure 8). On average, States expended roughly 21
percent of their VOCA victim assistance dollars to fund child abuse treatment
programs and children's advocacy centers. In the last biennium, this amounted
to nearly $81 million allocated for victim assistance programs serving these
victims. During FYs 97-98 alone, this constituted a 250-percent increase in
VOCA victim assistance funds committed and an almost 70 percent increase
in community-based programs funded during this reporting period.
VOCA-supported compensation programs ex-pended more than $63 million
on child abuse.
Services for Underserved Victims
The underserved crime victim category represents a fourth priority added to the
VOCA victim assistance program by Congress in 1988 (see Figure 9). In
implementing this statutory provision, OVC provided broad discretion to States
and territories in determining which victim populations fall within this category.
Many State VOCA administrators routinely survey crime victim advocates and
organizations, analyze crime statistics, and utilize other mechanisms for
determining which victims to designate as "previously underserved" and allocate
the minimum 10 percent funding for programs serving them. Underserved
victims may include victims of drunk driving, homicide (surviving family
members), physical assault, elder abuse, robbery, hate crimes, arson, and
financial fraud. With the exception of American Indians and victims in rural
areas, OVC has discouraged States from designating underserved by their
demographic characteristics to ensure that victims of crimes other than child
abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault receive funding support under the
VOCA victim assistance program.
Like the other priority categories, programs responding to underserved victim
populations received more than 20 percent of the VOCA funding awarded to
States for crime victim services. Under VOCA-funded crime victim
compensation programs, on the other hand, underserved victims commanded
77 percent or more of total expenditures. In addition, this group comprised 61
percent of all claims approved. This reflects the significant expenditures in this
program for medical care for physically assaulted and drunk driving victims and
funeral expenses for homicide victims. With underserved victims, the victim
assistance and compensation programs complement one another. The
compensation program addresses many of the physical care needs of injured
crime victims, while the victim assistance program provides for the crisis
intervention, criminal justice advocacy, and social services needs of crime
victims. Both programs address the psychological consequences of crime
victimization.
Comparison of Services and Funding Among Categories of Victims
During the last biennium, VOCA victim assistance funded programs served
more than 5.6 million victims. Some 53 percent of the victims served were
victims of domestic violence. The next largest category of victims served, at 26
percent, was underserved victims, followed by child abuse victims at 12
percent and adult sexual assault victims at 9 percent. When domestic violence
and child abuse victims are combined, the number of family violence victims
served is 65 percent of all victims. This demonstrates a strong commitment by
the States in using VOCA victim assistance funding to serve these victims and
break the cycle of violence.
Total VOCA victim assistance funding for programs serving priority categories,
i.e., domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault, was approximately
$4,141,855. At 38 percent of funds allocated, States gave first priority to
funding services to domestic violence victims. Services to underserved
populations at 23 percent, child abuse at 21 percent, and adult sexual assault at
19 percent, followed in rank order of funds allocated (see Table 5). When
domestic violence and child abuse funding are combined, 58 percent of VOCA
victim assistance funding in the FY 97-98 biennium was committed to assisting
victims of family violence.
Funding for the priority categories (i.e., domestic violence, child abuse, sexual
assault, and previously underserved victim populations) has exceeded the level
of funding established in the VOCA victim assistance guidelines (see Table 6).
Likewise these victim categories received substantial funding support from State
crime victim compensation programs. The original priorities of child abuse,
sexual assault, and domestic violence received more than $115.7 million in
compensation benefits during the biennium. It is much more difficult to
determine with any degree of certainty, however, the exact amount of
compensation expenditures for the previously underserved category because
the data are not collected in a way that provides this information. State
compensation programs expended more than $353.7 million in VOCA victim
compensation and State funds on victims of assault, survivors of homicide
victims, and DUI/DWI victims during the biennium (see Figure 10).
Crime victim compensation programs expended the largest amount of VOCA
and State funds on nonfamilial crime. The family violence categories of child
sexual and physical abuse and domestic violence comprise 19 percent of total
expenditures for the biennium. While the remaining categories may include
family violence (e.g., homicide by a spouse), broadly speaking, compensation
programs awarded more funds for benefits to victims of violence outside the
family.
Other VOCA Victim Assistance Program Trends For FYs 1997-1998
----------------------------
"This VOCA grant has made the difference between our program meeting the
basic needs of those victimized by crime in Clackamas County and having to
prioritize and/or reduce the service provided by our division . . . .Thank you
very much for the opportunity to serve on the human side of the criminal justice
system."
--Terry Gustafson
District Attorney, Oregon City
----------------------------
VOCA victim assistance programs fund programs that provide direct services
to crime victims. The 361-percent funding increase in the CVF from the
previous biennium resulted in an increase in the number of victims served and
the number of services provided through VOCA victim assistance grants.
States awarded subgrants to 3,722 victim services programs in FY 1997 and
4,143 programs in FY 1998, compared with 2,535 in FY 1995 and 2,678 in
FY 1996, a 51-percent increase on average in funded programs for FYs
1997-1998. Several trends emerged that are responsible for the successful
expansion and improvement of crime victim services over the last biennium:
integration of victim participation and services into the criminal justice system;
development and expectations of competence in the victim services field, a
multidisciplinary, multisystem approach to responding to crime victims; outreach
to unserved victim categories; improved management of programs and
administrative capability and capacity; and greater use of technology.
Integration of Victim Participation Into the Criminal Justice System
In FYs 1997-1998, major steps were taken to integrate victim services into the
criminal justice system and to legitimize victims' roles in that system. States
passed laws concerning victims of domestic violence, stalking, juvenile crime,
child abuse, and hate and bias crimes, among others. This increased attention to
the rights of victims promoted an increase in the number of subgrants to criminal
justice organizations, including prosecutor, law enforcement, and probation
offices. In addition, 29 percent more victims received VOCA-funded criminal
justice system support services in FY 1997 than in FY 1996. This number
increased by an additional 22 percent in FY 1998.
Consistent with these numbers, State VOCA victim assistance administrators
reported increased cooperation among law enforcement, prosecutors, and
victim services programs, and greater coordination between State victim
assistance providers and Federal criminal justice agencies. Cooperation among
sexual assault advocates, hospitals, law enforcement, and prosecutors in
standardizing and adapting evidence collection to the sensitivities of victims
resulted in better outcomes for both prosecution and victim services. In several
States, Federal victim/witness coordinators are members of organizations'
advisory boards that serve victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and
other victims of crime--also resulting in more effective coordination of the
delivery of services to Federal crime victims.
----------------------------
"It is with a great deal of pride that I send in our VOCA performance report.
Because of your grant, we have been able to work more efficiently with
survivors of homicide. This money has enabled us to soften the pain on the long
journey each survivor of homicide makes."
--Parents of Murdered Children
Portland Oregon Chapter
----------------------------
Development and Expectation of Competencies in Providing Victim Services
OVC has directly contributed to the movement to improve the quality of
services victims receive through its sponsorship of training and technical
assistance, development of program standards, and efforts to offer educational
opportunities to victim advocates and allied professionals. At the same time,
during the last biennium, States' VOCA victim assistance programs also have
been instrumental in providing for, arranging, funding, and sponsoring
considerable training of victim serv-ices providers and criminal justice officials.
In FYs 1997-1998, VOCA victim assistance administrators in several States
conducted statewide conferences and training academies. States sent advocates
to OVC's National Victim Assistance Academy and several States--including
California, Florida, Michigan, New Mexico, and Ohio--have developed their
own training programs for advocates.
FYs 1997-1998 performance reports show victim advocates reaching out to
other professionals and their organizations to expand services to crime victims.
For instance, Maryland successfully integrated domestic violence workplace
policies within State agencies and created a domestic violence in the workplace
training curriculum for State employees. Other States provided training for
clergy and social workers in grief and trauma therapy and emergency medical
technicians and hospital emergency room staff on domestic violence.
VOCA victim assistance funds were also used to raise program and provider
standards. For example, Alabama enacted legislation to establish standards for
domestic violence shelters, Kansas required accreditation for sexual assault and
domestic violence organizations, and Pennsylvania established uniform
standards for serving co-victims of homicide, robbery, burglary, and assault.
Multidisciplinary, Multisystem Approaches to Responding to Crime Victims
In the aftermath of crime, a victim may interact with a variety of professionals
and their systems, including health care, law enforcement, victim services and
compensation, prosecution, courts, human services, public assistance,
corrections, probation, and parole. No one system can independently provide
all services needed by a victim. State VOCA victim assistance reports
document the formation of multiple advisory committees, councils, coalitions,
and task forces covering general crime victims, sexual assault, child abuse, and
domestic violence during the last biennium.
The incorporation of multidisciplinary, multisystem approaches to serving crime
victims--beyond the traditional criminal justice agencies and nonprofit
organizations--is a major factor in improving responses to victims of crime.
Many States have funded child advocacy centers that incorporate medical,
mental health, law enforcement, prosecution, and child protective services into a
single program that allows for victims of child sexual abuse to be interviewed
and examined, thus facilitating decisions regarding prosecution and delivery of
services to the victim and family at one meeting. The multidisciplinary team
approach to child abuse is now common in many States. In addition, several
communities in Minnesota introduced models of whole community responses to
sexual assault. The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program requires
medical personnel, law enforcement, prosecutors, and sexual assault advocacy
organizations to collaborate on behalf of the victim, again saving the victim from
repeated questioning. Crisis response teams require collaboration of law
enforcement, prosecutors, trained victim crisis interveners and counselors, and
victim compensation programs to effectively respond to mass violence. These
teams have been established in many States with OVC facilitating the delivery
of training to these professionals, often through a grant to NOVA.
Other unique relationships have developed to meet the needs of specific groups
of crime victims, such as establishing a Mothers Against Drunk Driving
(MADD) advocate on a reservation in Arizona, opening a free legal clinic in a
sexual assault program in Minnesota, and initiating training of local law
enforcement, sheriff officers, prosecutors, judges, advocates, social workers,
and hospital emergency room staff to provide an interdisciplinary response to
domestic violence and sexual assault victims by South Dakota victim assistance
programs.
Outreach to Unserved Victim Categories
Diversity is inherent in American culture and, as a result, multiple avenues must
be developed for crime victims to access the criminal justice system and victim
services. As a part of OVC's commitment assuring that all victims of crime
receive services and have access to the criminal justice system, States have
been encouraged to establish innovative programs for crime victims, to increase
outreach to diverse victim populations, and to ensure services are accessible.
Through OVC's diligence to increase awareness of and sensitivity toward
diverse victim populations, the following changes have developed in States
throughout the Nation:
--Understanding that low-income individuals and families may need assistance
in accessing crime victim services, Oregon placed crime victim services staff at
the State welfare office.
--Tennessee developed comprehensive services in rural and socially isolated
areas of the State.
--Many States made greater efforts to reach and serve ethnic groups.
Hispanic hotlines were established in Connecticut and Delaware. In Minnesota,
culturally specific domestic violence shelters were established for Asian,
Spanish-speaking, and American Indian women. To reach Asian populations,
Minnesota has also funded a pilot program for Southeast Asian victims of
gang-related activities, as well as a sexual assault program through the
Women's Association of Hmong and Lao. Washington and Wisconsin
sponsored specialized training on immigrant issues as they affect crime victims.
--Several States recognized the specialized needs of crime victims who are
Deaf or Hard-of- Hearing. For example, in Missouri, the Midwest Leadership
through Education and Advocacy for the Deaf Institute (LEAD) provided, with
VOCA funding, statewide services to Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing victims of
violent crime. The South Carolina Department of Mental Health provided
enhanced services to deaf adults and children by providing interpreters to work
with counselors. In Connecticut, several agencies collaborated to provide
services to victims of sexual assault and their families who were hearing
impaired.
--Other populations to whom States conducted outreach included youth,
victims of gang violence, child witnesses of domestic violence, women and
children victims of Internet-related crimes, elderly victims, and victims who
were owed restitution.
--In FY 1997, 14 States awarded subgrants to Indian Country. During FYs
1997-1998, victim assistance formula grant funds committed to Indian Country
increased by 66 percent over the previous biennium--from $2,662,651 to
$4,042,092.
----------------------------
"Ujima is a wonderful program. It has helped my family and me in many ways
with housing, food, and moral support. I really think this program can assist a
lot of families. I was very blessed and happy to come in contact with this
program. Keep up the good work."
--A victim who received services from Project Ujima, Children's Hospital of
Wisconsin
----------------------------
Improved Management of Programs and Administrative Capability and
Capacity
Because of the increase in legislative mandates, the growth of programs for
crime victims, and the major increase in Federal funding, States increased their
capacity and expertise to manage funding and programs for crime victims by
using up to 5 percent of their awards for administrative costs, as authorized by
VOCA. In FY 1997, State compensation programs used less than 1 percent of
their Federal funds for administration and in FY 1998, they used 1.69 percent.
Rather than using the full allocation of administrative funds available to them,
State administrators placed priority on paying claims from victims. States
continued to use State revenues to pay for program administration. This is a
reasonable approach, considering the relative stability of claims activity and
expenditures, and reflects States' commitment to crime victims.
Thirty-four States and territories used administrative dollars to increase staffing,
particularly for managers, administrators, grant specialists, and program
specialists. Key functions supported with these funds included monitoring,
sponsorship of conferences and training, and provision of technical assistance.
Some other examples of administrative expenditures include the following:
Connecticut and Illinois contracted with a conduit organization to monitor
subgrantees, while several States used administrative dollars to upgrade office
technology and support the implementation of automated systems intended to
improve the coordination and delivery of services. In the VOCA victim
assistance program, States and their subgrantees designed and implemented
quality assurance and evaluation processes of victims services.
Greater Use of Technology
States used VOCA victim assistance administrative funds to improve
management and delivery of victim services. Several States and territories,
during FY 1998, used a portion of the 5-percent allocation to develop
technology and purchase equipment. These funds increased the efficiency of
grants management, in part through the development of databases and
programmed statistical and financial reporting. As an example, Virginia used
administrative dollars to create a Statewide Client Information Management
System (CIMS) that tracks provision of services by client and service agency.
Police crime incident reports, when correlated with CIMS-generated
information, can assess areas of the State that may need additional victim
assistance resources.
States also awarded direct services funds to develop and operate notification
systems to inform victims of activities concerning their cases in the criminal
justice system or expand victim protection. For example, nine States reported
using VOCA dollars to implement statewide automated victim notification
systems that allow victims to be updated on the legal status and whereabouts of
their offenders. In Arizona, VOCA moneys were used to pay for cellular
phones for domestic violence victims so they can summon the police for help at
a moment's notice.
By investing in advanced technology, States increased their capacity to serve
victims. For example, Montana utilized VOCA victim assistance program
dollars to purchase CD-ROM technology to train emergency medical
technicians, as they are often the first to respond to victims in the immediate
aftermath of violent crime. In addition, five States reported using VOCA funds
to create victim service Web sites, making it possible for service providers and
victims to quickly and easily obtain information about available resources.
Not only has technology made services available to more victims, but advanced
technologies are being used to enhance the quality of services offered. In
Illinois, for instance, VOCA funds supported development of InfoNet--an
integrated Information Network that allows victim services providers across the
State to communicate freely with one another, collect accurate program
performance data, and standardize program reporting. In fact, many States
have used VOCA funds to purchase computers and printers for victim services
providers thus enabling them to share information about victims' needs quickly
and to locate appropriate resources. Finally, access to the Internet, with
VOCA-funding support, is helping victim services professionals stay current on
medical and psychological research regarding traumatic victimization and on
"promising practices" that can help victims recover from the consequences of
violent crime.
In sum, VOCA administrative dollars were widely used during the biennium to
help State agencies manage their grants--a trend OVC expects will continue.
VOCA-funded technologies improved crime victim services by helping the
States do the following:
--Reach more underserved crime victims.
--Enhance victim safety through implementation of automated victim
notification systems.
--Improve the transfer of information among providers regarding victims'
needs and available local resources.
--Increase the professional expertise of victim services providers through
Internet access to current academic literature on the consequences and
treatment of criminal victimization.
VOCA Victim Compensation Program Trends For FYs 1997-1998
While VOCA victim assistance funds programs that provide direct services to
crime victims, compensation programs pay certain related expenses for
individual victims of violent crime, such as funeral expenses and lost wages.
During FYs 1997-1998, States undertook initiatives to reduce their backlogs of
claims and expedite claims processing.
The number of claims received increased during FYs 1997-1998 by 10 percent
over the previous biennium (see Figure 11). This most likely reflects increased
outreach activities by State compensation programs. The percentage of claims
approved increased by 6 percent, while the percentage of claims denied
decreased by 8 percent over the previous biennium. While key indicators, such
as number of claims, number of determined and denied claims, and total dollars
spent for FYs 1997-1998 increased, compensation claims activity remained
relatively stable during the biennium. This occurred even as rates of violent
crime decreased. Reasons for this seemingly incongruous occurrence may be
explained by several trends occurring in victim compensation over the last 4
years and underscored during the last biennium.
A number of emerging trends in victim compensation programs were noted
from FYs 1997-1998 performance data and onsite monitoring visits conducted
by OVC staff. Compensation programs engaged in greater outreach to the
general public and to crime victims through statewide conferences and other
public awareness initiatives that informed victims of compensation benefits.
State compensation programs increased their responsiveness to crime victims
by expanding covered costs and improving their claims processing.
Compensation programs received more claims from crime victims and
expended more funds for benefits, even in the face of declining crime statistics.
More effective use of peer consultation and training was facilitated by
OVC-supported National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards
(NACVCB) annual conferences that encouraged networking and fostered
communication between State compensation and assistance administrators.
OVC's Mentor Program supported States' efforts to improve claims
processing, revenue recovery, and other program improvements by facilitating
technical assistance between programs. Taken together, OVC and State efforts
resulted in increased help for victims and a corresponding increase in the receipt
of claims from victims and larger payouts from State compensation programs.
Of the types of crimes covered by the crime victim compensation programs,
physical assault consistently ranks as the crime capturing the largest number of
claims and the largest expenditure of money. (See Figure 12 for number and
amount of victim compensation paid by type of crime.)
The number of homicide claims covered by compensation decreased 6 percent
from the last biennium, likely reflecting a decrease in the homicide rates
nationally. The amount of money paid for homicide claims, however, increased
because of increases in State caps on amounts paid for funeral and burial
expenses, coverage of mental health counseling for survivors, and other
expanded benefits. As reported, domestic violence compensation claims
continued a 4-year (2 biennia) increase. DUI claims were down from the last
biennium, a trend consistent with National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration's figures released in April 1999 on the number of fatalities
resulting from alcohol-related crashes during those years.
Amounts Paid by Type of Expense (Crime Victim Compensation)
Not surprisingly, medical and dental expenses consumed a major share of
VOCA compensation dollars during the biennium (see Figure 13). Many
victims incurred uninsured medical costs as a result of their victimization and so
they turned to State compensation programs for coverage. Medical treatment
ranged from repairing a broken arm to reconstructive surgery for victims of
arson and other catastrophic injuries. The second largest expense category
supported by VOCA was for loss of economic support ($105,811,118).
Crime victim compensation programs provided funds to both adult and child
survivors of homicide victims as well as to victims who were temporarily and
permanently disabled as a result of their injuries. The third largest category
consuming substantial payments to victims was for mental health counseling
expenses ($92,635,056). Crime victims, including both victims who suffered
physical injury and substantial financial losses, often sought assistance from
professional mental health counseling therapists. Mental health counseling
rendered by licensed clinicians frequently was coupled with group counseling
offered by lay persons in community-based victim services programs. The
therapy focused on a wide range of treatment modalities intended to help
victims cope with the devastation of the crime committed against them.
In total, State crime victim compensation programs paid out roughly $521.5
million to crime victims for medical and dental expenses, mental health
counseling, economic support, funeral expenses, forensic sexual assault
examinations, and other costs incurred by crime victims over the biennium using
VOCA funds.
----------------------------
Compensation Programs Boost Benefits To Meet Victims' Needs
"Compensation programs across the country are increasing maximum payment
amounts, raising the cap on specific expense categories, and adding new types
of allowable expenses as they strive to meet more of the needs of the victims.
"Twelve States upped their caps on funeral expenses in the past year, with new
limits ranging from $3,500 to $7,500. . . . Overall maximum award amounts
increased in five States. Colorado doubled its top allowable award to $20,000,
and North Carolina increased its maximum award to $30,000. . . . Other
changes include a 50-percent increase in allowable medical costs in Iowa;
substantially higher lost-wage limits in Alabama, Minnesota, Mississippi, New
Jersey, North Carolina, and Texas; increases in mental health benefits in
Arkansas and New jersey; and a doubled emergency award maximum in
Colorado.
"To provide more help to domestic violence victims, Colorado, New jersey,
Vermont, and Wyoming are now paying for lost support formerly provided by
offenders to abused spouses and their dependents. Relocation costs for
domestic violence victims are also being paid in a number of States.
"Programs also are moving forward with new legislative proposals to add more
benefits. For instance, Arkansas expects to add a $25,000 catastrophic benefit;
Maine soon will pay for crime scene cleanup; and Missouri plans to cover all
crimes occurring outside the U.S.
"These programs and others continue to listen to 'victims' voices,' and they are
making substantial progress to meet their needs."
--Excerpt from front-page article in Crime Victim Compensation Quarterly,
Winter 1999
----------------------------
Integration of Crime Victim Compensation Into a Coordinated, Collaborative
Response to Crime Victims
In FYs 1997-1998, crime victim compensation programs increasingly
participated with criminal justice officials and victim services providers in
developing coordinated and collaborative responses to crime victims, an
approach strongly encouraged by OVC. State compensation programs
conducted outreach to two different and key audiences. The first group
included the general public and crime victims themselves. This form of outreach
involved public awareness campaigns, brochures, public speaking, and other
initiatives. The second key audience included officials and agency staff who
interact with victims in the aftermath of crime. These included criminal justice,
advocacy and human services staff, and volunteers.
Several States achieved greater coordination of victim compensation and
assistance programs through statewide conferences and other means. Results
from these conferences showed up when students in Arkansas and Oregon
schools were killed in mass shootings. Compensation directors were involved in
mobilizing State crisis response teams, implementation of streamlined
compensation application processes, and sending staff out to communities to
provide assistance to the victims and surviving family members.
Increased Responsiveness to Crime Victims
The purpose of crime victim compensation programs is to alleviate the
economic impact of crime on victims (i.e., to expediently pay bills resulting from
the crime thereby preventing dunning, damaged credit ratings, and
bankruptcies). Consequently, State compensation programs have made
concerted efforts to meet the needs of crime victims in the following ways:
--In response to the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1996, States that had not
previously covered residents who were victimized by terrorism in other
countries worked to change legislation to include these victims.
--Utah added, as a compensable expense, counseling for family members of
homicide victims.
--Oregon included children affected by domestic violence. Other States
increased the amounts payable to crime victims.
--Michigan increased the maximum allowed for funeral expenses.
--Mississippi increased payments for lost wages.
--Ohio paid lost wages to battered women who left their jobs because of fear
of the batterer.
--Iowa and New Jersey accepted temporary restraining orders in lieu of
police reports as verification that a crime occurred and evidence of victim
cooperation with law enforcement. In addition, Ohio considered a report to
child protective services as meeting the police report requirement.
Expanding and Enhancing Programs and Improving Efficiency and Effectiveness
Throughout the 1990s, State crime victim compensation programs across the
Nation have had three primary goals--to increase and stabilize program funding,
to improve program efficiency and effectiveness, and to increase awareness and
access to program benefits. States have sought assistance from both State and
Federal Government officials to address these goals. Compensation programs
have relied upon promising practices among their peers and upon assistance
available from the Federal Government to improve the overall quality of
services to crime victims. States rely on fines, fees, forfeitures, and assessments
imposed on convicted offenders to fund their crime victim compensation
programs. This trend mirrors the efforts of Congress to hold offenders
accountable for their actions by making them statutorily contribute to the
Federal Crime Victims Fund established by Congress when VOCA was
passed. States have undertaken other innovative efforts to raise funds for their
crime compensation programs. For instance, Missouri hired a compliance
auditor to develop a tracking system for fees to fund its crime compensation
program. Minnesota and Mississippi added a portion of inmate wages to the
revenues set aside for crime victim compensation.
Crime victim compensation programs also have made innovative inroads in the
areas of subrogation and restitution collection. Significant efforts were
undertaken to access restitution payments for individual victims and for State
programs. California conducts regular outreach to judges, and Iowa
coordinates with probation officers in their pursuit of restitution due from
offenders. Yavapai County, Arizona, has a restitution project to raise
awareness among judges, district attorneys, and probation officers. The theme
is "Victims need respect--and restitution. It's up to you."
In an effort to improve program efficiency, States took advantage of
administrative cost authorized by VOCA albeit at a significantly lower level than
State VOCA administrators. During the biennium, State crime compensation
programs expended only $1.8 million (less than 2 percent) of the administrative
funding made available to them. VOCA administrative dollars were used to
help States improve the quality of services provided to crime victims. For
example, States used administrative funds to improve claims processing through
the use of technology, to hire outreach staff, and to produce public awareness
materials to increase awareness of their programs and benefits. For example,
Oklahoma began implementing a system that will allow victims to submit claims
electronically; Utah established standardized hospital rates that resulted in a
15-percent savings on most medical bills; and Texas contracted for the analysis
of hospital bills and mental health treatment costs. Compensation programs also
sought expert assistance in examining costs and claims received from victims for
benefits.
Effective Use of Peer Consultation and Training
State compensation administrators represent an exemplary model of peer
support. This has been fostered by the National Association of Crime Victim
Compensation Boards (NACVCB), which conducts annual conferences,
encourages networking, and establishes an arena in which administrators can
critique and advise on one another's programs. NACVCB supports
communication among members by means of its newsletter, national and
regional workshops, and listserv. In their interactions, compensation and
assistance administrators recognize the varying environments, politics, and
complexities in which each program operates. At the same time, they challenge
one another to adapt their programs to the changing needs of crime victims.
During the biennium, OVC also established a VOCA Administrators' Mentor
Program, which gives administrators the opportunity to learn from one another
onsite. State compensation administrators made effective use of this program
13 times during the biennium. Administrators in the Iowa program have been
particularly instrumental in helping other States examine their claims processing
systems, automation, and revenue recovery programs.
OVC-Supported Direct Services for Federal Crime Victims
Direct services for Federal crime victims reflected OVC goals of increasing the
participation of victims in the Federal justice system, facilitating and funding
unmet emergency needs, and reaching out to remote populations. OVC
reserves a portion of discretionary moneys from the CVF to provide
emergency services to victims of Federal crime when no other resources are
available. OVC also makes awards directly to Indian Tribes/Alaskan Native
Villages under Federal criminal jurisdiction to establish reservation-based victim
assistance services in remote areas of Indian Country where services to crime
victims are limited.
Facilitating and Funding Unmet Emergency Needs
VOCA emphasizes the importance of fair treatment for crime victims in the
Federal criminal justice system and supports emergency services to victims of
Federal crimes when no other resources are available (i.e., crisis counseling,
paying temporary shelter costs, covering travel for victims' participation in
criminal justice proceedings, defraying emergency medical treatment expenses,
and hiring interpreters for nonsubpoenaed victims). OVC previously funded just
one emergency assistance fund--with Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys
(EOUSA). In FY 1997, OVC also funded the FBI to provide emergency
services to Federal crime victims. In FY 1998, additional funding was made
available to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Through
victim/witness coordinators in the 94 U.S. Attorney's offices and in the 56 FBI
field offices nationwide, OVC-funded projects facilitated victim participation in
trials and provided emergency shelter, counseling, transportation to court,
short-term child care, and temporary housing and security measures when these
services were unavailable. The success of these programs has secured their
continuance in FY 1999.
Increasing Participation of Victims in the Federal Justice System
The Children's Justice Act (CJA) provides for increased participation of victims
in the Federal justice system. It established a priority for discretionary funding
supporting services for child victims in Indian Country (see Appendix 4,
"Children's Justice Act Partnerships for Indian Communities"). CJA funds go
toward programs to improve the handling of child sexual abuse cases in Indian
Country. It is the only Federal program for Tribes that focuses exclusively on
lessening the trauma to American Indian children who participate in criminal
justice proceedings. A total of $1.5 million is available annually for this grant
program. Since CJA was established in 1989, OVC has funded 40 Tribal
programs, with an increase in the number of Tribes operating effective CJA
programs. The program addresses shortcomings in the Tribal criminal justice
system and has led to systemic change in the treatment of child abuse in Indian
Country.
CJA's resulting improvements in the handling of child abuse cases on Indian
reservations include--
--Establishment, expansion, and training for multidisciplinary teams.
--Revision of Tribal codes to address child sexual abuse.
--Provision of child advocacy services for children involved in court
proceedings.
--Development of protocols and procedures for reporting, investigating,
and prosecuting child sexual abuse cases.
--Improved coordination that minimizes the number of child interviews.
--Enhanced case management and treatment services.
--Specialized training for prosecutors, judges, investigators, and other
professionals who handle child sexual abuse cases.
--Development of procedures for establishing and managing child-centered
interview rooms.
The following is a sample of CJA programs funded by OVC in FYs 1997-
1998. They indicate the kinds of systemic change brought about through
infrastructure development and establishment of comprehensive services to
better investigate, prosecute, and prevent cases of child abuse and neglect in
Indian Country.
--Pueblo of Laguna. The Pueblo of Laguna used its grant to establish a special
prosecution unit. The Tribe hired a prosecutor, who worked with the law and
order committee to revise the criminal code to include new provisions for child
abuse, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, and the buying and selling of Indian
children. A family protection code was also drafted and approved by the Tribal
council.
--Muscogee Creek Nation. The Creek Nation developed a three-phase
program to implement a comprehensive system for responding to cases of child
abuse throughout the investigatory, prosecutory, and treatment phases of the
child protective process. Incidents of child abuse within the Creek Nation
decreased as a result of new prevention and treatment processes.
----------------------------
"American Indian children were abused and neglected at a rate almost twice
their proportions in the national child population."
--National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, (1998). Child Maltreatment
1996: Reports From the States for the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data
System. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
----------------------------
Reaching Out to Remote Populations
The Victim Assistance in Indian Country Program (VAIC) makes awards
directly to Indian Tribes under Federal criminal jurisdiction to establish
reservation-based victim assistance services in remote areas of Indian Country
where limited services are available for victims of crime. Often American
Indians suffer from high crime rates, particularly resulting from domestic
violence, child sexual abuse, and driving under the influence of alcohol. A
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) study based on responses by American
Indians revealed that this population suffers the highest crime rate of any
minority ethnic group (February 1999, BJS-American Indians and Crime).
Since 1988, OVC has awarded more than $7.2 million to fund over 52 VAIC
programs. In 1998, VAIC programs served some 8,300 victims of domestic
violence, child physical abuse, elder abuse, assault, and DUI/DWI crashes as
well as survivors of homicide victims. Activities that are funded include hiring
victim advocates, establishing a 24-hour crisis hotline, recruiting victim service
volunteers, transporting victims in an emergency, and providing bilingual
counseling services. Approximately 20 VAIC programs have been funded in
1999.
OVC's commitment to honor Tribal sovereignty and improve the relationship
between the Federal Government and Indian Tribes prompted OVC in 1997 to
modify its VAIC discretionary grant program so that Tribes could receive
funding directly from OVC rather than through State agency subgrants. Under
this new strategy, OVC also encouraged States to increase their efforts to fund
Tribal victim services programs with State VOCA assistance grant funds.
In FY 1997, OVC awarded funds to 32 programs in 17 States to provide
services such as crisis intervention, domestic violence shelters, court advocacy
networks, and court transportation. These programs served 7,685 victims,
increasing the number of victims served by 419 from FY 1995. Approximately
25 percent of these funds supported child abuse services, 40 percent supported
domestic violence services, 9 percent supported adult sexual assault services,
and more than 26 percent supported services for victims of other types of crime
such as drunk driving crashes, assault, elder abuse, robbery, and adults
molested as children. Domestic violence also received a large share of the
funding available for Indian Country, like funding provided for State and local
victim services.
In FY 1997, funds went to serve many more victims in the areas of child
physical and sexual abuse--in both cases the number of victims increased by
about 85 percent. This most likely reflects heightened efforts by OVC's CJA
program to reach out to American Indian victims of child abuse with expanded
services. Other types of crime victims served, such as victims of robbery,
increased by 29 times, from 8 to 231, as a result of increased VAIC funding
and efforts to expand victim services in Indian Country. Also, OVC
encouraged States to fund more Tribal victim services programs with State
VOCA assistance funds. For similar reasons, the number of adult sexual assault
victims served more than doubled from 1995 to 1997, going from 310 to 693.
Conclusion
Congress voiced its concern for crime victims by allocating the majority of CVF
dollars for direct services and assistance to our Nation's crime victims. In
addition, congressional intent, to allow States to decide what services are
needed for which victim populations, has been carried out by OVC in the
development of program guidelines that provide broad discretion to States and
by States in their implementation of both the VOCA crime victim compensation
and assistance grants. Likewise, OVC has attempted to reshape the treatment
of Federal crime victims not only at the Federal level but also at the State and
local levels by facilitating access to services at more local levels. Again, much of
this effort has been with congressional intercession dictating that Federal crime
victims have access to compensation benefits on the same basis as victims of
State crimes, setting aside funding specifically for child victims in Indian Country
and requiring States to compensate and assist victims of terrorist acts. The
driving force behind VOCA implementation comes from the voices of victims,
which play a powerful role in passing legislation, shaping policies, and
encouraging the establishment of comprehensive programs. OVC is committed
to improving the response to crime victims and helping communities everywhere
to implement innovative, comprehensive programs for greater justice and
healing. During the biennium, increased victim participation in the criminal
justice system, enhanced services for crime victims, and a more sensitive
response to victims needs have been recognized with funding support for
victims. But most importantly, victims in every community and virtually every
demographic group have greater access to much needed services and financial
assistance to deal with their victimization.
----------------------------
Chapter 9
Looking to the Future
An Overview of Future Plans
Strengthening the Infrastructure of the Victims' Field
--Securing a Stable Financial Future for Crime Victims' Programs
--Supporting Expertise in the Field
--Using Technology To Benefit the Field
Supporting Systemic Change
--National Symposium on Victims of Federal Crime
--Working Toward Governmentwide Systemic Change
--OVC's Response to Mass Violence Within the United States
--Meeting the Needs of Victims of Terrorism Abroad
--Continual Identification of Underserved and Unserved Victim Populations
--Expanding Assistance to Crime Victims in Indian Country
Addressing the Four Global Challenges From the Field
--Fundamental Rights for Crime Victims
--Comprehensive Quality of Services to Crime Victims
--Supporting, Improving, and Replicating Promising Practices
--Listening to Victims' Voices
Amending VOCA To Better Meet the Needs of Crime Victims
--OVC Authority
--Modify Distribution of and Increase Deposits to the Crime Victims Fund
Conclusion
An Overview of Future Plans
For more than a decade, crime victim issues have received tremendous
bipartisan support in Congress and among State legislatures. Through their
persuasive advocacy, crime victims have effected a growing body of rights and
programs established to meet their needs. The results of the 1982 President's
Task Force on Victims of Crime and the passage of the Victims of Crime Act
(VOCA) in 1984 marked a critical turning point in how society viewed and
treated crime victims. Today, crime victims and their advocates are a visible
and strong force as evidenced by the energy they have infused into the public
debate on the Victims' Rights Amendment through their effective leadership,
strong lobbies, and organized constituency. At the dawning of the next
millennium, the crime victims movement is now characterized as a field and
recognized as such in the new report--New Directions from the Field: Victims'
Rights and Services for the 21st Century published by OVC in 1998.
Expanded funding from government and nongovernment sources for victims'
programs and services is born out of the experiences and recommendations of
the victim advocacy field. OVC, as the only Federal agency solely devoted to
addressing the needs of crime victims, is positioning itself to help lead the
victims' rights field into a century that further recognizes the legitimate role of
crime victims in the criminal and juvenile justice systems through the full
implementation of rights and improved delivery of services for crime victims.
Although the crime victims' field has witnessed tremendous growth over the last
decade, OVC must address many outstanding issues and needs before crime
victims and the advocates who serve them fully achieve recognition and
accommodation within the Federal, Tribal, State, military, and local systems of
justice. Those issues include strengthening the infrastructure of the victims' field,
supporting systemic change to improve the criminal justice system's response to
crime victims, and incorporating the five global challenges from the field into
OVC policy.
Strengthening the Infrastructure of the Victims' Field
The field and OVC must focus on three areas before crime victims' rights and
services can be integrated into the institutional thinking of legislators,
policymakers, program administrators, and society-at-large. These areas are
addressed under the following headings: Securing a Stable Financial Future for
Crime Victims' Programs, Supporting Expertise in the Field, and Using
Technology to Benefit the Field.
Securing a Stable Financial Future for Crime Victims' Programs
To secure a stable future for victim services, victim advocates and crime victims
are focusing their attention on increasing the amount of funding to offer
comprehensive victim services and to recognize the need to offer competitive
wages to the victim service providers. While the Crime Victims Fund--the
major source of funding for crime victim services nationally--has enjoyed
steady, and in some years, substantial growth, to truly meet the needs of
America's nearly 32 million crime victims, additional funding must be made
available to ensure crime victims have access to services. It should be standard
practice that, no matter whether a crime victim lives in a large urban city like
New York or in the tiniest rural community in Mississippi or on the most remote
American Indian reservation in Montana, victim assistance services should be
available. To ensure that victims have access to services in the aftermath of
crime, victim services must be established in hospitals, police departments,
social services agencies, and in the workplace in urban, suburban, and rural
areas of the country. Next, those interested in a career in victim services must
be offered a "living wage" and benefits, and this requires a commitment of
funding for human resources. Without a commitment of the necessary resources
to attract and retain qualified personnel, crime victim programs will never
achieve the needed stability to offer victims comprehensive services. In
addition, the field can no longer afford to rely so heavily upon the use of
volunteers to deliver services to crime victims. While volunteers play an
important role in assisting crime victims, they should not be looked to as an
alternative to full-time, permanent staff if victim service programs are expected
to flourish. Likewise, as the issue of professionalization of the victims' field is
debated among advocates, the idea that victim rights and services can be
appropriately delivered using a cadre of volunteers is as unrealistic as expecting
government agencies to operate principally with a volunteer work force.
Victim service programs must be fully staffed to meet the demand from victims
and so program managers should no longer be forced to divide their time
between oversight of the agency and delivery of services to crime victims.
Adequate resources need to be allocated to allow managers the time required
for strategic planning, fundraising, advocacy, personnel management, budgeting
and accounting, and recordkeeping. With additional resources, of course,
comes additional accountability. To address issues of accountability and to
achieve better management of victim services programs and expenditures,
education and training is needed not only for those who provide direct services
to crime victims, but also for those individuals who manage Tribal, State, and
local victim service programs.
Supporting Expertise in the Field
Many victim advocates have transferred their experience as crime victims into
efforts to help others in similar situations. These advocates come from all walks
of life just as victims come from all walks of life. Many advocates bring to the
field a wide range of professional work experience gained in both the public
and private sectors. They have ably transferred the skills, knowledge, and
ability gained from previous work experience to their service for crime victims.
Other advocates come to the field with little or no previous work experience
but with tremendous commitment and energy to make life easier for the next
victim. Despite their energy and enthusiasm, formal training is necessary for
victim serv-ices providers so that they understand the best practices in the field.
A commitment to education and training for victim advocates and allied
professionals must be a top priority for the next millennium.
Currently, there is a debate about how to determine and measure competency
within the victim services field. Ideas, ranging from the creation of national
standards for victim service programs to training certification and other
educational requirements for victim services providers, are being discussed.
Likewise, a focus on education for children about crime, violence and
victimization, crime prevention, death and dying, and trauma is a critical need as
evidenced by the recent rash of violence in the schools across our Nation. One
example of OVC's effort to address the educational needs of victim services
providers is the establishment of statewide Victim Assistance Academies to
provide comprehensive, academically based, fundamental education for victim
services providers, victim advocates, criminal justice personnel, and allied
professionals. These academies, an outgrowth of OVC's National Victim
Assistance Academy (NVAA), would be linked to universities. OVC will
provide technical assistance to selected States over a 3-year period through
NVAA faculty. OVC will continue to provide foundation-level victim assistance
education through the NVAA until a substantial network of State academies is
established across the United States. Finally, OVC will fund the development of
advanced educational opportunities through NVAA for seasoned advocates
and allied professionals. In FY 1999, OVC funded five State academies and
plans to fund additional State Academies in subsequent years, contingent on the
availability of funding.
Through its national-scope training and technical assistance efforts, OVC has
kept pace with the progression of the victims' movement by supporting a variety
of initiatives designed to increase the awareness of crime victims' needs and the
needs of those diverse individuals and organizations serving them. But the rapid
development of ideas, services, and programs has fragmented the field into a
proliferation of different approaches and goals for assisting victims. In FY
1999, OVC committed funding to support the development of a strategy that
will combine this patchwork of practice and education, infuse it with the diverse
voices of experience from across the Nation, and identify the common ground
and goals to move the field forward. Cooperative, collaborative approaches to
achieving a standard quality of service for crime victims is the intended result.
In FY 1999, OVC awarded a grant to develop an effective method to convene
the leadership organizations of the victims' field to explore service standards,
training, and collaborative practices. Its goal is to provide a "think tank" forum
in which the field of victim services can develop practice standards (both for
organizations and individual service providers) and a framework for
implementing consistent, quality services to crime victims. A commission of
national and regional experts from diverse disciplines will be established to
compile a compendium of existing victim-service standards and education and
certification programs. Also included is a plan to conduct a series of four "town
hall" meetings involving advocacy groups, victim-service organizations, State
coalition representatives, and practitioners. Information gathered will be shared
with the field through an Internet Web site and a strategies-for-action kit will be
created containing standards, implementation plans, assessment tools, and
media aids.
Using Technology To Benefit the Field
A look at the future would be incomplete without considering the impact of
technology on the victims' field. Technology promises to improve victim access
to services, the delivery of education and training to advocates, and further
coordination between the private not-for-profit sector and public agencies.
Technology has already helped to reach victims in remote areas through
telemedicine capabilities. Teleconferencing has the potential to get training to
the field and counseling services to rural areas of the United States. The Internet
and other computer-based technologies are allowing victims to access
applications for compensation benefits, victim advocates to check on the status
of a victim case, and criminal justice professionals to provide required notice to
crime victims regarding criminal justice case information and offender status. In
FY 1999, OVC used Web-based technology to provide critical notice to the
surviving family members of Pan Am Flight 103 as they prepared for the
upcoming trial of the alleged perpetrators in The Netherlands.
OVC will continue to support efforts to enhance technology aimed at service
delivery and notification systems for victims. Recent upgrades and innovations
in technology, particularly in State programs--made possible through large
increases in administrative funds--have done much to improve victim services.
Automated processes that improve access to centralized stores of data and the
Internet and technological advances that enhance and expand services are
helping Federal and State programs stay current. Here are a few examples of
how OVC is using Crime Victims Fund dollars to support the use of technology
to help crime victims.
--Secure Telecast: A significant number of family members of victims of Pan
Am Flight 103 have indicated a strong interest in attending the trial to be held in
The Netherlands, and many more have indicated an interest in viewing a
telecast of the trial. OVC is funding the establishment and management of a
secure telecast to four downlink sites: two in the United States and two in the
United Kingdom. Encrypted satellite transmission will be used to ensure that
only specified sites can receive the transmission of the trial. Family members will
be certified and badged by the Federal Protective Service, and only those
family members will be allowed access to the broadcast.
--Web site: Syracuse University College of Law is creating and maintaining a
secure Web site for Pan Am Flight 103 victim family members. By using a
password-protected design, only family members will have access to the Web
site. The Web site will include background material about legal developments,
cases, and laws relating to the bombing; criminal trial updates; information
about OVC services for family members who plan to attend the trial; and an
interactive component enabling family members to correspond with Syracuse
University College of Law and/or other family members.
--Victim Web sites for States. OVC funded the Michigan Victim Alliance to
create a model victim Web site on the Internet to provide information and
support to victims. The Alliance will support expanding outreach efforts to
victim groups in other States, particularly those that can build crime victim Web
sites if offered no-cost technical assistance and short-term Web maintenance
services. Outreach efforts will also be directed toward librarians, journalists,
and criminal justice professionals. A "Crime Victims Web Ring" is planned as a
means to tie victim Web sites together online. If successful, the project will
provide an affordable and effective means for victims nationwide to use the
Internet as another source for information and support.
--Telemedicine Initiative in Indian Country. In FY 1999, OVC funded the
Indian Health Service (IHS) to develop a pilot program to procure training and
computer software to scan and transmit diagnostic images in sexual abuse,
physical abuse, and sexual assault cases in Indian Country. The technology will
allow a diagnosis to be made at a hospital staffed with medical personnel
experienced in dealing with these cases. This pilot will be established at selected
IHS medical clinics or hospitals that do not have an attending physician onsite
or that must refer their initial medical observations to an expert for a second
opinion. The project is designed to minimize long trips by children to urban
hospitals and repeated forensic sexual assault medical exams.
--Telemedicine Consultation for Child Abuse Cases. Funding was approved
for the U.S. Department of Navy to purchase telemedicine equipment for the
Armed Forces Center for Child Protection at the Bethesda National Naval
Medical Center to assist with startup costs to create telemedicine consultation
and teaching capability to diagnose child abuse.
Supporting Systemic Change
OVC is committed to continuing efforts to improve the Federal criminal justice
system's response to crime victims in several ways. OVC uses forums to
identify issues and to share information and provides technical assistance and
training to effect governmentwide systemic change. OVC is strengthening the
response to mass violence in U.S. communities by increasing a community's
own capacity to respond more effectively to mass victimization. Reaching out to
victims of international terrorism and identifying underserved and unserved
victim populations continues to be a priority for OVC as is expanding
assistance to crime victims in Indian Country.
National Symposium on Victims of Federal Crime
OVC continued to effect disciplinewide change through efforts such as the
Second National Symposium on Victims of Federal Crime in Washington,
D.C., during the week of February 8-12, 1999. This event represented the
largest training conference for Federal law enforcement victim/witness
assistance personnel in the country. In FY 1999, special emphasis was placed
on assisting victims of mass casualty incidents and domestic terrorism. Speakers
at the symposium included the U.S. Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney
General, the Deputy Director of the FBI, and other experts in victim assistance
from Federal agencies. A third national symposium on victims of Federal crime
is planned for January 2001.
Working Toward Governmentwide Systemic Change
Several future capacity-building efforts promise continued systems
improvements in the delivery of victim services. With the upcoming release of
the revised Attorney General's Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance,
OVC plans to continue working with the Deputy Attorney General's working
group on victim issues and to provide guidance and technical assistance to DOJ
components and other Federal agencies with victim/witness responsibilities.
This includes providing assistance to these agencies on implementation issues,
development and delivery of training, and victim/witness assistance through the
establishment of advocate positions. Further, OVC will continue its
participation on the working group established to develop a Federal victim
notification system with funding returned to the Crime Victims Fund from the
National Fine Center.
OVC's Response to Mass Violence Within the United States
OVC is working to improve the criminal justice system's response to
communities affected by mass violence within the United States. OVC is
providing individual training on community crisis response and is collaborating
with other Federal agencies.
--Individual Training for Community Crisis. To respond to States and
communities in crisis, OVC has funded individual training on community crisis
response as well as deployed crisis response teams to communities. OVC's
crisis response efforts, while helpful, have not yet yielded an identifiable
network of crisis response teams throughout the country--the original goal of
much of the training funded. OVC provided funding to the Jefferson Institute for
Justice Studies to establish community-based mass crisis response protocols by
assisting communities with the tools, skills, and technical assistance needed to
develop and implement their own coordinated and collaborative long-range
implementation plans. The Institute will develop a needs assessment report, a
community action guide, a program implementation guide, and an informational
brochure and provide technical assistance to guide communities through the
design, development, and implementation of a long-range crisis response
protocol.
--Collaboration With Other Federal Agencies. OVC plans to work with the
Office for State and Local Domestic Preparedness (OSLDP) within the U.S.
Department of Justice to develop State and local capacities to respond to
crises. This effort will be coordinated on the Federal level among OVC, HHS,
OSLDP, and other related DOJ components. OVC will coordinate with mental
health and emergency preparedness experts in devising a strategy for States to
plan and implement their own centralized crisis response plans. OVC also plans
to conduct a series of regional seminars and training courses that will train local
crisis response teams to respond to needs in their communities.
Meeting the Needs of Victims of Terrorism Abroad
With the growing level of tourism and employment opportunities abroad for
American citizens, efforts must be made to provide services to American
citizens victimized abroad as well as to citizens from other countries victimized
within the boundaries of the United States. Victims must also have easy access
to which countries provide victim compensation to foreign nationals and to
instructions for applying for those benefits. In addition, OVC continues to
function as a resource for other countries to develop victim compensation
programs in their own countries.
OVC has provided funding and assistance to victims of the bombing of
American embassies in East Africa and to the surviving family members of Pan
Am Flight 103. OVC's work with victims of terrorism and mass violence began
with the Oklahoma City bombing tragedy in April 1995. Since that time, OVC
has learned much about the unmet needs of terrorism victims within the United
States and overseas. Assisting victims of terrorism in foreign countries involves
many challenges that are not present when a terrorist incident occurs in the
United States. Extraordinary travel requirements for victims and families, unique
autopsy issues, and confusing benefit policies for Federal and other American
employees stationed or working overseas are just a few of those complications.
In the aftermath of the embassy bombings in East Africa, OVC recognized that
the government needs a coordinated and sensitive plan for assisting American
victims of overseas terrorism.
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno requested OVC to coordinate a working
group with the other agencies of the Federal Government, most importantly the
State Department, to address these international issues. The working group has
met three times already and is in the process of preparing a study which will
compile the medical, mental health, benefits, and operational policies of all
Federal agencies, and some local responders to international events. Based on
this study, the working group will draft a protocol for victim assistance in the
event of future terrorist incidents against Americans overseas. The protocol will
be modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board's protocol for
domestic airline disasters. It is anticipated that this protocol will drastically
improve the assistance to American victims of terrorism abroad. Also, the work
begun with the United Nations to highlight victims' rights and issues has yielded
a greater awareness and sensitivity to crime victims worldwide and fostered
numerous collaborative efforts between the United States and other countries
and among OVC and agencies such as the Department of State.
OVC is committed to working with the International Society of Victimology
and others to assure that American citizens victimized abroad receive services
and assistance, to provide leadership to other nations through the provision of
training and technical assistance, and to advocate for the fair and equal
treatment of crime victims everywhere. One top priority for OVC is to obtain
authority to establish an International Compensation Program that will allow
OVC to provide financial assistance to American citizens and employees of the
U.S. government injured while working abroad. Despite the current authority
provided in VOCA to supplement State compensation programs to provide
benefits to victims of terrorism abroad, State statutory provisions and
administrative and Federal funding requirements offer a bureaucratic response
to victims of terrorism abroad. OVC is also funding efforts to document
services provided to victims of terrorism and mass violence within the United
States and to develop training and other protocols to ensure an effective,
coordinated response to these incidents.
Continual Identification of Underserved and Unserved Victim Populations
Within the past several years greater attention has been devoted to meeting the
needs of victims represented in various demographic segments of society.
Funding and attention have been focused on American Indian crime victims,
non-English speaking victims, and other racial and ethnic minorities. However,
to assure full representation of the victims' community, outreach must be made
beyond victims of racial and ethnic minorities to include victims with disabilities,
elderly crime victims, and fraud, white collar crime, and burglary victims.
OVC will address the needs of other specific victim populations through a
series of projects in the areas of white collar crime victims, elderly victims,
hate/bias crimes, stalking, cultural considerations, and diversity. In addition,
OVC will fund several projects through the Field Initiated National Impact
Project, which address critical training needs expressed by practitioners in the
field. For instance, OVC plans to continue into FY 1999 a grant to support a
model national training curriculum to improve prosecutorial responses to victims
of elder abuse and domestic violence and to pilot test and revise the model
curriculum at 1999 national conferences. OVC will also continue into FY 1999
an educational series of fraud prevention programs to stop financial exploitation
of the elderly, particularly through telemarketing schemes. These efforts have
adopted a truly interdisciplinary approach involving many diverse members of
the community, including bank personnel, law enforcement, criminal justice
officials, and elderly citizens.
Expanding Assistance to Crime Victims in Indian Country
OVC will work for systemic change by strengthening the criminal justice
system's response to child abuse cases in remote areas of Indian Country.
OVC will focus on establishing stronger "partnerships" among Tribal law
enforcement agencies, Tribal and local victim services providers, the FBI, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Attorney's offices, and relations between VOCA
victim assistance State administrators and State crime victim compensation
programs and American Indian Tribes. OVC's goal is to ensure that
coordinated services are provided to victims of crime and will maximize that
availability of victim assistance funding from both Federal and State agencies.
Addressing the Four Global Challenges From the Field
An ambitious agenda for the future has been established by crime victims and
leading advocates in the field, New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights
and Services for the 21st Century. This report contains 250 recommendations
for action. The following four global challenges for responding to victims of
crime in the 21st century emerged from these recommendations presented in
New Directions. OVC will continue to provide leadership and support to the
victims' field using the four global challenges defined in New Directions as the
compass for its actions.
Fundamental Rights for Crime Victims
The enactment and enforcement of consistent, fundamental rights for crime
victims in Federal, State, Tribal, juvenile, and military justice systems and
administrative proceedings represents the first challenge from the field. OVC
will direct its efforts toward assisting States with the full implementation of the
rights established by amendments to State constitutions. This includes
encouraging the use of VOCA victim assistance funds to support programs and
interventions mandated in their respective State constitutions. OVC will
promote the establishment of victim ombudsman programs to enforce the
implementation of established rights, provide funding and technical assistance to
help implement victim notification systems, fund demonstration programs that
identify promising practices in the delivery of rights, and provide other support
identified by the States through both its formula and discretionary grant
programs. Similar efforts will be supported to ensure that statutory provisions
affecting Federal crime victims are met.
Comprehensive Quality of Services to Crime Victims
Other global challenges focus OVC's efforts on delivering comprehensive,
quality services to crime victims regardless of the nature of the victimization,
age, race, religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, capability, or
geographic location. OVC will accomplish this by focusing on specific activities.
It will continue to develop national scope training and technical assistance
reaching out to diverse groups through its funding of Action Partnerships with
Professional Membership Organizations grant program, collaborative work with
agencies and organizations with similar commitments to meeting the needs of
underserved victim populations, and dissemination of training to urban and rural
communi-ties through the OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center
(TTAC). In addition, OVC will continue to provide technical assistance to
State VOCA administrators to assist them with strategic planning and outreach
efforts.
OVC's funding of the National Victim Assistance Academy, the State Victim
Assistance Academy initiative, grants awarded to colleges and universities to
develop academic-based education on victims' rights and services as well as the
development of numerous training and technical assistance packages for law
enforcement, prosecutors, mental health and medical professionals, the clergy,
the business community, and others will assure that crime victim issues are
integrated into all levels of the Nation's educational system and ensure that
justice and allied professionals receive comprehensive training on victims' issues
as a part of education and continuing training in the field. Raising the level of
professionalism in the field of victim services is an important goal to achieve if
victims are to have their needs recognized and met and so begin to heal.
Supporting, Improving, and Replicating Promising Practices
OVC is committed to maximizing the impact of resources available from the
Crime Victims Fund by supporting, improving, and replicating promising
practices in victims' rights and services built upon sound research, advanced
technology, and multidisciplinary partnerships. OVC's funding and evaluation of
demonstration projects such as the Victim Services 2000 initiative that can
serve as laboratories and training sites for communities across the country
seeking innovative strategies for serving crime victims is responsive to requests
from the field for examples of "what works" for crime victims in jurisdictions
nationwide.
Listening to Victims' Voices
While OVC relies extensively upon input received from victim advocates and
other professionals regarding the emerging needs of crime victims, victims'
voices continue to play a central role in the development of programs, services,
and policies affecting crime victims. OVC will use initiatives like its Victims'
Services Professional Development consortium, the Victim Services Resource
Network established under TTAC, town hall meetings at national conferences,
correspondence from crime victims, and other direct victim contacts to
influence Federal priorities in the next millennium.
For the future, OVC will continue to enhance the infrastructure, expand the
scope of outreach to victims, and broaden its response and the types of
services it offers to the field. By listening to the field and soliciting feedback at
victims' rights conferences and meetings, OVC will continue to identify crime
victim needs and act on them through advocacy and policy development,
provision of direct services, and development of grants, training, and technical
assistance to support programs and services to crime victims. Community
ownership of victim services is one overarching goal of this movement, as are
formalizing services and pursuing victim justice through such strategies as
restorative justice. Continued development and enhancement of technologies to
improve systems serving crime victims is also a major goal. In the years ahead,
OVC will continue its work to secure sound legislative protections that will
provide fundamental rights for crime victims allowing them to fully participate in
the criminal justice system.
Efforts on behalf of crime victims will be accomplished through advocacy,
leadership, and policy development. OVC will continue to hold focus groups
and provide presentations at conferences sponsored by various disciplines
throughout the coming year, using profession-specific recommendations
contained in New Directions as a guide.
OVC is also developing a New Directions training package and videotape for
use by the field at conferences, trainings, and other meetings. The package will
present the information contained in New Directions in a variety of formats and
will also contain a mechanism for reporting State and local implementation
activities back to OVC. Through TTAC, OVC will continue to fund experts to
provide training around the country on the promising practices highlighted in
New Directions. OVC will continue to develop victim sensitive policies and
practices through the revision of guidelines for funding programs, the Attorney
General Guidelines for Victims and Witness Assistance, and protocols and
practices developed through grant funding. The key to OVC's success in
promoting victims' rights and services is to listen to the victims and victims field,
and New Directions has provided that voice to guide policy into the next
millennium.
Amending VOCA To Better Meet the Needs of Crime Victims
OVC now has 15 years' experience in administering funding programs and
providing services in response to the various needs of crime victims. With each
year's experience, OVC has gained new insights, has identified the continuing
and unmet needs of victims, and has witnessed the challenges faced by States
and communities in prioritizing and funding victim services. Further, OVC has
struggled to overcome the obstacles at the Federal level that impede effective
policy and program development and interfere with OVC's ability to respond to
the needs and expectations of crime victims, victim advocates, allied
professionals, and legislators. OVC has identified several key statutory
amendments needed to improve its effectiveness on behalf of crime victims.
The proposed statutory amendments are intended to broaden the authority of
OVC to respond to victims' needs; to modify the formula for distribution of
Crime Victims Fund deposits; and to allow new sources of deposits into the
Crime Victims Fund so OVC may address unmet needs and emerging issues,
including streamlined access to assistance, expanded eligibility for victim
services funding, and improved outreach to crime victims.
OVC Authority
--Victims of Acts of Terrorism Outside the United States. OVC would like to
see VOCA amended to provide authority to the OVC Director to establish an
International Compensation Program within OVC that uses program funds for
benefits to victims as well as for program operations. OVC also seeks authority
to award grants to public agencies, including Federal, State, and local
governments, for victims of terrorism abroad. OVC wants a broader definition
of "victim" to include a citizen or employee of the United States and a person
injured or killed as a result of a terrorist act or mass violence occurring on or
after December 20, 1988, with respect to which an investigation or prosecution
was ongoing after April 24, 1996. To support assistance to these victims and to
establish an International Compensation Program within OVC for victims of
terrorism abroad, VOCA must also be amended to allow OVC to double the
amount authorized for the Reserve Fund.
--Fellowships and Clinical Internships. OVC seeks to amend VOCA to
authorize the use of program funds to establish a fellowship program to support
the identification and implementation of innovative national programs and
technical assistance to the field by tapping the expertise of policymakers and
practitioners in the field. Such authority would be beneficial to OVC in its
program and policy development efforts, its preparation of cutting-edge
information for the field, and its understanding of the impact of emerging issues
in the victims' rights field.
Modify Distribution of and Increase Deposits to the Crime Victims Fund
--Increase Funding for Nationwide Training and Technical Assistance and
Direct Services to Federal Crime Victims. OVC seeks an amendment to
VOCA to restore the original 5-percent allocation for nationwide training and
technical assistance and direct services for Federal crime victims. This increase
would allow OVC to respond to actions that have federalized violent crimes
and increased the victim/witness responsibilities of Federal law enforcement and
prosecutors; efforts to respond to victims of white collar crime; and requests to
fund demonstration projects identifying promising practices. Further, efforts to
provide funding support for crime victims training at the State and local levels
and to support evaluations of funded programs necessitate an increase in
discretionary funding. The large increase in Crime Victims Fund deposits and
the growing technical assistance needs of the field in implementing victims' rights
make an amendment increasing the funding allocation for discretionary grants
appropriate at this time.
OVC also recommends increasing the percentage of allocation for State
crime victim compensation programs under the VOCA formula grant from 40
percent to 60 percent of the total allocation from the Crime Victims Fund. This
would allow States that are struggling to pay victim claims to do several things:
meet their obligations, consider adjustments in the maximum award amount for
each victim claim, and adjust payments for expenses to match inflation. OVC
also seeks to double the amount, from 5 percent to 10 percent, of each State's
Federal grant award for use in program administration, training, and statewide
improvements in delivering services to crime victims.
--Gifts, Bequests, and Donations from Private Entities and Individuals.
While the Crime Victims Fund has enjoyed steady growth over the past several
years, such growth is not guaranteed. In the event of a shortfall, OVC seeks
authority to accept gifts, bequests, and donations from private entities and
individuals to continue our support to crime victims' programs and services.
Authority to tap public, private, and individual resources will permit the OVC
Director to collaborate with private sector organizations and individuals when
deposits in the Crime Victims Fund decline or are unexpectedly depleted due to
response to unanticipated needs such as in cases of terrorism and mass
violence.
Further, OVC seeks to expand the definition of "State" to include the District of
Columbia and the United States Government when performing law enforcement
functions in and for the District of Columbia. Such redefinition would designate
District of Columbia residents as eligible for grants from the Crime Victims
Fund. This amendment would allow OVC to provide formula and discretionary
funding to the U.S. Attorney's office to support services and training and
technical assistance for victims whose crimes are prosecuted in Superior Court
under the laws of the District of Columbia.
Conclusion
By making much-needed resources available to fund Federal efforts and State
and community-based programs and services, VOCA and the Crime Victims
Fund have contributed to the changes in attitudes, policies, and practices
affecting crime victims. Their efforts in the past 15 years have yielded
documented improvements in how the justice system responds to crime and
victimization, an increase in victim cooperation with and participation in the
justice system, and an expansion of the service system for crime victims,
including allied professionals from the health, mental health, legal, faith, and
business communities.
The impact of crime and the need for services for those victimized have
received worldwide attention, including from the United Nations. OVC has
taken a leadership role in working with key leaders among victim advocacy
organizations to assess and address the standard of care for crime victims.
OVC has worked to develop policies, procedures, programs, training, and
informational materials to help raise public awareness and educate those who
come into contact with victims of crime. This has all been made possible
because of the passage of VOCA and the establishment of the Crime Victims
Fund. OVC looks forward to continued leadership from Congress and the
Chief Executive in the coming years as we strive to meet the needs of crime
victims.
----------------------------
Appendix 1
Crime Victims Fund Award Winners for FYs 1997-1998
Crime Victims Fund Award Winners for 1997
The Attorney General recognized one individual and two teams of Federal
personnel from Boston, New York City, and Kansas City, Kansas, for their
efforts to collect criminal fines from Federal criminal offenders. The awardees
were:
First Award:
Litigation Team in United States v. The Daiwa Bank, Limited, U.S. Attorney's
Office, Southern District of New York. Reid M. Figel, Assistant United States
Attorney; Andrea M. Likwornik, Assistant United States Attorney; Michael A.
Simons, Assistant United States Attorney; Richard Owens, Assistant United
States Attorney.
As a result of the diligence and extraordinary efforts of this dedicated group of
prosecutors, Daiwa Bank, Limited, pled guilty to 16 felony counts and paid a
criminal fine of $340 million--the largest criminal fine in history. This
prosecution arose out of a report of an unauthorized, off-the-books trading
scheme that resulted in a $1.1 billion loss to Daiwa. Although the law required
Daiwa to disclose those losses immediately to the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System, Daiwa's management and the trader responsible for
those losses unlawfully conspired to conceal them from regulators for more than
2 months.
Second Award:
Judicial Enforcement Team from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of
Massachusetts. Christopher Alberto, Assistant United States Attorney; Cathy
L. Kibbey, Supervisory Paralegal; Joanne Albano, Paralegal; Anita R. Kiley,
Paralegal; Brendan Murphy, Deputy U.S. Marshal; Pamela J. Lombardini, U.S.
Probation Officer; John C. Siracusa Jr., Special Agent, FBI.
In 1995, the District of Massachusetts was facing a criminal debt inventory of
approximately $73 million. In February 1996, Assistant U.S. Attorney
Christopher Alberto began to aggressively pursue the collection of that debt by
forming a Judicial Enforcement Team--JET. Through JET, which is an
innovative approach to collecting debt owed to the Federal Government, the
U.S. Marshals Service provides financial investigative services and judgement
enforcement to the U.S. Attorney's Financial Litigation Units. The District of
Massachusetts expanded the concept to include the U.S. Probation Office,
Federal Bureau of Investigation, and various Inspector General offices.
The JET team has successfully uncovered concealed assets through surveillance
and computer searches; seized and auctioned real property; and seized bank
and investment accounts. New operating procedures implemented within the
District's Financial Litigation Unit have further enhanced JET's impact. First, a
computer search for assets is done for all offenders who owe criminal penalties.
Second, all offenders not paying their criminal penalties are required to submit
to a financial examination under oath. Third, the Financial Litigation Unit shares
all information uncovered with the offender's Probation Officer, and finally, all
new criminal penalties are given immediate attention for recovery. These
aggressive actions have generated millions of dollars for victims and the Crime
Victims Fund. If the statistics tell the story, then what a great story JET is. In
1996, the District's total debt recoveries were more than $37.6 million, a clear
increase in its collections.
Third Award:
Carol Holinka, Assistant Correctional Programs Manager, North Central
Region, Federal Bureau of Prisons.
When the Bureau of Prisons implemented its new SENTRY computer
program, Ms. Holinka worked diligently to train Correctional Programs,
Financial Management, and Victim/Witness Program staff in the 16 institutions
of the North Central Region. She traveled extensively throughout the year,
providing highly effective training to approximately 200 NCR personnel. One
measure of her effectiveness came to light when a review of contract rosters
showed a significant decrease in contract errors following her training. Had
these problems not been identified and corrected, collections could not have
been made for those inmates with inactive accounts and input errors.
Beyond her demonstrated ability to provide effective training and technical
assistance, Ms. Holinka has continued to emphasize the importance of holding
inmates accountable for their financial obligations and ensuring they make
payments commensurate with their ability to pay. She routinely lends her
considerable technical expertise when staff call her office regarding their
computer systems, and provides ready interpretations of court documents for
achieving compliance with the spirit of the Inmate Financial Responsibility
Program.
Crime Victims Fund Award Winners for 1998
The Attorney General recognized three individuals and seven teams of Federal
personnel from seven States for their efforts to collect criminal fines from
Federal criminal offenders. The awardees were:
First Award:
Antitrust Division, DOJ. James Griffin, Gary Spratling, Phil Warren, Wendy
Bostwick-Norman, Andrew Hays-Gorey, and Jane Phillips.
An aggressive initiative aimed at international cartels has led to unprecedented
success, bringing to justice conspirators in industries ranging from food and feed
additives to marine construction and transportation to graphite electrodes.
Utilizing an alternative fine provision, the Antitrust Division has been able to
secure routine imposition of criminal fines in excess of the $10 million Sherman
Act maximum. As a result, the average corporate fine for an antitrust offense
has increased 15-fold since 1996 to $12 million. The Division's effective use of
the provision has sent the message to the international business community that
antitrust fines can no longer be considered a mere cost of doing business.
Second Award:
Financial Litigation Unit, United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of
NY. Beverly J. Parody, William Pease, Helen Atkinson, Paul Condon, and
Cheryl Jachym.
By concentrating staff on criminal fine and restitution enforcement and
exercising vigorous investigative strategies, the Financial Litigation Unit in the
U.S. Attorney's office for the Northern District of New York secured millions
of dollars in deposits into the Crime Victims Fund last year. Diligent research of
defendants' assets and steady pursuit of their holdings allowed the FLU to
obtain collection of fines from both companies and individuals. With three of its
five Financial Litigation Agents assigned to fine and restitution investigation and
collection, the FLU was able to uncover fines in cases involving lien notices,
promissory notes, pension and Individual Retirement accounts, government
property, and Thrift Savings Plans.
Third Award:
Team from the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of IL. W.
Charles Grace, Gregory Holston, Janet Burris, Clinton Bigham, Gary Holst,
Patrick Holtgrave, and Dana Kimbrough.
A 4-year investigation led by the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District
of Illinois and a team of six Federal investigators uncovered fraudulent
Medicare practices that resulted in $4 million in criminal fines and $140 million
in civil damages and penalties, the largest settlement against a Medicare carrier
in the country. Through diligent claims tracking, scrupulous examination of
financial resources, thorough inspection of payments and bonuses, and close
scrutiny of processing practices, investigators revealed an intricate scheme on
the part of key personnel at Health Care Service Corporation to defraud
Medicare and conceal illegal activities.
Fourth Award:
Team Nominated by the United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of
IA. James Mitzelfeld, William Cleary, and Kevin Oetinger.
As a result of close collaboration, meticulous planning, and extraordinary
tenacity, this team made sure one defendant was held fully accountable for his
crime. On June 1996, a Canadian citizen was committed to the custody of the
Bureau of Prisons and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine. At the time of
sentencing, Jim Mitzelfeld, anticipating an attempt to default on payment of the
fine, obtained the court's agreement to consider a motion to resentence should
Mr. Doidge fail to pay the full amount. On December 31, Mr. Mitzelfeld
discovered that the defendant had been released from incarceration and was
being transported by the INS to the Canadian border for deportation. Despite
the fact that Mr. Doidge had paid only half of his fine, Mr. Mitzelfeld
immediately filed an emergency motion for resentencing and contacted Messrs.
Cleary and Oetinger of the INS-Buffalo to ask their help in delaying the
defendant's deportation. The defendant's family produced the funds and the
balance of the fine was paid.
Fifth Award:
Team from the United States District Court, Middle District of GA. Gregory
Leonard, Wanda Misinco, and Artis Carner.
This team of three developed a unique system to institutionalize criminal
restitution payments on all cases in the district's inventory. By streamlining and
facilitating communication between the courts, the U.S. Probation Office, and
the U.S. Attorney's office, the system now employed by the Middle District of
Georgia allows staff to be advised of any discrepancies or problems in the
processing of criminal payments. The team also created a computer program
that tracks balances and imposes interests and penalties on applicable criminal
fines and restitution. The members of this team have taken their 46 years of
dedicated experience and used it to ensure that all criminal payments are
processed in a prompt and efficient manner.
Sixth Award:
Financial Litigation Unit, United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of
FL. Elizabeth Ruf Stein, Mary Dooley, Karen Thompson, Ann Woodruff,
Cathy Joseph, Gerald Thompson, Rolando Leon, Colleen Perez, Sandra
Williams, and Catrina Bryant.
The extraordinary commitment of this team to holding offenders accountable is
responsible for tripling the collections of the U.S. Attorney's office last year. A
renewed focus on collectability provided by a restructuring of the Financial
Litigation Unit and a pilot project of shared computer access among the U.S.
Attorney's Office, the U.S. Probation Office, and the Clerk of the Court were
largely responsible for a dramatic $12 million increase in their deposits into the
Crime Victims Fund over the past year.
Seventh Award:
Financial Litigation Unit, United States Attorney's Office, Western District of
TX. Johnnie L. Ross, Jr., Hal Atkinson, Patsy Ybarra, Diane Webb, Cindy
Merrill, Martha Fowler, Mildred Alexander, and Michael McVay.
This Financial Litigation Unit has created a system that ensures financial
accountability to individual victims of crime in multiple-victim cases. Through a
special database developed to track victims and handle disbursements, the
FLU has found a way to deliver restitution in large-scale white-collar crime
cases, which often involve hundreds or even thousands of victims. In a recent
case, a judgment was entered against 13 defendants who were ordered to pay
various amounts in restitution to 4,000 elderly victims in a telemarketing scam.
To date, the FLU has seen to the collection of over $100,000 in restitution and
the disbursement of $80,000.
Eighth Award:
Peter R. Galenda, Criminal Debt Collection Paralegal, U.S. Attorney's Office,
Western District of NY.
Peter Galenda has devoted his time and energy to devising pioneering
innovations in meeting his office's obligation to victims. A combination of
resourcefulness garnered from his 25 years of experience and inventiveness
derived from his dedication to seeing justice served is responsible for the
success of his office in recovering criminal debts. Due to his efforts, the
Western District of New York collected over $1.8 million in fiscal year 98,
almost $800,000 of which went for deposit into the Crime Victims Fund.
Ninth Award:
Eric J. Klumb, Assistant United States Attorney, Eastern District of WI.
In 1996, Eric Klumb was successful in obtaining convictions against Vitek
Supply Corp., a Dutch manufacturer of animal feed, for conspiring to defraud,
smuggling, and distributing adulterated animal drugs with the intent to mislead,
resulting in Vitek being placed on probation and ordered to pay both a
$350,000 fine and restitution totaling over $730,000. Through 1997, however,
the company made no payments, claiming to be essentially out of business
without any appreciable assets. Mr. Klumb investigated Vitek's claim and
established that it had shifted its assets and operations to other related
corporations for the purpose of avoiding payment. He then filed a separate civil
suit alleging fraudulent conveyance. The judge accepted Mr. Klumb's
evidentiary and legal theories, ordering Vitek and four related corporations to
pay the fine and restitution within 90 days.
Tenth Award:
Gerald M. Rhodes, Correctional Counselor, United States Bureau of Prisons.
Through diligent and responsible commitment, Mr. Rhodes has exemplified the
important role corrections agencies can play in serving crime victims. His work
with inmates in the Bureau of Prison's Inmate Financial Responsibility Program
has resulted in extraordinary cooperation in meeting victims' needs. While
serving in a temporary assignment as a Correctional Counselor, Mr. Rhodes
was instrumental in collecting almost half of a $10 million restitution ordered
from one defendant. Mr. Rhodes was responsible for first winning the inmate's
agreement to participate in the Inmate Financial Responsibility Program and
then for using monies collected from the sale of seized assets to satisfy a
significant portion of his restitution obligation.
----------------------------
Appendix 2
Year-of-Award Allocations for VOCA Victim Assistance Grants, FYs 1997
and 1998
State: AL
FY 1997: $6,396,000
FY 1998: $4,443,000
Total: $10,839,000
State: AK
FY 1997: 1,337,000
FY 1998: 1,060,000
Total: $2,397,000
State: AZ
FY 1997: 6,348,000
FY 1998: 4,586,000
Total: $10,934,000
State: AR
FY 1997: 3,943,000
FY 1998: 2,816,000
Total: $6,759,000
State: CA
FY 1997: 44,294,000
FY 1998: 29,912,825
Total: $74,206,825
State: CO
FY 1997: 5,694,000
FY 1998: 4,027,000
Total: $9,721,000
State: CT
FY 1997: 5,040,000
FY 1998: 3,521,000
Total: $8,561,000
State: DE
FY 1997: 1,494,000
FY 1998: 1,169,000
Total: $2,663,000
State: DC
FY 1997: 1,268,000
FY 1998: 1,001,000
Total: $2,269,000
State: FL
FY 1997: 20,138,000
FY 1998: 13,786,000
Total: $33,924,000
State: GA
FY 1997: 10,483,000
FY 1998: 7,284,000
Total: $17,767,000
State: HI
FY 1997: 2,145,000
FY 1998: 1,592,000
Total: $3,737,000
State: ID
FY 1997: 2,113,000
FY 1998: 1,597,000
Total: $3,710,000
State: IL
FY 1997: 16,900,000
FY 1998: 11,430,000
Total: $28,330,000
State: IN
FY 1997: 8,546,000
FY 1998: 5,889,000
Total: $14,435,000
State: IA
FY 1997: 4,440,000
FY 1998: 3,131,000
Total: $7,571,000
State: KS
FY 1997: 4,056,000
FY 1998: 2,873,000
Total: $6,929,000
State: KY
FY 1997: 5,852,000
FY 1998: 4,083,000
Total: $9,935,000
State: LA
FY 1997: 6,520,000
FY 1998: 4,514,000
Total: $11,034,000
State: ME
FY 1997: 2,221,000
FY 1998: 1,647,000
Total: $3,868,000
State: MD
FY 1997: 7,491,000
FY 1998: 5,179,000
Total: $12,670,000
State: MA
FY 1997: 8,920,000
FY 1998: 6,121,000
Total: $15,041,000
State: MI
FY 1997: 13,739,000
FY 1998: 9,352,000
Total: $23,091,000
State: MN
FY 1997: 6,890,000
FY 1998: 4,797,000
Total: $11,687,000
State: MS
FY 1997: 4,239,000
FY 1998: 3,006,000
Total: $7,245,000
State: MO
FY 1997: 7,880,000
FY 1998: 5,444,000
Total: $13,324,000
State: MT
FY 1997: 1,707,000
FY 1998: 1,311,000
Total: $3,018,000
State: NE
FY 1997: 2,770,000
FY 1998: 2,024,000
Total: $4,794,000
State: NV
FY 1997: 2,621,000
FY 1998: 1,979,000
Total: $4,600,000
State: NH
FY 1997: 2,092,000
FY 1998: 1,573,000
Total: $3,665,000
State: NJ
FY 1997: 11,515,000
FY 1998: 7,870,000
Total: $19,385,000
State: NM
FY 1997: 2,837,000
FY 1998: 2,081,000
Total: $4,918,000
State: NY
FY 1997: 25,643,000
FY 1998: 17,278,000
Total: $42,921,000
State: NC
FY 1997: 10,475,000
FY 1998: 7,256,000
Total: $17,731,000
State: ND
FY 1997: 1,389,000
FY 1998: 1,094,000
Total: $2,483,000
State: OH
FY 1997: 15,958,050
FY 1998: 10,809,000
Total: $26,767,050
State: OK
FY 1997: 5,044,000
FY 1998: 3,546,000
Total: $8,590,000
State: OR
FY 1997: 4,854,000
FY 1998: 3,456,000
Total: $8,310,000
State: PA
FY 1997: 17,236,000
FY 1998: 11,624,000
Total: $28,860,000
State: RI
FY 1997: 1,872,000
FY 1998: 1,414,000
Total: $3,286,000
State: SC
FY 1997: 5,592,000
FY 1998: 3,913,000
Total: $9,505,000
State: SD
FY 1997: 1,511,000
FY 1998: 1,176,000
Total: $2,687,000
State: TN
FY 1997: 7,787,000
FY 1998: 5,408,000
Total: $13,195,000
State: TX
FY 1997: 26,458,000
FY 1998: 18,149,000
Total: $44,607,000
State: UT
FY 1997: 3,205,000
FY 1998: 2,346,000
Total: $5,551,000
State: VT
FY 1997: 1,311,000
FY 1998: 1,043,000
Total: $2,354,000
State: VA
FY 1997: 9,675,000
FY 1998: 6,659,000
Total: $16,334,000
State: WA
FY 1997: 8,029,000
FY 1998: 5,605,000
Total: $13,634,000
State: WV
FY 1997: 3,034,000
FY 1998: 2,185,000
Total: $5,219,000
State: WI
FY 1997: 7,602,000
FY 1998: 5,261,000
Total: $12,863,000
State: WY
FY 1997: 1,166,000
FY 1998: 944,000
Total: $2,110,000
State: PR
FY 1997: 5,706,000
FY 1998: 3,990,000
Total: $9,696,000
State: VI
FY 1997: 641,000
FY 1998: 594,000
Total: $1,235,000
State: GUAM
FY 1997: 385,000
FY 1998: 323,000
Total: $708,000
State: AM SAMOA
FY 1997: 265,000
FY 1998: 243,000
Total: $508,000
State: N. MARIANA
FY 1997: 260,000
FY 1998: 240,000
Total: $500,000
State: PALAU
FY 1997: 31,950
FY 1998: 15,975
Total: $47,925
FY TOTALS
FY 1997: 397,059,000
FY 1998: 275,670,800
Total: $672,729,800
----------------------------
Appendix 3
Year-of-Award Allocations for VOCA Victim Compensation Grants, FYs
1997 and 1998
State: AL
FY 1997: $848,000
FY 1998: $895,000
Total: $1,743,000
State: AK
FY 1997: 311,000
FY 1998: 209,000
Total: $520,000
State: AZ
FY 1997: 291,000
FY 1998: 367,000
Total: $658,000
State: AR
FY 1997: 427,000
FY 1998: 483,000
Total: $910,000
State: CA
FY 1997: 25,489,000
FY 1998: 19,458,000
Total: $44,947,000
State: CO
FY 1997: 1,644,000
FY 1998: 1,911,000
Total: $3,555,000
State: CT
FY 1997: 572,000
FY 1998: 578,000
Total: $1,150,000
State: DC
FY 1997: 107,000
FY 1998: 23,000
Total: $130,000
State: DE
FY 1997: 135,000
FY 1998: 422,000
Total: $557,000
State: FL
FY 1997: 5,759,000
FY 1998: 4,073,000
Total: $9,832,000
State: GA
FY 1997: 130,000
FY 1998: 416,000
Total: $546,000
State: HI
FY 1997: 387,000
FY 1998: 259,000
Total: $646,000
State: ID
FY 1997: 150,000
FY 1998: 445,000
Total: $595,000
State: IL
FY 1997: 2,407,000
FY 1998: 2,566,000
Total: $4,973,000
State: IN
FY 1997: 529,000
FY 1998: 850,000
Total: $1,379,000
State: IA
FY 1997: 829,000
FY 1998: 961,000
Total: $1,790,000
State: KS
FY 1997: 659,000
FY 1998: 694,000
Total: $1,353,000
State: KY
FY 1997: 181,000
FY 1998: 225,000
Total: $406,000
State: LA
FY 1997: 100,000
FY 1998: 190,000
Total: $290,000
State: ME
FY 1997: 75,000
FY 1998: 52,000
Total: $127,000
State: MD
FY 1997: 253,000
FY 1998: 378,000
Total: $631,000
State: MA
FY 1997: 1,355,000
FY 1998: 1,321,000
Total: $2,676,000
State: MI
FY 1997: 713,000
FY 1998: 740,000
Total: $1,453,000
State: MN
FY 1997: 531,000
FY 1998: 951,000
Total: $1,482,000
State: MS
FY 1997: 84,000
FY 1998: 93,000
Total: $177,000
State: MO
FY 1997: 971,000
FY 1998: 895,000
Total: $1,866,000
State: MT
FY 1997: 117,000
FY 1998: 217,000
Total: $334,000
State: NE
FY 1997: 77,000
FY 1998: 88,000
Total: $165,000
State: NV
FY 1997: 0
FY 1998: 635,000
Total: $635,000
State: NH
FY 1997: 20,000
FY 1998: 36,000
Total: $56,000
State: NJ
FY 1997: 3,035,000
FY 1998: 1,429,000
Total: $4,464,000
State: NM
FY 1997: 378,000
FY 1998: 314,000
Total: $692,000
State: NY
FY 1997: $3,374,000
FY 1998: $3,769,000
Total: $7,143,000
State: NC
FY 1997: 1,112,000
FY 1998: 943,000
Total: $2,055,000
State: ND
FY 1997: 25,000
FY 1998: 76,000
Total: $101,000
State: OH
FY 1997: 4,012,000
FY 1998: 2,290,000
Total: $6,302,000
State: OK
FY 1997: 701,000
FY 1998: 622,000
Total: $1,323,000
State: OR
FY 1997: 270,000
FY 1998: 312,000
Total: $582,000
State: PA
FY 1997: 1,314,000
FY 1998: 1,254,000
Total: $2,568,000
State: RI
FY 1997: 474,000
FY 1998: 412,000
Total: $886,000
State: SC
FY 1997: 1,063,000
FY 1998: 1,015,000
Total: $2,078,000
State: SD
FY 1997: 84,000
FY 1998: 62,000
Total: $146,000
State: TN
FY 1997: 1,578,000
FY 1998: 1,605,000
Total: $3,183,000
State: TX
FY 1997: 6,413,000
FY 1998: 8,078,000
Total: $14,491,000
State: UT
FY 1997: 554,000
FY 1998: 551,000
Total: $1,105,000
State: VT
FY 1997: 94,000
FY 1998: 107,000
Total: $201,000
State: VA
FY 1997: 382,000
FY 1998: 97,000
Total: $479,000
State: WA
FY 1997: 3,151,000
FY 1998: 2,726,000
Total: $5,877,000
State: WV
FY 1997: 211,000
FY 1998: 548,000
Total: $759,000
State: WI
FY 1997: 630,000
FY 1998: 620,000
Total: $1,250,000
State: WY
FY 1997: 82,000
FY 1998: 110,000
Total: $192,000
State: VI
FY 1997: 154,000
FY 1998: 57,000
Total: $211,000
FY TOTALS
FY 1997: 74,242,000
FY 1998: 67,428,000
Total: $141,670,000
----------------------------
Appendix 4
Children's Justice Act Partnerships for Indian Communities
State/Tribes: MT-Blackfeet Nation
FY 1991: $84,625
FY 1992: $84,625
Total: $169,250
State/Tribes: AK-Bristol Bay Native Assn.
FY 1991: $84,486
FY 1992: $75,800
Total: $160,286
State/Tribes: OK-Cherokee Nation
FY 1990: $52,000
FY 1991: $52,274
Total: $104,274
State/Tribes: MT-Chippewa Cree Tribe
FY 1996: $76,168
FY 1997: $75,641
FY 1998: $75,000
Total: $226,809
State/Tribes: AK-Chugachmiut
FY 1994: $99,942
FY 1995: $102,354
FY 1997: $99,999
Total: $302,295
State/Tribes: SD-Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
FY 1990: $41,000
FY 1991: $41,000
Total: $82,000
State/Tribes: MT-Ft Peck Assiniboine Sioux
FY 1990: $50,000
FY 1992: $48,454
FY 1994: $99,837
FY 1995: $97,469
FY 1996: $99,837
Total: $395,597
State/Tribes: AZ-Gila River Indian Tribe
FY 1990: $43,000
FY 1991: $33,487
Total: $76,487
State/Tribes: MN-Grand Portage Tribe
FY 1991: $31,001
FY 1992: $51,436
Total: $82,437
State/Tribes: MI-Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians
FY 1991: $55,214
FY 1992: $54,868
Total: $110,082
State/Tribes: MI- Hannahville Indian Tribe
FY 1991: $49,027
FY 1992: $32,854
Total: $81,881
State/Tribes: AZ-The Hopi Tribe
FY 1990: $34,563
Total: $434,563
State/Tribes: WI-Lac duFlambeau Chippewa
FY 1996: $59,467
FY 1997: $75,000
FY 1998: $75,000
Total: $209,467
State/Tribes: NM-Laguna Pueblo
FY 1996: $61,722
FY 1998: $150,000
Total: $211,722
State/Tribes: WA-Lummi Business Council
FY 1996: $100,000
FY 1998: $98,000
Total: $198,000
State/Tribes: WI-Menominee Tribe
FY 1991: $27,210
Total: $27,210
State/Tribes: MN-Minnesota Chippewa
FY 1994: $97,314
FY 1995: $96,449
FY 1997: $100,000
Total: $293,763
State/Tribes: MS-Mississippi of Choctaw Band
FY 1990: $40,000
FY 1991: $55,549
FY 1993: $32,598
Total: $128,147
State/Tribes: OK-Muscogee Creek Nation
FY 1996: $60,000
FY 1997: $75,000
FY 1998: $75,000
Total: $210,000
State/Tribes: AZ-Navajo Nation
FY 1991: $82,200
FY 1993: $100,000
Total: $182,200
State/Tribes: ID-Nez Perce Tribe
FY 1990: $50,000
FY 1991: $55,159
FY 1996: $60,000
FY 1997: $75,000
FY 1998: $88,387
Total: $328,546
State/Tribes: MT-Northern Cheyenne Tribe
FY 1996: $60,246
FY 1997: $92,000
FY 1998: $92,000
Total: $244,246
State/Tribes: SD-Oglala Sioux Tribe
FY 1990: $60,000
FY 1991: $40,125
Total: $100,125
State/Tribes: NE-Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
FY 1994: $60,456
FY 1996: $123,668
FY 1997: $99,936
Total: $284,060
State/Tribes: WI-Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin
FY 1996: $62,444
FY 1997: $66,177
Total: $128,621
State/Tribes: NM-Ramah Navajo
FY 1994: $90,219
FY 1996: $96,207
FY 1997: $75,222
Total: $261,648
State/Tribes: SD-Rosebud Sioux of Wisconsin
FY 1991: $24,564
Total: $24,564
State/Tribes: AZ-Salt River Pima/Maricopa Tribe
FY 1991: $63,759
FY 1992: $70,643
FY 1994: $96,390
FY 1995: $96,307
FY 1996: $100,000
Total: $427,093
State/Tribes: NM-Santa Clara Pueblo
FY 1990: $30,000
FY 1991: $30,450
FY 1992: $10,000
Total: $70,450
State/Tribes: MI-Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa
FY 1993: $94,371
FY 1994: $94,371
Total: $188,742
State/Tribes: WY-Shoshone Arapaho Tribes
FY 1994: $33,730
FY 1996: $79,827
FY 1998: $73,444
Total: $187,001
State/Tribes: WA-South Puget Intertribal Agency
FY 1990: $55,000
FY 1991: $55,000
FY 1994: $100,000
FY 1995: $100,000
FY 1996: $100,000
Total: $410,000
State/Tribes: ND-Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
FY 1993: $54,212
FY 1994: $99,590
FY 1996: $72,583
Total: $226,385
State/Tribes: ND-Tender Hearts, Inc.
FY 1996: $59,777
FY 1998: $75,000
Total: $134,777
State/Tribes: ND-Three Affiliated Tribes
FY 1996: $60,000
FY 1998: $60,000
Total: $120,000
State/Tribes: NV-Washoe Tribe of Nevada & California
FY 1991: $65,317
FY 1992: $73,328
Total: $138,645
State/Tribes: NE-Winnebago Tribe of Neb.
FY 1996: $80,503
FY 1997: $75,000
FY 1998: $75,000
Total: $230,503
State/Tribes: NM-Zuni Pueblo
FY 1993: $83,110
FY 1994: $83,110
Total: $166,220
State/Tribes: TTA-NIJC, Inc.
FY 1990: $150,000
FY 1991: $200,000
FY 1992: $45,000
FY 1993: $100,000
FY 1994: $100,000
FY 1995: $105,000
FY 1996: $200,000
FY 1997: $175,000
FY 1998: $100,000
Total: $1,175,000
FY TOTALS
FY 1990: $605,563
FY 1991: $1,130,447
FY 1992: $547,008
FY 1993: $464,291
FY 1994: $1,054,959
FY 1995: $597,579
FY 1996: $1,612,449
FY 1997: $1,083,975
FY 1998: $1,036,831
Total: $8,133,102
GRAND TOTAL
$8,133,102
----------------------------
Appendix 5
Victim Assistance in Indian Country
FYs 1997 and 1998 Grantees*
AZ--Navajo Nation, Window Rock, AZ
$113,112
AZ--Pasqua Yaqui Tribe, Tucson, AZ
$40,000
CO--Southern Ute Tribe Police -Department, Ignacio, CO
$50,000
ID--Nez Perce Tribal Victim's Assistance Project, Lapwai, ID
$40,000
ID--Shoshone/Bannock Victims of Crime Domestic Violence, Newtown, ND
$40,450
MI--Bay Mills Indian Reservation, Brimley, MI
$26,376
MI--Lac Vieux Desert Indian Reservation, Watersmeet, MI
$24,624
MN--Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Red Lake, MN
$40,000
MS--Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indian, Choctaw Social Services Program,
Phila, MS
$96,290
MT--Fort Peck Tribes, Wolf Point, MT
$46,666
MT--Blackfeet Tribe, Tribal Social Services, Browning, MT
$46,666
MT--Crow Victim Assistance Program, Crow Agency, MT
$46,668
NV--Nevada Urban Indians, Sparks, NV
$51,500
NV--Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Reno, NV
$40,696
NM--Indian Pueblo Legal Services, Inc., San Juan Pueblo, NM
$20,000
NM--Pueblo Zuni, Zuni, NM
$42,000
NM--Pueblo of Acoma, Pueblo of Acoma, NM
$40,000
NM--DNA--People's Legal Services, Inc., Window Rock, AZ
$20,000
ND--Ft. Berthold Coalition Against Services, Ft. Hall, ID
$20,000
ND--Turtle Mt. Band of Chippewa Indians, Belcourt, ND
$26,100
ND--Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, Ft. Totten, ND
$40,000
OK--Miami Tribe, Miami, OK
$54,668
OK--Tonkawa Tribe, Tonkawa, OK
$40,000
OR--The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Victim Assistance Program,
Warm Springs, OR
$40,000
SD--Crow Creek Reservation (Red Horse Lodge) Project Safe, Ft
Thompson, SD
$52,700
SD--Oglala Sioux, Pine Ridge Reservation, Pine Ridge, SD
$40,300
SD--Women's Circle Support Services, Agency Village, SD
$20,000
UT--Ute Indian Tribe, Ft.Duchesne, UT
$40,000
WA--Lummi Indian Nation, Lummi Victims of Crime, Olympia, WA
$89,250
WI--Menominee Tribal Police Dept., Crime Victims Office, Keshena,
$40,000
WY--Wind River Reservation, Tribal Prosecutors Office, Ft. Washakie, WY
$55,982
----------------------------
Appendix 6
OVC Publications and Products, FYs 1997 and 1998
Fiscal Year 1997*
Reports
--Nation's Shame: Fatal Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States
--Victims of Gang Violence: A New Frontier in Victim Services
Manuals
--1996 Victims' Rights Sourcebook: A Compilation and Comparison of
Victims' Rights Laws
--Federal Symposium Material
--National Symposium on Victims of Federal Crime Reference Manual--
Table of Contents
--Victims of Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Elder Abuse, Rape, Robbery,
Assault, and Violent Death: A Manual for Clergy and Congregations
--Victim Empowerment: Bridging the Systems--Mental Health and Victim
Service Providers
Guidebooks
--After the Robbery: Crisis to Resolution Video Guidebook
--OVC Conference Planning Guide
--Working with Grieving Children After Violent Death
Fact Sheets
--Children's Justice Act Discretionary Grant Program for Native Americans
--Community Crisis Response Fact Sheet
--State Crime Victim Compensation and Assistance Grant Programs
--What Is the Office for Victims of Crime?
--What Can You Do If You Are a Victim of Crime?
Videos
--After the Robbery: Crisis to Resolution
--B.J. Learns About Federal and Tribal Court: Instructor's Guide
--Justice for Victims
--Working with Grieving Children
--Young Once, Indian Forever: Protecting the Children of Indian Country
Specialty
--Bitter Earth: Child Sexual Abuse in Indian Country
Type of Product--Discussion Guide
--If You or Someone You Love Is a Victim of Crime
Type of Product--Bookmark
--Learning About Court With "B.J."! An Activity Book for Children Going to
Federal or Tribal Court
Type of Product--Activity Book
--National Crime Victims' Rights Week 1997
Type of Product--Poster
--National Crime Victims' Rights Week, April 13-19, 1997
Type of Product--Resource Kit
--OVC Advocate, February 1997
Type of Product--Newsletter
--OVC FY97 Discretionary Program Application Kit
Type of Product--Solicitation
--Sexual Assault: A Hospital/Community Protocol for Forensic and Medical
Examination
Type of Product--Slides/Tape/Booklet
Number of OVC Products for Fiscal Year 1997: 28
* The titles provided are only those in which OVCRC was involved in the
production and/or dissemination. Grantee products submitted to OVC and not
made available through OVCRC are not referenced in the listings for Fiscal
Year 1997.
Fiscal Year 1998*
Reports
--Joining Forces Against Child Sexual Exploitation: Models for a
Multijurisdictional Team Approach
--Office for Victims of Crime 1997 Report to Congress
--When Will They Ever Learn? Educating To End Domestic Violence: A Law
School Report
--Victims' Rights Compliance Efforts: Experience in Three States
Manuals
--MADD Victim Impact Classes Curriculum
--Victim Impact Classes/Panels for Offenders--Training Seminar--Student's
Manual
Guidebooks
--Child Victims and Witnesses: A Handbook for Criminal Justice Professionals
--Homicide: The Hidden Victims--A Guide for Professionals
--Roles, Rights, and Responsibilities: A Handbook for Fraud Victims
Participating in the Federal Criminal Justice System
Fact Sheets
--Children's Justice Act Partnerships for Indian Communities
--Funding Court Appointed Special Advocate Programs
--Federal Crime Victims Division
--Initiatives for Improving the Mental Health of Traumatized Crime Victims
--Initiatives to Combat Violence Against Women
--Initiatives to Combat Child Abuse
--Mentor Programs for VOCA Administrators Announcement and Call for
Participation
--Office for Victims of Crime National Scope Training and Technical
Assistance Portfolio
--Special Projects Division
--State Compensation and Assistance Division
--Telemarketing Fraud Prevention, Public Awareness, and Training Activities
--Victim Assistance in Indian Country Discretionary Grant Program
Bulletins
--Improving Tribal/Federal Prosecution of Child Sexual Abuse Cases Through
Agency Cooperation
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Executive Summary (Bulletin 1 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Victims' Rights (Chapter 1, Bulletin 2 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Law Enforcement (Chapter 2, Bulletin 3 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Prosecution (Chapter 3, Bulletin 4 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Judiciary (Chapter 4, Bulletin 5 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Corrections (Chapter 5, Bulletin 6 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Victim Assistance Community (Chapter 6, Bulletin 7 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Health Care Community (Chapter 7, Bulletin 8 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Mental Health Community (Chapter 8, Bulletin 9 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Legal Community (Chapter 9, Bulletin 10 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Education Community (Chapter 10, Bulletin 11 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Faith Community (Chapter 11, Bulletin 12 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Business Community (Chapter 12, Bulletin 13 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: News Media Community (Chapter 13, Bulletin 14 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Crime Victims' Compensation (Chapter 14, Bulletin 15 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Restitution (Chapter 15, Bulletin 16 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Civil Remedies (Chapter 16, Bulletin 17 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: Child Victims (Chapter 17, Bulletin 18 of 19)
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century: International Perspectives (Chapter 18, Bulletin 19 of 19)
--Victims' Rights Compliance Efforts: Experience in Three States
--Working with Victims of Crime with Disabilities
Videos
--1998 National Crime Victims' Rights Week Ceremony Crime Victim Service
Awards
--1998 National Crime Victims' Rights Week Ceremony Crime Victim
Services Awards (Oklahoma City Bombing Special Awards)
--Joining Forces Against Sexual Exploitation
--Meeting the Health Needs of Crime Victims
--Promising Practices: Community Partnerships Helping Victims
--Time to Act
--Victims of Fraud: Beyond Financial Loss
Specialty
--1998 National Crime Victim Service Awards
Type of Product--Nomination Form
--1999 National Crime Victim Service Awards: Victims Voices Silent No
More
Type of Product--Brochure and Nomination Form
--Evaluation of Victims of Crime Act State Compensation and Assistance
Programs, 1998
Type of Product--Solicitation
--Information for Victims and Witnesses Who Report Fraud Crimes
Type of Product--Brochure
--National Crime Victims' Rights Week 1998
Type of Product--Poster
--National Victim Assistance Academy
Type of Product--Bookmark
--New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st
Century
Type of Product--Comprehensive Report
--Office for Victims of Crime is On-line for Victims' Rights and Resources
Type of Product--Bookmark
--OVC FY 1998 Discretionary Program Application Kit
Type of Product--Solicitation
--OVC Victim Assistance National Resource Directory
Type of Product--Directory
--National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards Program
Directory 1998
Type of Product-- Directory
--Training and Technical Assistance Center Application Package
Type of Product--Brochure
--Victims' Rights: Right for America--1998 National Crime Victims' Rights
Week
Type of Product-- Resource Guide
--Young Once, Indian Forever: Protecting the Children of Indian Country
Type of Product--Discussion Guide
Number of OVC Products for Fiscal Year 1998: 64
* The titles provided are only those in which OVCRC was involved in the
production and/or dissemination. Grantee products submitted to OVC and not
made available through OVCRC are not referenced in the listings for Fiscal
Year 1998.
----------------------------
Appendix 7
Summary of the Number of TTAC-Supported Technical Assistance Events by
State
State: Alabama
# Events: 3
State: Alaska
# Events: 1
State: Arizona
# Events: 1
State: Arkansas
# Events: 5
State: California
# Events: 2
State: Colorado
# Events: 7
State: Connecticut
# Events: 2
State: Delaware
# Events: 2
State: D.C.
# Events: 40*
State: Florida
# Events: 10
State: Georgia
# Events: 2
State: Hawaii
# Events: 1
State: Idaho
# Events: 1
State: Illinois
# Events: 3
State: Indiana
# Events: 3
State: Iowa
# Events: 2
State: Kansas
# Events: 5
State: Kentucky
# Events: 3
State: Louisiana
# Events: 1
State: Maine
# Events: 0
State: Maryland
# Events: 1
State: Massachusetts
# Events: 3
State: Michigan
# Events: 4
State: Minnesota
# Events: 2
State: Mississippi
# Events: 0
State: Missouri
# Events: 6
State: Montana
# Events: 0
State: Nebraska
# Events: 1
State: Nevada
# Events: 4
State: New Hampshire
# Events: 0
State: New Jersey
# Events: 0
State: New Mexico
# Events: 0
State: New York
# Events: 6
State: North Carolina
# Events: 0
State: North Dakota
# Events: 1
State: Ohio
# Events: 2
State: Oklahoma
# Events: 2
State: Oregon
# Events: 1
State: Pennsylvania
# Events: 3
State: Rhode Island
# Events: 1
State: South Carolina
# Events: 2
State: South Dakota
# Events: 1
State: Tennessee
# Events: 4
State: Texas
# Events: 6
State: Utah
# Events: 2
State: Vermont
# Events: 1
State: Virginia
# Events: 4
State: Washington
# Events: 1
State: West Virginia
# Events: 0
State: Wisconsin
# Events: 2
State: Wyoming
# Events: 1
*Most of the 40 requests represented in the District of Columbia were direct
requests for support from OVC staff.
----------------------------
Appendix 8
Summary of FYs 1997 and 1998 Crisis Response Deployments
Date: 11/97
Location: Spotsylvania, VA
Incident: Three young girls kidnaped and murdered. Small suburban community
in shock and disbelief after their bodies are found in nearby rivers.
Length of Response: 3 days
# of CRT* Members: 4
Date: 12/97
Location: Orlando, FL
Incident: Children taken hostage at nursery school. Horrifying showdown ends
peacefully, but parents and the local community are traumatized by this event.
Length of Response: 3 days
# of CRT* Members: 6
Date: 12/97
Location: Orange, CA
Incident: California Department of Transportation employee opens fire at work,
killing four employees, wounding two others.
Length of Response: 3 days
# of CRT* Members: 5
Date: 12/97
Location: West Paducah, KY
Incident: Student at Heath High School opens fire after morning prayer
assembly, killing three students, wounding five others.
Length of Response: 5 days
# of CRT* Members: 5
Date: 1/98
Location: Birmingham, AL
Incident: New Women's Clinic is bombed, killing an off-duty police officer
and seriously wounding a nurse.
Length of Response: 4 days
# of CRT* Members: 5
Date: 3/98
Location: Jonesboro, AR
Incident: Two boys, ages 11 and 13, open fire at Westside Middle School,
killing four students and one teacher.
Length of Response: 5 days
# of CRT* Members: 5
*Crisis Response Team
----------------------------
Appendix 9
Recipients of the Crime Victim Service Award for FYs 1997 and 1998
1997 CRIME VICTIM SERVICE AWARDS
1. ELLEN HALBERT
Vice Chair, Texas Board of Criminal Justice
Ellen Halbert was raped, beaten, repeatedly stabbed and left for dead by a
drifter dressed in a black Ninja outfit who broke into her home. She left her job
as a real estate broker and dedicated her life to victim services. Today, Ms.
Halbert has just finished a six-year term as the Vice Chair of the Texas Board
of Criminal Justice, which oversees the massive criminal justice system for the
State of Texas. Appointed to this position by Governor Ann Richards as the
first victim to serve on this important board, Ms. Halbert had oversight
responsibility for the world's largest prison system, parole, probation, state jails
and victim services, and has become one of the state's foremost leaders in
restorative justice. Ms. Halbert's leadership and determination has led to
marked changes in the criminal justice system in Texas including victim
sensitivity training for thousands of parole and probation officers, a 30 member
volunteer Victim Services Advisory Council, and victim impact panels used
inside the prison units prior to parole or release. She is the first victim to have a
prison unit named after her The Ellen Halbert Drug and Alcohol Treatment
Facility for Women. Her nominator wrote that Ellen Halbert is, "a true 'standard
bearer' whose person and accomplishments establish the scope and promise by
which the victims movement and all related programs are judged."
2. DNA-PEOPLE'S LEGAL SERVICES, INC.
Peggy Bird, Director
Native American Family Violence Prevention Project
For thirty years DNA has provided free legal and other services to victims of
crime on the Navajo and Hopi nations. From its nine offices located throughout
Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, DNA serves victims in some of the most
remote and impoverished places in America. At a time when many legal service
programs do not serve crime victims at all, domestic violence cases have
constituted nearly 20 percent of DNA's total caseload for the past three years.
DNA has been instrumental in the development safe homes, support groups,
shelters and crisis counseling for victims on the Navajo Nation, as well as in
drafting police arrest protocols for the Navajo Nation police force, and in the
drafting and passage of culturally appropriate domestic violence laws for both
the Navajo Nation and the Hopi tribe. DNA has also worked to increase
public awareness of the new domestic violence laws, and to train Navajo nation
police, courts, peacemakers, hospitals, and social service offices about their
obligations under the laws.
DNA's Native American Family Violence Prevention Project conducts basic
community education about family violence prevention across the entire Navajo
Nation in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Peggy Bird, the director of the
Project, is a Native American attorney from the Santo Domingo Pueblo who
has herself been a victim of domestic violence. In 1993, Ms. Bird started
weekly women's support groups. She is the co-President of the Shiprock
Domestic Violence Task Force, and a member of the Attorney General's Task
Force on Domestic Violence and the New Mexico Stop Violence Against
Women oversight committee. DNA's nominator wrote that the dedication of
this group of professionals to help victims of crime has been truly
"extraordinary."
3. VICTIMS FOR JUSTICE
Janice Lienhart, Executive Director
Janice Lienhart and Sharon Nahorney formed Victims for Justice in 1985 after
their parents and aunt were brutally murdered and they discovered that there
was no organization or support network in Alaska that could help them deal
with their grief. Victims for Justice is now the only organization in the state to
provide victim serv-ices such as crisis intervention, short- and long-term
individual and peer group counseling, advocacy and support in dealing with the
criminal justice system, and community education. The organization's two
founders have forged alliances with other victims to bring about significant
changes to both public attitudes and public policies concerning how family
members of homicide victims are treated. Their dedication and leadership
culminated in the passage of a State constitutional amendment on victims rights,
and the passage of a juvenile waiver law that ensures that teenagers who
commit violent felonies are held accountable for their conduct. The Attorney
General of Alaska, who nominated Victims for Justice wrote, "Janice Lienhart,
Sharon Nahorney and others have poured their hearts and souls into ensuring
that victims throughout Alaska have a place turn for help."
4. KAREN MUELHAUPT
Violent Crime Counselor
Karen Muelhaupt has been a compassionate and pioneering advocate for crime
victims for more than a decade. As a young woman, she was attacked and
raped as she was walking home from her apartment. Since that time she has
dedicated herself to improving services to crime victims through her work as a
pre-sentence investigator for Iowa's Fifth Judicial District, as a rape counselor,
and currently as a violent crime counselor. Not only does she provide advocacy
and counseling for victims of violent crime, but she works tirelessly to expand
rights and services for crime victims in Iowa. She helped develop a death
notification training manual for coroners, law enforcement, prosecutors and
victim service providers; she led the development of the Polk County Homicide
Crisis Response Team; she set up teams to clean up murder scenes and debrief
workplaces, neighborhoods and groups affected by homicide; and she provides
training to rape crisis and domestic abuse workers to extend their services to
rural areas. On her own time, Ms. Muelhaupt organized the funding, design,
and construction of a doll house-size courthouse to prepare children for court.
Despite a recent diagnosis of cancer, Ms. Muelhaupt's efforts on behalf of
crime victims have remained unflagging. She continues to work, often retiring to
bed at 5 p.m. in order to maintain her energy. Her nominator wrote, "Karen
embodies the spirit, conviction and energy of the crime victims movement."
5. EVELYN DILLON
Volunteer Victim Advocate
Genesee County Victim Assistance Program
Evelyn Dillon has contributed more than 12,500 hours of unpaid work since
1985 in her missionary work on behalf of crime victims. Her nominator wrote,
"She is a 'pure volunteer victim advocate' who will do whatever and go
wherever is necessary to help attend to and restore a victim who has been
broken by crime." In 1983, Mrs. Dillon's husband became the first IRS officer
to be murdered in the line of duty in Buffalo, NY. Since that time, Mrs. Dillon
has provided extensive outreach services to victims in the upstate New York
region. In 1987 Mrs. Dillon founded the Genesee County Victim Support
Coalition, and she currently services as the victim advocacy liaison for the
Genesee County Victim Assistance Program with the Genesee County MADD
chapter and the Genesee County Chapter of Compassionate Friends. She is the
standing victim member on the Genesee County Criminal Justice Advisory
Council, and she is a steadfast correspondent with state legislators regarding the
status of victim legislation in the areas of compensation, parole notification,
victim impact statements, and statements at the time of sentencing and fair
treatment of victims in the courtroom. As she approaches the age of 75, her
nominator calls her, "a vision of hope to every victim."
6. COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAMS, INC.
Gang Victim Services Program
Irvine, California
Margot Carleson, Executive Director
The Gang Victim Services program of Community Service Programs was
created in 1990 to provide crisis intervention and assistance to victims of gang
related violence and their families. Last year the seven bicultural and bilingual
gang victims specialists and the one witness specialist on staff provided help to
more than 970 victims of gang violence. Wearing bulletproof vests and
Crisis Response jackets, program counselors accompany investigating officers
to give death notifications, assess victims' safety and emergency needs, and
provide continuing counseling services, referrals, and support groups. Fear of
retaliation, intimidation and revenge often prevent gang violence victims from
seeking help or exercising their rights. Working closely with the District
Attorney's Gang Unit, Gang Victim Services staff provide support to victims
and witnesses throughout the investigation and prosecution of each case. Ms.
Christine Lopez, the program supervisor, is recognized statewide and nationally
for her expertise in gang related victim/witness issues and for her knowledge of
the Hispanic community. In 1993, Ms. Lopez was awarded the first annual
Doris Tate Award by Governor Pete Wilson in recognition of her outstanding
commitment and service to victims of crime. Gang Victim Services was recently
recognized as a model program by the Office for Victims of Crime and is
currently developing a protocol for similar programs across the Nation.
7. JAY HOWELL
Attorney-at-Law
Jacksonville, Florida
Jay Howell began his involvement in the victims field as a victim-sensitive
prosecutor in Jacksonville, Florida. As the Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate
Subcommittee on Investigations and General Oversight, he was instrumental to
the passage of landmark legislation affecting missing and exploited children
who, at that time, comprised a truly underserved victim population. Mr. Howell
later founded and was the first Executive Director for the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children. In 1986 he was a founding member of the
National Victims' Constitutional Amendment Network (NVCAN), which has
provided sound legal counsel in developing amendment language and strategies
for states, 29 of which have successfully secured passage of victims
constitutional amendments. He remains a key activist in NVCAN's current
efforts to secure a federal constitutional amendment. As a civil attorney for
the past 10 years, Mr. Howell has helped define the relatively new discipline of
victim-related civil litigation. His nominator wrote, "Jay is truly an 'unsung hero'
he is not doing the right thing for any recognition, but simply because it is right,
and it is needed by traumatized victims, as well as by our communities that
strive to promote greater safety for all of us."
8. LORETTA LEWIS-GOLDEN
Director, Rape/Crime Victim Advocate Program
Gainesville, Florida
For the past 14 years, Loretta Lewis-Golden worked tirelessly to shape the
development and growth of the Rape/Crime Victim Advocate Program in the
university town of Gainesville, Florida. Starting as an Advocate Counselor in
1982 and Director of the program since 1993, Ms. Lewis-Golden is the
epitome of a direct service provider and advocate for victims rights who has
gone "above and beyond" the call of duty in her dedication and commitment to
crime victims. She was described by her nominators at "a quiet, persistent, and
inspirational leader," who is able to break down barriers and instill trust and
communications between victims, victim service providers, correctional
institutions, law enforcement agencies, and the medical profession. An
exceptional trainer and eloquent speaker, Ms. Lewis-Golden has presented at
local and statewide conferences and is active in victim groups nationwide.
As an advocate and community activist, Ms. Lewis-Golden led grassroots
efforts to get a State constitutional amendment passed on victims' rights. Her
successful annual Rape Awareness Luncheon brings much needed attention to
the concerns of rape victims. Through her hours of volunteer consultation and
training, she has changed the attitudes and practices of law enforcement, the
State's Attorney's Office, and the judiciary towards crime victims. The
Gainesville Commission on the Status of Women awarded her the Martha
Varnes Award for Achievement in Sexual Battery Prevention. She also
received the University of Florida Woman of Achievement Award in 1995 for
the impact she has had on University of Florida students. She is a member and
co-developer of the National Black Women's Health Project, a local self-help
group.
9. ASTRID HEGER, M.D., FAAP
Executive Director, LAO/USC Violence Intervention Program
Los Angeles, California
A brilliant physician, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, and victim advocate, Dr.
Heger founded the Center for the Vulnerable Child in 1984. Together with her
newly established Violence Intervention Program at L.A. county USC Medical
Center, the combined program is the first Family Advocacy Center in the
Nation. The concept she developed has now generated over 300 Child
Advocacy Centers across the United States. Dr. Heger is recognized
nationwide for pioneering the use of photo-documentation techniques for the
medical evaluation of child and adolescent victims of sexual assault. In addition
to her work with children, Dr. Heger expanded the use of multidisciplinary
services medical treatment interfacing with legal, social and mental health
serv-ices for child and adult victims of family and community violence. Recently,
she developed and implemented the first telemedicine project to guarantee that
remote areas will have access to expert evaluations to protect the rights of
victims.
Dr. Heger has devoted her entire professional career to guaranteeing that
victims of violence receive sensitive, loving attention as well as the highest
quality of medical care and forensic documentation. Responding to the need for
medical professionals to be more sensitive to victims of spousal abuse, she is
building the first hospital-based emergency shelter for women and children. The
LAPD commended her for devoting so much of her time to educating law
enforcement officers on the dynamics of child sexual abuse, thus ensuring that
child abuse investigations will be conducted in a professional and sensitive
manner.
10. PASTOR RODERICK MITCHELL
Executive Director, Exodus Center for Life Cleveland, MS
Pastor Mitchell opened his New Life Church in Cleveland, Mississippi, to a
Salvation Army rape crisis program in need of a home. He is the rare minister in
a rural community in the South to speak out against spousal violence, spousal
rape, sexual assault, and child abuse. Pastor Mitchell speaks from his own
personal experience as a victim of domestic violence. When only nine years old,
he had a gun put to his head while trying to protect his mother. Many a cold
winter morning he had to flee the house with his mother and smaller siblings to
hide in the cotton fields, away from the reach of his abusive father.
Pastor Mitchell is best known for talking to students in junior and senior high
schools and Headstart programs about child abuse. He uses puppets to show
young people that their bodies should not be touched by anyone. He has
developed a special program called "Preparing Our Sons to Manhood:
Salvaging the Seeds" to reach youth on prevention techniques instead of
crimes against the family. He also serves as a counselor in the MASH Program
Men Against Spousal Harm a batterers program with an exceptionally high
success rate.
11. SUE HATHORN
For the past 20 years Sue Hathorn has waged a one woman campaign against
child abuse in Mississippi. Touched by the memory of an abused child she saw
returned to a home where he had been beaten, she vowed to change the
system, to develop services, shelters, and legal protection for abused children.
In 1984 she organized the Mississippi Committee for Prevention of Child
Abuse. Her well-known statewide conferences on child abuse educate over
500 child advocates each year. She realized her dream of funding a Children's
Advocacy Center for the State of Mississippi by forging a unique partnership
with the private sector in which charitable bingo fund raising was used to defray
expenses. Her struggle to create the remarkable center is recounted in James
Colbert's book God Bless the Child: A True Story of Child Abuse, Gambling,
Southern Politics...And One Woman's Struggle Against the Odds. Colbert's
book tells of a 7-year-old who was afraid to testify in court against the
perpetrator who sexually molested her. The terrified child asked that Sue's
German shepherd, Vachss, an obedience trained dog, be allowed to
accompany her to Court. With Vachss at her feet, the first dog ever admitted to
a Mississippi courtroom for that purpose, the little girl testified in a loud and
clear voice.
Ms. Hathorn was also the moving force behind the establishment of several
important multidisciplinary, public/private partnerships of law enforcement,
social services, medical, and judicial personnel for the investigation of child
abuse cases in Mississippi. She organized Mississippi's Court Appointed
Special Advocates (CASA), a network of specially trained volunteers who
advocate for child victims in 17 Mississippi counties. Children First! Inc. was
established by Ms. Hathorn to help teens in foster care pursue educational and
vocational training goals. A foster mother of 11 children, Ms. Hathorn knows
firsthand the lack of services for foster children in Mississippi. She has obtained
pro bono legal representation for hundreds of foster children, as well as finding
medical, psychological, and financial assistance for foster children and child
abuse victims.
12. KAREN A. MCLAUGHLIN
Senior Policy Analyst
Education Development Center, Inc.
Newton, Massachusetts
As both a paid professional and a volunteer, Karen McLaughlin has worked for
over 20 years since her college days at Marquette University at the cutting edge
of victim services. She is a true "unsung hero" of the victims movement, having
initiated a remarkable series of firsts in victims services. She was a key activist
in Massachusetts' efforts to become one of the FIRST six states to establish a
statewide network of victim services, and then became the FIRST Executive
Director of the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance, itself the FIRST
independent state agency for victim assistance funded by state criminal fines. As
Executive Director she awarded the FIRST VOCA funding to assist victims of
anti-gay violence, as well as the FIRST parole-based victim assistance
program. She sponsored one of the FIRST statewide trainings on community
crisis response and organized the FIRST statewide conference on victimization
of racial minorities. As the same time, she put in endless hours of volunteer time,
much of it traveling to promote international networking on behalf of victims.
Clearly, her influence on victims services both in the United States and abroad
has been profound. Today her creative energy is directed towards violence
prevention an integral part of comprehensive victim assistance. Working with
the National Organization of Victim Assistance, she has helped guide the field
to a better understanding of the need for violence prevention strategies,
particularly for child victims of violence. Her nominator described her as
"a pioneering program director, an imaginative and courageous state
administrator, a creative force for growth ..., and one of the most giving of
victim advocates our movement has produced."
13. VIKI C. SHARP
Director, Pima County Attorney's Victim Witness Program
Tucson, AZ
Ms. Sharpe's career in victim services began in the volunteer corps of the Pima
County Attorney's Victim Witness program in 1976. She became the first staff
volunteer coordinator in 1984 and since 1985 has served as Director of the
program. Under her leadership the program has become a national model. Ms.
Sharpe is best known for her extraordinary training and speaking skills. She has
trained advocates, law enforcement and prosecutors throughout the United
States and in New Zealand, "literally effecting the quality of services provided
to thousands of victims," according to her nominator. Astonishingly, all of these
trainings were provided on her vacation time and the majority without
compensation. In the last year alone, she taught crisis intervention skills and
victimology in Indiana, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Texas, North Carolina,
Hawaii, and Utah. She is described as a "masterful woman who is guided by
her own sense of purpose and her single-minded dedication to making a
difference."
Special Courage Award:
AZIM KHAMISA & PLES FELIX
The Tariq Khamisa Foundation
San Diego, California
Azim Khamisa and Ples Felix had never met--had never even heard of each
other--before January 21, 1995. On that Saturday, Axim Khamisa's only son,
Tariq, 20, an art student at San Diego State University, was shot to death as he
was delivering pizza. The trigger was pulled by Ples Felix's 14-year-old
grandson, Tony Hicks, on the orders of an older gang member. Tony was
caught, charged, and pleaded guilty to the killing. Sentenced under a new
California law that allows children as young as 14 to be tried as adults, Tony
will be 37 years old before he is eligible for parole. "All the dreams and hopes I
had for Tony just came crumbling down," says Ples, Tony's grandfather and
guardian.
Nearly overwhelmed with grief, but believing "that there were victims at both
ends of the gun," Azim got in touch with Ples and invited him to be a part of
forming the Tariq Khamisa Foundation to combat the phenomena in our society
of "children killing children." Through the Tariq Khamisa Foundation, Azim and
Ples have taken their message of nonviolence and concern for children to the
San Diego school system. They have presented the first in a series of Violence
Impact Forums which are designed to inform kids, parents, and school officials
about the devastating consequences of violence, how to deal with peer pressure
to join gangs, and provide information about school and community victim
services.
It took courage for Ples to go to Azim's home that November day in 1995. It
also took forgiveness, compassion and great valor for Azim to make the call.
Today, these two men have formed a strong alliance to save other families from
a similar tragedy. They have been featured on national television shows, in
People Magazine, and in many other publications due to their unique
educational efforts.
1998 Crime Victim Service Awards
Honored by the Attorney General were:
DENISE M. MOON
Director, Dade County Victim Assistance Unit, State Attorney's Office
1350 NW. 12th Avenue
Miami, Florida 33136
Denise Moon's career in victim services spans 24 years, from her hiring as the
first social worker at the Jackson Memorial Hospital Rape Treatment
Center/Crisis Intervention Clinic in Miami in 1974 to her current duties as
director of the Victim Assistance Unit of the Dade County State Attorney's
Office. She helped organize the Children's Center, a special unit dedicated to
the forensic interviewing of child victims and witnesses. In 1987, she helped
initiate the first prosecutor-based domestic violence unit in Florida, and in 1992,
she helped design and implement a pioneering misdemeanor domestic violence
court. She also helped establish Tourist Lock-Up Criminals, a joint venture
among hotels, tourist agencies and the State Attorney's Office that encourages
out-of-town victims to return for court proceedings. She authored a funding
proposal that now supports the Victim Access Network, a comprehensive
automated victim notification and information system. She has served on the
Board of Directors of the Florida Network of Victim Witness Services since
1986 and was elected its president in 1991. A true stalwart of the victims
movement, Denise Moon has been described as "the ultimate professional."
GENE AND PEGGY SCHMIDT
P.O. Box 7829
Overland Park, Kansas 66207
Gene and Peggy Schmidt have dedicated their impressive efforts on behalf of
crime victims to their daughter Stephanie, a college student who was raped and
murdered by a co-worker recently released after serving 10 years for rape. The
day after Stephanie's funeral in 1993, the Schmidts formed a task force that
proposed state legislation including: requiring first-time sex offenders to register
with local sheriffs upon parole; making registry information accessible to the
public; increasing sentences for sex offenders; expanding sanctions against job
applicants who lie about criminal history and mandating that the state notify
employers of the hiring of parolees. These measures have all been
accomplished through changes in Kansas law and policy. The task force also
advocated passage of the Sexually Violent Predator Law, known as
"Stephanie's Law," which provides for the civil commitment of sexual offenders
who suffer from mental abnormalities or personality disorders and are likely to
reoffend. Used for the first time in 1994, "Stephanie's Law" was upheld by the
Supreme Court on June 23, 1997. The Schmidts have testified or been invited
to testify on similar legislation before eight state legislatures, and, along with
their daughter, Jeni, testified before Congress on the 1994 Crime Bill. Through
a number of nationwide public appearances, including "60 Minutes," and
through their nonprofit organization, Speak Out for Stephanie, which sponsors
educational and mentoring programs for elementary, secondary and college
students, the Schmidts have spread their message that, by breaking the cycle of
violence among potential offenders, future sex offenses can be prevented.
KAREN WENGERT
Founder, Friends of Amanda Foundation
28 Cherry Hill Lane
Manalapan, New Jersey 07726
Karen Wengert derives the force of her conviction from the memory of her 6-
1/2-year-old daughter Amanda, who was molested and murdered in 1994 by a
next-door neighbor whose record of sex offenses was shielded by state and
local laws. Vowing to prevent the same tragedy from befalling other children,
she founded the Friends of Amanda Foundation, from which she has been a
staunch advocate for legislative reform to protect victims. Among the New
Jersey laws she has strongly influenced are the Amanda Act, a measure that
allows police and authorized officials to examine juvenile records for incidents
of violent crime, and the Peeping Tom Law, which allows voyeurs to be
psychologically examined. Ms. Wengert encouraged the passage and
enactment of the No Early Release Act requiring the most violent criminals to
serve a minimum of 85 percent of their sentences. Her contributions extend to
direct service. When she saw the benefits of art therapy to her two surviving
children, she sought to establish a free art therapy program for battered
children. In 1997, she and Monmouth County Senator John 0. Bennett
proposed Amanda's Easel, which is now operated by the Women's Center of
Monmouth County and serves battered women and children. Ms. Wengert
serves as a volunteer art therapy assistant in the program. She also completed
training to become a Child Assault Prevention Facilitator and works on behalf
of children throughout Monmouth County. She was appointed last year by
Governor Whitman to the New Jersey Task Force on Child Abuse and
Neglect.
LOS ANGELES COMMISSION ON ASSAULTS AGAINST WOMEN,
DEAF AND DISABLED SERVICES PROGRAM
Peggie Reyna, Program Coordinator
6043 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90028
The Deaf and Disabled Services Program of the Los Angeles Commission on
Assaults Against Women is one of the only organizations in the nation that
provides services to deaf and disabled victims of crime. Created in 1989 to aid
victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, it seeks to
empower members of the deaf and disabled community. To that end, it relies
on deaf and disabled individuals, rather than interpreters, to provide services,
and emphasizes intervention, prevention and education. The program offers an
array of activities not only to aid individual victims, but also to interrupt the
cycle of violence. Classes are tailored to meet the needs of those with physical,
visual and developmental disabilities. An off-shoot of the program, Deaf Kids
Self Defense and Safety, teaches children how to protect themselves from
abuse. The Deaf and Disabled Services Program also trains staff and volunteers
at domestic violence shelters to equip them to work with deaf and disabled
battered women. The program was also instrumental in the creation of a TDD
line for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The program's impact is
exemplified in the story of a young deaf and mute woman who was repeatedly
raped and beaten by her father and brother. Because she lacked any language
abilities and was unable to communicate, many shelters turned her away.
Program staff persevered, found a safe haven for the victim and taught her sign
language. The young woman now has close contact with family and friends and
lives without the threat of violence.
PROGRAM AGAINST SEXUAL VIOLENCE UNIVERSITY OF
MINNESOTA
Jamie C. Tiedemann, Director
Office of the Vice President for Student Development and Athletics
University of Minnesota
407 Boynton Health Service, 410 Church Street S.E.
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
The University of Minnesota Program Against Sexual Violence, established in
1991, immediately became an innovator in sexual assault and family violence
advocacy programs through its association with a major university. Staffed with
5 full- and part-time employees and up to 50 volunteers, the program provides
24-hour on-call services and serves over 200 victims and survivors a year.
Approximately 20,000 students, staff, faculty and alumni benefit from its
educational outreach each year. The program offers a variety of unique
activities such as: small group training for men and women athletes and coaches,
which has reached over 600 participants; an interactive dramatic presentation
on sexual assault and an interactive presentation that addresses same sex
violence. The program administers two 52-hour training programs a year for
sexual assault advocates and a 35-hour summer training for volunteers and
staff of rural community-based sexual assault, domestic violence and
victim/witness programs. Its advocacy training course has been integrated into
the university's Women Studies curriculum. The program has worked with
campus police to provide student victims transportation to court proceedings
and has arranged special accommodations for victims with the registrar and
student employment offices. The program has pioneered initiatives such as the
Minnesota Higher Education Center Against Violence and Abuse and a
partnership with the School of Dentistry to develop a family violence training
model for dental professionals.
SHARON MARIE SIKORA
Chair, Arizona MADD
5691 W. Abraham Lane
Glendale, Arizona 85308
In 1981, the car Sharon Sikora was driving was hit by a drunken motorist and
became engulfed in flames, causing burns over 95 percent of her body and
paralysis of her vocal cords due to smoke inhalation. The Phoenix Fire
Department Commander who responded to the crash described it this way:
"The horror of what happened to Sharon was almost beyond description.
I didn't feel she had any chance of survival." Since the accident, she has
endured more than 70 reconstructive surgeries and has become a leading
advocate for crime victims' rights. She co-founded Mothers Against Drunk
Driving (MADD), established the Arizona state chapter, and has made special
effort to reach out to victims in rural counties and Indian country. She initiated
the Ashes to Life Burn Support Group for survivors of significant burn injuries
and co-founded the Fire Pal board of the Phoenix Fire Department, which
oversees efforts to improve fire safety programs. She has advocated for .08
blood alcohol content legislation and Juvenile Zero Tolerance DUI laws. She
helped launch a statewide DUI task force involving 65 police agencies that
resulted in over 2,600 DUI arrests this past holiday season. She was
instrumental in the passage of the Arizona Victim Bill of Rights. As a member of
the Kentucky, School Bus Crash, MADD Crisis Team, Ms. Sikora made three
trips to Radcliff, Kentucky, to assist victims and survivors of a drunk driving
crash that left 24 youths and three adults dead and 14 others seriously injured.
She currently sits on the board of the Arizona Victim Compensation Program,
the Foundation for Burns and Trauma, the Phoenix Fire Department Fire Pals,
Arizona Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and National Students Against Drunk
Driving. Through her years of dedicated service, she has cultivated a
second-generation victims advocate in her 26-year-old daughter, who is also a
drunk driving victim. Of her many accomplishments, Ms. Sikora says she is
proudest of being her daughter's mentor.
JOAN COLEMAN
Executive Director
Toledo/Lucas County Victim/Witness Assistance Program
700 Adams Street, Suite 250
Toledo, Ohio 43604
Joan Coleman is responsible for one of the most comprehensive victim
assistance programs in the country. Since becoming Executive Director of the
Toledo/Lucas County Victim/Witness Assistance Program seven years ago, she
has presided over the development of a multi-faceted organization that offers a
full range of services to victims of all persuasions. Among the components of
the program are: a general victim serv-ices office; a Special Services Division in
the Juvenile Prosecutor's Section of Family Court; a child watch area for female
victims of violent crime in Toledo Municipal Court; a 24-hour crisis response
team and a multi-disciplinary advisory council. The program's Victims' Forum
uses panels of victims and juvenile offenders to heighten the awareness of junior
high and high school students about the repercussions of violent crimes and
guns. The program also operates the only Hispanic/Latino Outreach Office in
Ohio. Staffed with 17 employees and 30 volunteers, the program has aided
over 40,000 victims and assisted them in receiving more than $3.5 million in
compensation. In addition to her program responsibilities, Ms. Coleman's
efforts led to the development of a uniform system for victim notification that
preceded by two years the state law requiring this practice on the felony level.
Prior to the statutory mandate of victim impact statements, she convinced trial
judges to allow victims to speak at sentencing hearings. As a member of the
National Organization for Victim Assistance national crisis response team, she
provided crisis intervention to 28 crew members of the Canadian Enterprise
Freighter after a tragedy ended the life of a fellow crew member. Ms. Coleman
takes personal responsibility for the victims she serves, often helping to pay
victims' rent and electric and telephone bills, taking food to those in need and
personally relocating frightened victims and witnesses. Often putting in over 70
hours a week, Joan Coleman is a consummate professional who gives
completely of herself to crime victims.
LIDERAS CAMPESINAS FARMWORKER WOMEN'S SEXUAL
ASSAULT AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROJECT
Mily Trevino Saucedo, Executive Director
611 South Rebecca Street
Pomona, California 91766
The Lideras Campesinas Farmworker Women's Sexual Assault and Domestic
Violence Project reaches out to the underserved population of crime victims
abused migrant women farm workers. Concentrating on domestic violence
victims among migrant communities in California's southern and central valley,
the program addresses the social, economic, political and language barriers that
render this group difficult to reach. Lideras Campesinas began in 1990 as a
result of issues uncovered during a graduate research project on domestic
violence in farm worker communities. It implemented a Domestic Violence
Prevention Program in 1993 and began conducting statewide training to local
farm worker advocates. In 1996, the organization expanded its educational
model to include a sexual assault component. A true grass roots organization,
the project relies on an advisory committee comprised of representatives from
15 communities to keep the project focused on the needs of women farm
workers and their families. Under the committee's guidance, the project selects
interested women farm workers and provides them intensive training in
awareness, dynamics and prevention of sexual assault and domestic violence,
as well as the resources available to victims. These advocates return to their
communities and educate other farm worker women through conferences and
social gatherings. Lideras Campesinas has reached over 10,000 women farm
workers. Its impact has reached across the globe as project staff have
discussed an advocacy exchange program with the "Delta" project in Cape
Town, South Africa. An organization whose trademark is its respect for the
integrity of community, Lideras Campesinas gives a voice to women who often
lack the resources to speak on their own behalf.
MERLE SEEKING LAND & TRINITY A. GRAVATT
P.O. Box 127 & P.O. Box 323
Fort Thompson, South Dakota 57339
Special Heroism Award--On the evening of November 2, 1996, Merle
Seeking Land and Trinity Gravatt were on their way home from a friend's house
in Fort Thompson, South Dakota, on the Crow Creek Sioux Indian
Reservation, when they heard a woman crying and shouting that she was being
raped. They found the woman pinned to the ground, her clothes ripped away,
being sexually assaulted, and they pulled the attacker away. The man, who had
been drinking, attempted to leave the scene, but Mr. Seeking Land and Mr.
Gravatt restrained him. The attacker became belligerent, pushing both of them,
and as he tried to flee, Mr. Gravatt knocked him out. They then ran to call the
police and returned to comfort the woman while they waited for authorities. The
attacker was arrested and later charged with two counts of aggravated sexual
abuse. Despite the influence of the defendant's family in the community and
pressure to withdraw their cooperation with the investigation, both Mr. Seeking
Land and Mr. Gravatt testified at the grand jury hearing, which was held
approximately 175 miles from their home, and then at the trial, which was held
in Aberdeen, about 150 miles from Fort Thompson. Their testimony helped to
convict the defendant on both counts and to secure a sentence of 121 months in
prison and 4 years of supervised release.
SPECIAL AWARDS RELATED TO THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING
The largest-scale act of terrorism ever committed on North American soil, the
April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
Oklahoma City left 168 men, women and children dead and hundreds of others
injured. The heroic rescue efforts and crisis response to the victims and
survivors in its immediate aftermath earned the Nation's collective admiration
and praise. The scope of the tragedy brought to the trials that followed a set of
dynamics unprecedented in the history of the U.S. criminal justice system. The
complexities of the cases against Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the
great public scrutiny of the Denver trials and the sheer number of victims and
survivors made the work of those involved seem a daunting undertaking. The
dedication, compassion and perseverance demonstrated by the members of
these eight groups may be characterized as nothing short of extraordinary.
PROJECT HEARTLAND
Gwen Allen, Director
Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
1200 NE. 13th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73152
Project Heartland began as the immediate mental health response to the
bombing and continued as a crisis intervention mechanism throughout the trials
and has now reached over 4,000 individuals. Opening with a staff of 5
individuals and eventually employing 73, it has provided counseling, support
groups, outreach, consultation and education. When the trials began, project
staff continued to offer their services through the debriefing of prosecution
witnesses, support to victim family members and survivors attending the trial or
closed-circuit broadcasts and preparing those individuals for some of the more
difficult testimony.
CRITICAL INCIDENT WORKSHOPS GROUP
Colonel Jack Poe, Chief of Chaplains
Oklahoma City Police Department
701 Concord Drive
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
The Critical Incident Workshops Group is comprised of police and fire
chaplains who arrived at the Alfred P. Murrah Building immediately after the
bombing. These chaplains mobilized more than 700 clergy from around the
country to help the survivors, families and rescuers on site and at a Family
Response Center. In the days and months following the bombing, the group
began conducting critical incident workshops to help rescuers cope with their
experiences. These workshops became integral to the healing of those affected
by the tragedy.
COLORADO/OKLAHOMA RESOURCE COUNCIL
Steve Siegel, Director of Program Development
District Attorney's Office
303 W. Colfax Avenue, No. 1300
Denver, Colorado 80204
Created to aid survivors and families of victims while in Denver, the
Colorado/Oklahoma Resource Council (CORC) exemplified the positive force
of collaboration. The CORC secured lodging near the federal courthouse,
arranged local transportation and ensured availability of medical and mental
health services. It provided a safe haven near the courthouse, offering victims a
secure, protected and supportive environment. In addition, the CORC's "Line
Holders" relieved victims from standing in line to secure limited courtroom
seating.
OKLAHOMA CITY SAFE HAVEN
The Reverend Tracy Evans
1001 N.W. 25th, #206
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73106
For the victims and survivors unable to travel to Denver for the trials, the
Oklahoma City Safe Haven Committee ensured the accessibility of trial
proceedings. Safe Haven provided closed-circuit broadcast of the trials in a
supportive atmosphere where shuttle services, counseling, refreshments and an
information center for trial transcripts and witness summaries were available.
The centers opened with jury selection in the McVeigh trial on March 31,
1997, and remained in service for the duration of both trials. More than 300
volunteers helped serve nearly 1,000 victims and survivors.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN
DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA VICTIM ASSISTANCE UNIT
Lynn Anderson, Assistant United States Attorney
Office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma
210 W. Park Avenue, Suite 400
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
The Victim/Witness Assistance Unit of the United States Attorney's Office for
the Western District of Oklahoma devoted its efforts to ensuring that victims,
relatives and survivors would have access to the trials, whether in person or
through the closed-circuit broadcasts. Among its activities were the securing of
a large facility in Oklahoma City for viewing the closed-circuit broadcasts;
organization of victim attendance at the trials, including arrangements for travel;
training of volunteers to staff the Oklahoma City safe haven; assistance in
ensuring the safety of those attending the trial; obtaining of medical care;
coordination of shuttle and food services; and provision of emotional support.
OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING VICTIM/WITNESS CENTER
Mary Anne Castellano, Victim/Witness Specialist
Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Colorado
1961 Stout Street, 13th Floor
Denver, Colorado 80294
The Oklahoma Bombing Victim/Witness Center offered much-needed
sensitivity and compassion to the 135 survivors, family members of victims and
rescue workers who appeared as witnesses at both trials. Comprised of
victim/witness specialists from six United States Attorney's offices, the Center
familiarized itself with the background of each victim and witness in an effort to
understand their unique needs, helped those called to testify to make sense of
the judicial process, acted as a conduit to victim services, and advocated for
victims and survivors when they encountered problems with employers.
DENVER MEDIA LOGISTICS/CONSORTIUM
Amy Bourgeron, Director
1437 Bannock, Room 379
Denver, Colorado 80202
The Denver Media Logistics/Consortium demonstrated victim-sensitive news
coverage, as it remained aware and respectful of the emotional needs of victims
and survivors throughout the trials. Begun as a partnership between victim
advocates and the press, the Consortium quickly became a self-generating
committee of 72 news organizations that sought to ensure compassionate
treatment of victims and survivors in the media, while at the same time
maintaining the integrity and accuracy of information. Due to the exceptional
scrutiny given to the trials and the great potential for media exploitation, the
efforts of Consortium members merit sincere gratitude.
OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING PROSECUTION TEAM
Patrick Ryan, United States Attorney
Office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma
210 W. Park Avenue, Suite 400
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
The Oklahoma City Bombing Prosecution Team set a new standard for the
sensitive and inclusive treatment of victims in court. By requiring that members
meet with each of 168 families of the deceased and with the injured survivors,
the team demonstrated its commitment to ensuring that the impetus for serving
justice in the trials would be the needs of the victims themselves. Through the
creation of a victim database for the approximately 3,000 family members and
survivors, the installation of a toll-free number through which victims could
obtain needed assistance and by the convening of regular group meetings with
victims, it was able to communicate rapidly and efficiently to those needing
information. Working seven days a week, 12 or more hours per day for over
two years, the team viewed its mission as a responsibility to victims above all
else.
OVC is the Federal Government's chief advocate for crime victims and their
families. OVC administers two grant programs for states to expand victim
compensation and assistance programs, as well as other grants to support
innovative programs benefiting crime victims. It also sponsors training to help
criminal justice officials and others better meet the needs of crime victims and
their families.
OVC's activities are financed by the Crime Victims Fund in the U.S. Treasury.
The Fund receives deposits each fiscal year--not from taxpayers--but from
fines and penalty assessments from convicted federal criminals.
To learn more about OVC, its programs and resources, see the Web site at
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/ or the OJP home page at
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov. Or, call the OVC Resource Center at 800 627
6872.
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For copies of this report and/or additional information, please contact:
Office for Victims of Crime Resource Center (OVCRC)
P.O. Box 6000
Rockville, MD 20849-6000
Telephone: 1-800-627-6872 or 301-519-5500
E-mail orders for print publications to puborder@ncjrs.gov.
E-mail questions to askovc@ncjrs.gov.
Send your feedback on this service to tellncjrs@ncjrs.gov.
Refer to publication number : NCJ 178933