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Following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, Congress amended VOCA to authorize OVC to allocate up to $50 million per year from the Crime Victims Fund to establish the Antiterrorism Emergency Reserve (Reserve). The Reserve provides help primarily through funding for immediate and direct services for victims of terrorism and criminal mass violence within the United States and abroad, supplemental funding provided directly...
OVC’s VOCA Compensation Formula Grant Program reimburses victims for financial losses resulting from their victimization. OVC disburses these funds to supplement state programs that provide financial assistance and reimbursement to victims for crime-related expenses, including medical and dental care, counseling, funeral and burial expenses, and lost wages. Compensation programs may also reimburse victims for other types of expenses related to their victimization...
OVC believes that crime victims should have access to the evidence-based services and support they need to begin their physical, emotional, and financial recovery. However, OVC recognizes that there are serious challenges to achieving this goal. Strengthening connections across allied fields to expand the availability and quality of services that impact a victim’s healing are among these challenges.
The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is pleased to present this report of activities during fiscal years (FY) 2019 and 2020. Every year, OVC supports millions of victims of crime. The core of this support is the Crime Victims Fund (the Fund), which is financed not by tax dollars, but by fines, bond forfeitures, and penalties from offenders in federal cases. In FY...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, parental substance abuse is one adverse childhood experience associated with a range of negative outcomes later in life. Children and youth who are exposed to parental substance abuse may be at greater risk for crime victimization during their lifetimes, including child abuse and neglect, human trafficking, intimate...
OVC programming in FYs 2019 and 2020 focused on building capacity in a number of key areas. OVC supported many programs to combat human trafficking and help survivors of this terrible crime; and to plan for, respond to, and serve victims of acts of terrorism and mass violence. OVC also strengthened its support for a wide range of law enforcement organizations and their...
OVC’s VOCA Assistance Formula Grant Program supports thousands of victim assistance programs throughout the Nation annually. OVC’s funding of these programs—through subgrants to state agencies and local service providers—provides help for individuals, families, and communities recovering from both the immediate and prolonged effects of victimization.
VOCA assistance supports crisis counseling, telephone and onsite information and referrals, criminal justice support and advocacy, emergency...
In April 2020, OVC sponsored the annual commemoration of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW). The theme—Seek Justice. Ensure Victims’ Rights. Inspire Hope—recognized that education on crime victims’ rights is key to ensuring that all participants in the criminal justice process acknowledge and support those rights. The theme also invited us to celebrate the individuals and...
The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) was established as part of the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs in 1988 through an amendment to the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (VOCA). VOCA and OVC institutionalized a decades-long movement to articulate and enforce the rights of crime victims in the justice system and to offer comprehensive services to victims...
American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) suffer from one of the highest rates of victimization in the country. Cultural differences, remote locations, and challenging jurisdictional issues make providing victim services in tribal communities complex. In its work with tribes, OVC pays particular attention to government-to-government relationships with our tribal government grantees and to supporting tribes in providing culturally appropriate services for victims.
In recent years, the Nation has experienced a surge in incidents of mass violence and domestic terrorism. These tragedies have affected a range of communities—from small rural areas to large urban populations—and various locations, such as schools, workplaces, nightclubs, and public settings. As the frequency of these tragedies increases, OVC recognizes the need to become better prepared and equipped with the...
OVC administers two formula grant programs that support crime victim compensation and assistance, described above—the VOCA Victim Compensation Formula Grant Program and the VOCA Victim Assistance Formula Grant Program. Every year, OVC awards each eligible state and territory a VOCA victim compensation formula grant to supplement state funds that reimburse victims for out-of-pocket expenses resulting from crime, such as medical and dental...
OVC encourages service providers and allied professionals to strengthen their knowledge, skills, and abilities so that they can provide the best possible services to crime victims throughout the Nation. The OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC) leads the agency’s efforts to provide such expertise- and capacity-building activities by offering a variety of instructor-led trainings, both in person and online...
With funding appropriated through the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, OVC administers the largest amount of federal funding dedicated to responding to human trafficking in the United States.
OVC funding supports the delivery of direct services such as case management, housing, legal assistance, and multidisciplinary collaboration and state-level approaches to identifying and serving victims of human trafficking. In addition...
OVC supports direct services for victims of federal crimes through the following federal agency programs:
The Crime Victims Fund (the Fund), established by the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, supports services for victims of crime throughout the Nation. OVC is charged by Congress with administering the Fund, which is composed primarily of fines, special assessments, and bond forfeitures from convicted federal offenders, making it a self-sufficient source of compensation and assistance that does not rely...
In FYs 2019 and 2020, OVC funded two partner agencies—the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)—in their endeavors to generate, collect, and analyze quantitative and qualitative data on victimization, victim services, and related topics critical to the field.
OVC continued an interagency agreement with NIJ to support research for the field, including...
OVC supports partnerships with law enforcement agencies at the state, tribal, and local levels to combat crime, promote safer neighborhoods, and establish collaborations between police and the communities they protect. Through discretionary grant programs, OVC grantees help agencies provide effective, trauma-informed law enforcement practices to better serve all victims. OVC also funds national-scope discretionary programs to provide comprehensive services to victims...
February 19, 2021
A Copy of an Email Sent by Kathrina S. Peterson, OVC Deputy Director, on January 25, 2021
Good Afternoon Everyone,
We are providing the attached memorandum to provide clarification on the charging and certification of sexual assault forensic exams to the Crime Victims Fund Compensation Program. The Office of the Inspector General recommended that we provide clarification on this issue, particularly regarding...
February 17, 2021
A Copy of an Email Sent by Kathrina S. Peterson, OVC Deputy Director, on February 11, 2021
Good Evening Everyone,
The purpose of this email is to provide information about compensation and crowdfunding, and also offer an opportunity to all of you to have more “regular” check-ins with your grant managers.
Crowdfunding and Compensation: Some states have requested information about crowdfunding and...
On Tuesday, October 6, 2020, Attorney General Barr announced the Office for Victims of Crime release of awards totaling more than $1.8 billion to state victim assistance and compensation programs to fund thousands of local victim assistance programs across the country and provide millions in compensation to victims of crime.
Supported by the Crime Victims Fund, this formula grant program supports a broad array of programs...
