Trafficking

1.	Victims of trafficking have come to the forefront  as a group in need of special assistance. Trafficking, unlike other crimes, is not an isolated incident and by definition, it subjects victims to involuntary servitude for months or even years. The majority of these victims have limited English language skills, are for the most part, undocumented, and as a result, are unable to work legally in the United States. Generally, these victims are unable to access public benefits which puts them at an even higher risk for further exploitation.



Victim Follow- Through

2.	Some victims who have medical expenses covered under Medicaid, often do not choose to file a claim with the CVB, unless there is loss of income or personal property. In addition, victims do not always follow through with the formal filing of police reports to specifically document the crime event. 



Language and Cultural Barriers

3.	 Victim assistance programs continue to find some difficulty in reaching out to populations that have problems with language and cultural barriers. An example is in the Native American community in which police reports often do not indicate the victim to be native, which results in funded programs encountering  difficulty in identifying and subsequently providing services to these victims. Also, Native American victims are often suspicious of law enforcement both on and off the reservation, and subsequently do not report any crimes.



            Domestic Violence and Victim Relocation

4.	Another concern involves domestic violence victims, and family offense petitions. Domestic violence victims who file compensation claims while in shelters oftentimes find it difficult to complete the claim process once they leave shelter. This is because they leave with no forwarding address and a CVB claims specialist cannot locate the victim while reviewing the claim. In those cases, the claim may be denied because the claimant cannot be located and the claim itself cannot be completed. Victims filing family offense petitions sometimes cannot file compensation claims because the petition does not identify a specific incident, which would qualify as a crime.



Child Victims

5.	In regards to child victims, many parents decline to complete compensation claim forms during 

or immediately following a crisis. As a result, they often ask the advocate to contact them at a later time. Often, when follow up contacts are made, the parents are not interested in adding another task to an already difficult time, thus many follow up calls are not returned. 



Relocation

6.	In some counties there is a relatively high rate of relocation by victims who do not leave    forwarding addresses and discontinue telephone service. In these cases, when a victim does not complete an application at an initial meeting, the victim advocate cannot locate the victim at a later time to complete a filing.



Rural Victims

7.	Rural victims have several issues, which continue to be problematic and hinder compensation. First, there is limited consistent public transportation in rural communities. In those communities that do have public transportation, the time schedules are not always convenient for court appearances or police station in-person reports.  This dissuades some victims from participating in the criminal justice system.  Also, another difficulty in getting victims to report crimes to police, is the fear of reprisal from perpetrators. Many victims live in remote areas, off main roads etc. and feel unprotected from further harm.



Incomplete Information on Applications

8.	A very common problem in filing for compensation and the issuance of ?No Award? decisions is the failure to supply complete and correct information by the victim and /or the victim assistance program if the program is aiding in completing the assistance application.		

Some  Victim Assistance programs are actively tracking child abuse cases in criminal courts to determine how effectively the cases are moving through the system and what dispositions are being rendered.  Additionally, some CVB funded staff participate on local Domestic Violence Task Forces, Rape Crisis Advisory Boards and Family Violence Intervention projects. Many funded programs engage in periodic community presentations as well as yearly police and hospital in-services to educate both the public and human service professionals about the available benefits through the funded programs as well as the CVB compensation program. 



The Crime Victims Board also provides for direct reimbursement to providers of forensic health care examination services. This cooperation between CVB and private health care providers ensures that sexual assault survivors are not billed for any forensic health care services and provides for the personal privacy of sexual assault victims.

In the 2007 federal fiscal year, The Crime Victims Board prepared for implementation of a new State law relating to victims of human trafficking. The proposed legislation created two new Penal Law crimes of Labor Trafficking and Sex Trafficking. It was the intention of this legislation  to provide victims of these new crimes with the most comprehensive array of CVB benefits available. To that end, CVB enacted regulations that would allow trafficking victims to avail themselves of the full array of CVB services.

Advocates also attempt to assist victims in federal court by providing emotional support at immigration hearings for victims who feel disenfranchised. 



The New York State Crime Victims Board also provides periodic regional trainings to all funded programs on a variety of victim issues. Some of these trainings are from experts in the fields of Restitution, Forensic Rape Exams, CVB fiscal and programmatic reporting requirements, etc.. 



A CVB funded program, The Victim Assistance Center of Jefferson County is unique and one of only two community not-for-profit programs of its kind in the country. This program has a contract with the Department of Defense to provide services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault from the Fort Drum military base. The agency has a fully staffed satellite office on the military base and coordinates services with the victim advocate in the JAG office.



CVB victim assistance programs participate in Regional Coalitions across the State. The U.S. Attorney?s Office Victim Witness Coordinator takes  part in  these coalitions. Training is provided on the ?Justice for All?  federal initiative and child exploitation issues. During the training, there is much discussion on the coordination of cases among local victim assistance programs and federal prosecutors.  

Safe Horizon is one of the largest victim services agencies in New York State and CVB has provided funds to provide services specifically for victims of trafficking. Safe Horizon offers an intense case management approach to trafficking victims by assigning a case manager for the life of the case. This program works closely with the NY City Police Department, Catholic Charities Community Services, and the International Organization for Adolescents in providing comprehensive services to trafficking victims. 



Police agencies in New York State , are required by an amended Article 22 and 23 of the Executive Law to provide victims of all misdemeanor and felony crimes  with information about the Crime Victims Board and local victim assistance programs. Programs have reported an increase in the number of victims coming to their programs who have received this information at the local law enforcement level.



The CVB holds a statewide conference approximately every eighteen months, designed to bring together a variety of service providers, funded programs etc. to address victim issues and to share new ideas and initiatives to better serve the victim population. Also, many CVB funded programs belong to regional coalitions which meet four times per year to discuss victim issues and receive trainings to become better service providers.

Please see the Attachments.

Crimes of violence such as homicides, stabbings and shootings continue to occur at an unacceptable rate in many of the larger metropolitan areas around the state. In some cases, victims of more violent crimes are assisted immediately, while victims of lesser crimes may experience a longer wait for services. 



The V.I.N.E (Victim Information Notification Everyday) service continues to be utilized throughout the state via the New York State Sheriff?s Association. In addition, the New York State Department of Corrections utilizes its own V.I.N.E. system whereby when inmates are released from NY prisons, V.I.N.E. notifies victims of the inmate?s release.



Victims of domestic violence are often in need of affordable, safe housing. This is especially notable in rural areas where housing options are limited and oftentimes victims are faced with the difficult choice of leaving the area or remaining in the area near the abuser/perpetrator. If the victim leaves the area, they often do not seek out or receive support in the new location.

VOCA funds continue to support the Grants Unit of the NYS Crime Victims Board. These funds enable staff to travel to funded programs for the purposes of monitoring, auditing and providing technical assistance to assist programs in better serving their victim populations. In addition, specific compensation claims training is offered to funded programs on a rotating basis throughout the state. Training is also offered to programs regarding general victim issues. These trainings are given at various parts of the state to make it easier for advocates to attend.