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 353,000 bytes ---------------------------- Figures, charts, forms, and tables are not included in this ASCII plain-text file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from Office for Victims of Crime Resource Center at 800-627-6872. ---------------------------- Report To Congress December 1999 NCJ 178933 ---------------------------- 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. ---------------------------- 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 ---------------------------- 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. ---------------------------- 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. ---------------------------- 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