The board, established in 1966, limits its investigative and compensation scope to innocent victims of violent crimes who are injured, disabled, or killed as a result of criminal acts. Awards are limited to victims and their dependents who suffer serious financial hardship as a result of injury. Eligibility criteria are determined on a case-by-case basis. This report includes tabular and statistical data on award and no-award decisions, reasons for disallowing claims, workload, and claims accepted. It also presents the geographical distribution of violent crimes compared to claims filed and each county's participation in the State compensation program. An explanatory text gives case histories of victims helped and the financial assistance received by victims and/or their dependents within the $20,000 statutory limit. A flow chart illustrates what happens when a claim is filed. Other statistics and graphs focus on the types of crime, injury, and age and sex of victims; expenditures; division of awards; a chart of the New York State criminal justice system; and the status of vocational rehabilitation cases for crime victims. A brief description of crime victims advocacy legislation which has been proposed or recently enacted is provided.