Victim's Compensation Policies in California

As the KSU OVS has grown, the number of clients we serve and the victimization type we respond to has grown. In 2016, our client base grew by 30%, with our staff concentrated on providing services to victims of the violent crimes of sexual assault, domestic and interpersonal violence, and stalking. In 2017, we were awarded VOCA funding which enabled KSU OVS to provide direct services and advocacy to all types of victimization in which we were understaffed to offer adequate assistance prior to the VOCA funding, namely victims of larceny, fraud, identity theft crimes, and other forms of property related crimes. These additional services expanded our client list by 137%, with most of these clients experiencing some form

Victim impact statements (VIS) are written or oral statements that are given by crime victims, or their family members, during the sentencing phase of a criminal trial. The statements provide information about the impact of the crime on the victim, their family, and the community. Victim impact statements have been developed as a way to give victims a voice in the criminal justice system and to ensure that their experiences and perspectives are considered in sentencing decisions. Supporters argue that victim impact statements help to provide a more complete picture of the impact of the crime and can help to hold offenders accountable for their actions and play a crucial role in criminal proceedings, allowing victims and their families to express

Victim support is an independent charity for victims and witnesses in England and Wales. Victim support is a national charity that supports victims and witnesses of crime and it began in Bristol in 1972. They have been around for over 40 years and now have become the oldest and largest victims’ organisation in the world. The organisation was found by a group of people, including members of the National Associations for the care and resettlement of the offenders (also known as NACRO). There are numbers of services that are involved within the charity, which they refer their victims to if they cannot provide the right support and services the victim requires. Victim support stands to help individuals that are abused and violated.

The goal of state compensation statutes is to provide a consistent, dependable approach to financial assistance. The structure consists of a wrongfully convicted individual receiving a specific amount of money for every year that he or she was imprisoned, and these statutes are meant to be blind to factors such as gender, race, political connections, and visibility of the case. The problem currently, however, is that there are still 18 states that do not have any form of compensation statute in place, such was the case of Lamonte McIntyre, and many more make it difficult for exonerees to actually quality for the benefits of their state’s statute. The federal government recognizes the need for uniform compensation, as demonstrated by its passing

While it is never fun to be the victim of a crime, there are only certain offenses covered under the CVRA. Back in 2008 I was a victim when my truck was broken into and a couple of things were stolen. That type of crime would not have been covered under a state crime victim’s rights act. The types of crimes covered are those of a personal nature. Crimes like murder, assault and bias-motivated crimes affect individuals on a much deeper level than breaking into a vehicle. For some, life will never be the same after having been victimized. This is where VA’s step in to offer whatever help they can be.

According to The Bureau of Justice Statistics (2015), “The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is the nation's primary source of information on criminal victimization. Each year, data are obtained from a nationally representative sample of about 90,000 households, comprising nearly 160,000 persons, on the frequency, characteristics, and consequences of criminal victimization in the United States” (para. Data Collection) and is compiled to compare and contrast data from previous years.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Act was established in 1979 and administered by the Division of Claims Administration. These funds are distributed base under certain circumstances below:

The 2004 Crime Victim’s Rights Act covers the same area but in a different way. The act provided rights in the areas of the federal constitution amendment to the victims. The act also examined state compensation programs across the 50 states and provided recommendations for improving the programs (Quinn and Brightman, 2015, p. 208).

However, the concept of retribution for the victims is not considered, resulting in a sense of a miscarriage of justice occurring in the community for certain cases. The Crime Victims Support Association (CVSA) claim that judges, due to their occupation, typically reside in affluent areas where the crime rate is low, removing them from the normality of society. Therefore, CVSA suggests that due to not being personally exposed to areas of high crime rate they are often too lenient against offenders. State governments of Western Australia and Northern territory, CVSA and certain media outlets argue that this system focuses far too much on the offender’s circumstances instead of the impact on the victim and their family. This idea of retribution resulted in community outrage from a one-punch assault in

There is no doubt that Victim Rights have dramatically changed for the better since the 1960s, and that also applies to the State of North Carolina. North Carolina is not where it needs to be in terms of Victim Rights, but it is has certainly advanced in the topic over the years since it was first established. North Carolina, along with every other state in the United States, has recognized that victims need assistance when they are or a loved one is involved in a crime. Our textbook has shown that victims experience all different types of emotions when they are in fact victims. These emotions include: fear, guilt, loneliness, powerlessness, isolation and helplessness, just to name a few (Wallace & Roberson, 2015). Victims also face direct property loss, medical and mental health care, needed victim services, lost workdays, lost school days, pain and suffering, loss of affection, death, and legal costs associated with tort claims and second-generation loss (Wallace & Roberson, 2015). It is ridiculous that “violent crime and its resulting injuries account for 3 percent of all US medical spending “(Wallace & Roberson, 2015). “Victims usually suffer three types of losses. They are as follows:

A person who experiences a traumatic event may be expected to experience a range of psychological effects, and, for many years, it was assumed that these psychological effects would be the same regardless of the cause of the injury. However, a growing body of knowledge is demonstrating that the impact of criminal victimization is different than the impact of other types of injuries because the intent element makes a difference in how the victim perceives the harm. In addition, victims of different crimes may respond differently to victimization. The psychological effects of victimization are important because they can help guide the criminal justice system for how to interact with victims and how to make the process more victim-appropriate. For example, victims of violent crimes, like sexual assaults, may benefit more from a victim-centered criminal justice approach than victims of other types of crimes (Resick, 1987). However, one of the problems with the traditional approach to victimology is that it has distinguished between different groups of victims. Emerging research suggest that victim needs are similar across the entire spectrum of crime, particularly the victims' needs for information about the crime and the needs for financial restitution to make them whole (ten Boom & Kuijpers, 2012).

In a criminal investigation case, a victim is usually seeking justice for an offence against them personally. Victims can

Most cities and counties in Colorado as well as across the United States have a Victims Advocate Program. These offices are staffed with trained people who care about the victim and their rights during their involvement in the criminal justice system. Their goal is to help lessen the impact of being a victim of crime or a witness to a crime, and provide information about how the court system works and the current status of their case. Remember, it is the very important for the victim to keep law enforcement that is working the case informed of any changes; keeping the lines of communication clear, open and up to date.

Across the county, crime victim compensation programs continuously offer crucial financial assistance to victims of violence (NACVCB, n.d.). Often, victims of violent crimes suffer financial stress that can be as devastating as their emotional trauma and physical injuries (NACVCB, n.d.). Currently, the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards (NACVCB) reports that every state in America has some form of crime victim compensation. Although no amount of money erases the trauma and grief that crime victims suffer, this aid can be crucial in the aftermath (NACVCB, n.d.).

The Fort Wayne Crime Victim Care (CVC) stakeholder includes immigrants, refugees, the legal institutions, as well as the government. Immigrants and refugees are supposed to be invested in the program because many of them find it difficult to understand a criminal