| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | OVC | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1997 | 202/307-0703 |
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT MAKES $363 MILLION AVAILABLE
FOR VICTIM ASSISTANCE
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A total of $363 million will be available in Fiscal Year 1998 to aid crime victims, the Justice Department's Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) announced today. States and territories will receive funding applications from OVC this month and grant awards to the states will be made early next year.
"Last year's funds supported more than 2,800 local victim assistance agencies and served approximately two million crime victims," said Aileen Adams, OVC Director. "This year's money, which is available to victims through a unique funding mechanism called the Crime Victims Fund, will allow states to provide a variety of services including financial and psychological support to victims."
The Crime Victims Fund is administered by OVC and supports programs for crime victims with money paid in fines by federal criminal offenders -- not taxpayers. In the past two years, the fines collected by U.S. Attorneys, the U.S. Courts and Bureau of Prisons and deposited into the Fund have reached nearly $900 million, which is almost half of the over $2 billion collected since 1985 when the Fund was established.
Crime Victim Fund deposits collected in one year are available for grant awards in the following year. Fund deposits for 1997 totaled just under $363 million. Over 90 percent of Fund deposits are distributed annually to support state victim compensation and victim assistance programs. Fiscal Year 1998 marks the 13th year that OVC has funded these programs.
Compensation programs work similarly to private insurance funds, reimbursing victims of crime directly for such crime-related expenses as medical treatment, counseling, funeral costs and lost wages. State victim assistance programs provide funds to community agencies that assist crime victims through crisis intervention, criminal justice advocacy, counseling, emergency shelter and other services.
A list of the FY 1998 victim compensation and victim assistance grant amounts that each state is eligible to receive is attached. For more information about the Crime Victims Fund and OVC, visit the Office for Victims of Crime World Wide Web site at https://ojp.gov/ovc or the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) web site at https://ojp.gov. Or, call the Office for Victims of Crime Resource Center at 800/627-6872. Individuals can call OVC at 202/307-5983 or OJP's Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at 202/307-0703 for information about their state victim compensation and victim assistance agencies.
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OVC98014
After hours page: Linda Mansour, 202/516-6843
OVC STATE VICTIM COMPENSATION AND VICTIM ASSISTANCE
FY 1998
|
STATE |
VICTIM COMPENSATION ALLOCATIONS |
VICTIM ASSISTANCE ALLOCATIONS |
| ALABAMA |
$895,000 |
$4,443,000 |
| ALASKA |
$209,000 |
$1,060,000 |
| ARIZONA |
$367,000 |
$4,586,000 |
| ARKANSAS |
$483,000 |
$2,816,000 |
| CALIFORNIA | $19,458,000 |
$29,912,825 |
| COLORADO | $1,911,000 |
$4,027,000 |
| CONNECTICUT |
$578,000 |
$3,521,000 |
| DELAWARE |
$422,000 |
$1,169,000 |
| D.C. |
$ 23,000 |
$1,001,000 |
| FLORIDA | $4,073,000 |
$13,786,000 |
| GEORGIA |
$416,000 |
$ 7,284,000 |
| HAWAII |
$259,000 |
$1,592,000 |
| IDAHO |
$445,000 |
$1,597,000 |
| ILLINOIS | $2,566,000 |
$11,430,000 |
| INDIANA |
$850,000 |
$5,889,000 |
| IOWA |
$961,000 |
$3,131,000 |
| KANSAS |
$694,000 |
$2,873,000 |
| KENTUCKY |
$225,000 |
$4,083,000 |
| LOUISIANA |
$190,000 |
$4,514,000 |
| MAINE |
$52,000 |
$1,647,000 |
| MARYLAND |
$378,000 |
$5,179,000 |
| MASSACHUSETTS | $1,321,000 |
$6,121,000 |
| MICHIGAN |
$740,000 |
$9,352,000 |
| MINNESOTA |
$951,000 |
$4,797,000 |
| MISSISSIPPI |
$93,000 |
$3,006,000 |
| MISSOURI |
$895,000 |
$5,444,000 |
| MONTANA |
$217,000 |
$1,311,000 |
| NEBRASKA |
$ 88,000 |
$2,024,000 |
| NEVADA | $635,000 |
$1,979,000 |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | $36,000 |
$1,573,000 |
| NEW JERSEY | $1,429,000 |
$7,870,000 |
| NEW MEXICO |
$314,000 |
$2,081,000 |
| NEW YORK | $3,769,000 |
$17,278,000 |
| NORTH CAROLINA | $943,000 |
$7,256,000 |
| NORTH DAKOTA |
$76,000 |
$1,094,000 |
| OHIO | $2,290,000 |
$10,809,000 |
| OKLAHOMA |
$622,000 |
$3,546,000 |
| OREGON |
$312,000 |
$3,456,000 |
| PENNSYLVANIA | $1,254,000 |
$11,624,000 |
| RHODE ISLAND |
$412,000 |
$1,414,000 |
| SOUTH CAROLINA | $1,015,000 |
$3,913,000 |
| SOUTH DAKOTA |
$62,000 |
$1,176,000 |
| TENNESSEE | $1,605,000 |
$5,408,000 |
| TEXAS | $8,078,000 |
$18,149,000 |
| UTAH |
$551,000 |
$2,346,000 |
| VERMONT |
$107,000 |
$1,043,000 |
| VIRGINIA |
$97,000 |
$6,659,000 |
| WASHINGTON | $2,726,000 |
$5,605,000 |
| WEST VIRGINIA |
$548,000 |
$2,185,000 |
| WISCONSIN |
$620,000 |
$5,261,000 |
| WYOMING |
$110,000 |
$944,000 |
| AMERICAN SAMOA | Doesn't have victim
compensation program |
$243,000 |
| GUAM | Doesn't have victim
compensation program |
$323,000 |
| N. MARIANA ISLANDS | Doesn't have victim
compensation program |
$240,000 |
| PUERTO RICO | Doesn't have victim
compensation program |
$3,990,000 |
| REPUBLIC OF PALAU | Doesn't have victim
compensation program |
$15,975 |
| VIRGIN ISLANDS |
$57,000 |
$594,000 |
| TOTAL | $67,428,000 |
$275,670,800 |
November 14, 1997