Resources Available To Serve Victims

Crime Victims Compensation

Crime Victims Compensation is one of the most important resources for individuals experiencing victimization. It is the primary source of financial assistance available to help victims pay for the expenses incurred as a result of victimization. The Crime Victims’ Compensation Act in 1979 created the Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund (CVC). Those eligible to apply for CVC include individuals suffering physical or emotional harm or death as a result of victimization. In Texas, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) administers CVC. A number of revenue streams are combined to create the CVC in Texas. These revenue streams include:

• court costs assessed at the state level
• federal funds allocated through the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). States receive a match of 40% of the funds distributed to victims in the previous year
• monies paid by defendants or parolees for victims (restitution) that are not disbursed
• administrative fees paid by parolees
• other sources such as jury fees donated to the fund and reimbursements for CVC payments to victims who have filed successful civil suits against their offenders

CVC covers some of the costs of victimization including funeral/burial services, medical services, counseling, lost wages, loss of support, attorney’s fees, relocation for domestic violence victims, child/dependent care, crime scene clean-up, replacement of property seized as evidence, and costs related to disability resulting from victimization (e.g. home accessibility, job training, etc.).

The amount of CVC available to a victim depends upon the year the crime occurred. As of September 1, 2001, the total award per claim is $50,000 except in the case of permanent disability, which has a limit of $125,000. There is a cap on the amount of compensation for each category of benefit.

In addition to funds paid to individuals, CVC funds are also used to make grants to organizations that serve victims. In FY2003, Travis county received $1.77 million in grant funds (this includes the federal match Texas receives for the amount the state collects for CVC).

Crime victims seeking compensation must submit an application to the Office of Crime Victims Compensation. Certain back-up documents such as offense reports and copies of bills are necessary to support the application. In an effort to streamline the application process, the OAG developed an alternate process called presumptive eligibility. After receiving training from OAG, victim advocates can determine victim eligibility for CVC, thereby saving time for OAG staff in processing a claim. As part of the application process, an advocate submits an additional form that addresses the questions necessary to determine whether or not a victim is eligible for CVC and vouches for the veracity of the information. Additionally, the advocate attaches the necessary paperwork to the application including the offense report and related receipts or bills. Generally, presumptive eligibility claims are processed more quickly than others because much of the processing work is completed before it reaches the OAG.

Chart 11 below shows the status of applications and funds disbursed for CVC in Travis County.

Chart 12 below shows both the numerical and percentage trends related to applications and payments over a five-year period for CVC in Travis County.

Chart 13 below shows the status of CVC applications for the period 1997-2001. When considering all applications, the percentage of applications approved has declined slightly in recent years and then risen slightly in 2001. This trend mirrors what has happened with pending cases – the percentage has increased over the years and then declined slightly in 2001. The percentage of cases that are denied has declined slightly over the years.

Chart 13 shows that in recent years, while the contributions to CVC have remained flat, the amount of money paid to victims has increased. However, Travis County continues to leave approximately $1 million dollars per year on the table in crime victim compensation funds. Reasons include the fact that many individuals do not apply for compensation and/or are denied and do not know the process to appeal the denial.

It is not possible to identify an accurate number of victims who are eligible for CVC in a given year – eligibility is determined by type of crime, whether or not victim incurred expenses, whether or not victim cooperated with authorities, etc. To provide some perspective, in 2000, there were 3,526 index crimes (murder, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault) recorded in Travis County - crimes that are eligible for CVC by crime type. However, in that same year, there were only 1004 applications to CVC.

In Texas in 2001, almost 50% of the applications to CVC were aggravated assault or assault cases (45.61%), with second most often being child sexual abuse (20.56%). Hospital expenses (42.13%) were the largest percentage of the total awards in Texas followed by loss of wages (14.95%) and loss of support (8.57%).

For more information about Crime Victims Compensation, please see Appendix F.

Restitution

Restitution is another means for victims to be compensated for crimes committed against them. A Judge may order restitution in cases in which the victim can provide verification, such as bills or receipts, that costs were incurred as a result of the victimization. Compensation is paid by the person who committed the offense. The amount of restitution to be paid is negotiated between the prosecution and the defense either through a plea bargain or before the case goes to court. Restitution is generally not ordered in cases in which the defendant is incarcerated. The biggest challenge with securing restitution is the amount of time it can take to resolve a case and get the order finalized – in some cases this can take years.

Travis County Community Supervision and Corrections Department (CSCD) collects and distributes all restitution payments. This office has a grant funded Victim Liaison who is responsible for providing notification to all victims in cases in which offenders have been ordered to pay restitution and/or are under community supervision (probation). CSCD recently implemented a new financial tracking program in order to improve upon the collection and distribution of restitution. The new program allows the Department to distribute restitution two times per month. If an offender makes a payment in the first 15 days of the month, a check is issued mid month. If payment is made in the last 15 days of the month, a check is issued at the end of the month. In FY 2002, CSCD collected $2,983,265 in restitution.

One of the challenges related to Restitution is that some victims relocate and do not provide CSCD with new contact information. State law only requires that the department responsible for restitution make one attempt to notify a victim of an unclaimed payment. CSCD fulfills the letter of the law but takes no additional steps to locate victims. If a payment is unclaimed for five years, the accumulated funds are transferred to the State Comptroller who deposits the money in the State Compensation to Victims of Crime Auxiliary Fund.

Overview of Public Funding for Victim Services in Travis County ¹

* Although there is no comprehensive assessment of the community’s investment in the victim services effort, this table provides a sample of public sector expenditures. The amounts included in the total are not necessarily from the same funding year.

Note: The May 2000 CAN Public Safety Assessment showed that over $331 million was spent in FY 2000 on public safety in Travis County (not including a large percentage of prevention programs). Although these figures have not been updated, we know that since the events of September 11, 2001 additional funding has been added to public safety at all levels of government.

1. These charts do not provide a complete picture of public funding – specific agencies maybe receiving grant funding that is not included here.
2. VADG funding was awarded to non-profit organizations, government entities, and for profit companies to provide: counseling, deaf services, shelter services, emergency management, elderly services, legal assistance, intervention, and liaison services.